Crush (18+)

Chapter 4

My house was everything that Brandon's house wasn't. While his house was almost like a mansion, mine was small and boring.

I lived in East LA and people didn't exactly speak fondly of this side of the city, which was kind of dramatic in my opinion. Sure, there was some theft now and then in this neighborhood and sometimes fights broke out, but it's not like people got killed here on a daily basis.

I was standing in front of my house and I turned around to wave at Brandon. As he drove off, I grabbed my keys out of my purse and opened the door, accidentally throwing it shut behind me louder than intended. As I headed to the kitchen, I threw my bag on the floor with the disapproved face of my mom in the back of my mind. She hated it when I left my stuff laying around the house, even though it was always a mess in here anyways.

I hadn't eaten much during dinner and I was already starving again. I usually ate much more than I did tonight, but I was way too nervous for that. And I also threw half of my food on my lap, wasting a damn good lasagne.

I opened the fridge and as expected there wasn't much to eat except two slices of cold pizza. I guess cold pizza it was.

I put the plate with the two pieces in the microwave, setting the alarm for half a minute. While I was waiting, I leaned against the kitchen counter and my mind drifted back to tonight. I still wasn't sure what to think of Brandon's dad. I know his comment about spanking me was inappropriate, but I probably misinterpreted the whole thing.

"Hey sis," a voice behind me said, scaring the shit out of me. I thought my mother was already fast asleep and the last thing I expected was my brother being home.

I turned to him and raised my eyebrows, somewhat surprised but also annoyed. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be with your girlfriend?"

About two days ago my brother announced he had a new girlfriend and ever since, my mom and I hadn't seen him until now. He did that all the time though whenever he had a new girlfriend. He just took off and did whatever he wanted. It didn't even bother me anymore, it's his own life he was ruining.

Rafael was fixing his hair in the reflection of the microwave as he casually shrugged his shoulders. "Oh, I dumped her."

I frowned but knew better than to react to his asshole-ness, since that's exactly what he wanted me to do.

The microwave finally started beeping and I grabbed a plate from the cupboard, waiting a second for the smoke to be gone before taking the slice of pizza out.

"So how are things between you and Bee-Boo Adams? Pregnant yet? If I could give you any advice, it'd be not to end up as a whore just like our mommy," Rafael said before he took a big bite from my pizza, almost burning his mouth in progress.

I rolled my eyes at the nickname he gave Brandon and ignored him once again. This wasn't the first time Rafael made sick comments like this about me and my mother, but we knew better than giving him the satisfaction of reacting to anything he said.

I guess he was just really bored with his life.

Rafael continued, "yeah, I mean, I'm just looking out for my sis. One dirty slut in our family is enough, don't you think? Pregnant of twins at age fifteen from a guy she barely even knew isn't the future I wish upon you."

Sometimes I couldn't believe how Rafael was related to me. He must've gotten these crazy mood swings from our father, because let me tell you that my mom and I were nothing like him.

"Shut the fuck up, Rafael," I mumbled and I grabbed my pizza out of his hands.

For a second he looked surprised by what I did, but he quickly seemed to recover himself.