Resisting Rosaleen (18+)

1

People have bullshit habits and sometimes, they use New Year's resolutions to make it seem as if they're finally gonna stop their bullshit ways and revert to better manners. It's a sham. No one really follows resolutions beyond the first month of the year. Old habits die hard.

When I made a deal with my father and my beloved brother, I took it upon myself to incline my New Year's resolution with it: I don't need to be a better Rose, I just need to be better at hiding. And like most resolutions, it won't last long, but then again, I don't need it to. Five months. I need to keep my angelic charade for a little less than half a year then I'm free.

Throughout Christmas break, I had to deal with the aftermath of the Crawford incident. It was a lone mistake but weighed in Wyatt's chest as a thousand sins combined. My brother made a deal with Dad to be granted us mercy: one more strike and I'm spending the rest of my studying years with father dearest and his family in the city that never sleeps. That's hell to me, translating to no credit cards and having to put up with one step-mother and two half-siblings whose names I keep trying to forget.

Wyatt Martin is a man of wonder in the industry he's been thrown into. Looked-up upon, envied, and welcomed, though behind closed mansion doors, he's a big softie to his little sister. I love him. I love Wyatt. I rarely disappoint Wyatt. I've done my best to hide the tainted spots of my shiny golden life from the man and others. If I don't, society would hate me. I'd be a disgrace to the Martins.

The man only knew a fraction of the boys I'd been with: Collin, the senior I dated when I was a sophomore, batch president, and captain of the football team. Great stamina. Another was Caleb, a college student taking up Business Management who was the heir to a multimillion-dollar company. Impressive girth. There was also what's-his-name, a future neurosurgeon who was already on top of his classes and was a part-time model. Kinky ass. Then Rick, who was a senator's spoiled son, and a few more. What did Rick, what's-his-name, Caleb, and Collin have in common? My relationships with them were not taboo.

I'd be locked away in a tower if he finds out about the others I'd been with: men of various, various varieties. Not all of them were aged within a range appropriate to mine. Flip the law books upside-down and right-side-up, none will change what my acts were: illegal. But once I had blown my eighteen glittery pink birthday candles, the game had changed. I can now screw whoever the hell I want.

This young woman is an honor student who has always kept her grades on a high minimum. She has joined activities for the betterment of the city and the environment. Dirt, my dirt, was where dirt should be: under a patch of pretty and trimmed green grass.

I let my brother know all that he needed to know—nothing more and nothing less. Same goes with the public. Rosaleen Martin is an educated young woman who likes to participate in community programs and is the type you would want to introduce to your family. The line was from my feature section in junior year when I was placed as student council Vice President.

So guess just how surprised Wyatt was when he received a phone call from dear old Principal Marithe asking him to pick me up.

And guess how low his face fell when the old woman told him that his little princess of a sister was caught nearly naked with a substitute teacher twice her age in the locker room while the rest of the school was having an assembly.

The memory is fresh. Family memories for me are always fresh and that's a curse. Wyatt had gotten mad at me multiple times before, but none of it ever led me to feel as feverish as I did back when we made it home. My guts felt heavy. From guilt? Possibly not. I have not felt that in a while, might as well call myself a virgin of culpability. Urged as I was, I did not cry in front of Wyatt because I never do.