"Hey, what took you so long, freak?"
I flinched as I closed the door behind me, before taking a deep breath and coming face to face with Sarah. And she was not happy.
(Then again, she never was happy whenever I was around)
"I got held up on the bus," I said (which was the truth). "Traffic was a pain in the neck, what with all the schools letting out at the same time."
Sarah stepped forward, seized my head without warning, and I cried out as pain turned everything white. When I could see again, she was once more standing there, arms folded and a disapproving glare on her face. "You're actually telling the truth," she said, sounding surprised and a bit disappointed.
I took a deep breath. Sarah never laid her hands on me when checking to see that I wasn't lying, something she only did now with the assumption neither Uncle Ben nor Mum were around. "You know I never lie to you," I said.
"Not all the time," Sarah said dismissively. "Get upstairs and do your homework, freak. Dad's visiting the Blackcrest pack to discuss an alliance, and Aunt Gemma is out shopping." She sneered. "Apparently you need a new leotard for your performance in a couple of weeks. Not that you deserve it. Your old leotard should do just as well. Unless there's something you're not telling me?"
I had to grit my teeth to keep myself under control. If not for Uncle Ben getting a call from child protective services, Sarah would probably have tried to starve me, or at least give me just enough food to keep from starving. It irritated her when I sat with the rest of the pack at mealtimes, and she always insinuated - in a very "caring and concerned" tone - that perhaps I shouldn't have that second helping of mashed potatoes. Or it was the fact that I was perhaps partaking too much of the roast beef. But I never let those niggling comments get to me, and sometimes I even put a little more on my plate, just to see her face contort in an effort not to snarl. Maybe I was baiting her too much, but it gave me a wicked sense of pleasure to thwart her in a public setting where she couldn't react at all, save for some very interesting facial expressions.
"You know I don't even have a boyfriend, let alone any romantic prospects," I said in as even a tone as I could manage. As if I'd have a chance!
Sarah snorted. "No male would ever want a freak like you," she said. "Now, are you going to stand there, or are you going to do as you're told and go upstairs?"
Her tone left no doubt as to what the repercussions would be; I hurried upstairs as fast as I could without running, heaving a sigh of relief as the door closed behind me. Outside, I could hear splashing and laughter, and I walked over to the window, sighing as I opened it and looked out. Sure enough, most of the other teenagers were playing, splashing, and having a good time, and I grimaced as I watched Sarah saunted out in a very skimpy red swimsuit that left little to the imagination. My grimace turned to a scowl as the others gathered around her, exclaiming in amazement at how good she looked, and I felt the first seeds of doubt plant themselves in my chest. My other cousins were normally nice to me, at least when Sarah and her cohorts weren't around. But as I watched them all jump into the pool before engaging in an impromptu race, I realised that it had all been an act. How I knew this I couldn't tell. But as I watched them, playing, splashing and laughing without a care in the world, without even showing in either words or looks that they wished for me to be there...
I sighed and turned away from the window. It hurt to be confronted by a truth you knew to be lurking under the surface the whole time, and as I pulled my homework out, I felt both pain and relief. Pain that my other cousins had deceived me so badly, and relief that I now knew how they really felt about me. It made their two-faced act a bit more palatable, in that I knew the truth, but that didn't make it hurt any less.
But at least I knew, rather than floundering around in the dark.
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