Page 2 of Broken Souls
“I know. I’m scared of her. Whenever she comes to the diner, I feel like I’m at military school, about to get busted for something.” Her eyes widen like she’s seen a ghost as she remembers.
“Even after Marina?” Her employer and guardian angel of sorts is a tough, old-fashioned woman and probably the trendiest person in Little Hope, with her sleek bob and fancy makeup. For a small town in Maine, she always looks so expensive. Marina took Kayla in when she had no money and nowhere to go. Even though Kayla is a highly sought-after tattoo artist and does fine money-wise, she still helps Marina on her days off. Marina’s diner is like a family business for them and a homey place for everyone in Little Hope.
To be honest,I’ma little scared of Marina. Reasonably, she’s not my biggest fan after I’ve been a bitch to Kayla on a few occasions, so I guess it’s well deserved. But still, I’m half expecting her to add some laxatives to my order. Again, well deserved.
“Nah, Mrs. Jenkins is like a pit bull with a bone, while Marina is a Chihuahua with a bow. No, thank you.” She shudders visibly, and I laugh.
“She’s not so bad. She did promise to put a chastity belt on me if I organize any orgies here, but otherwise, I should be good.”
“See!” She laughs, throwing her head back. “Scary.”
Yeah, she is. She threatened to do all sorts of things if I destroy her house, but I really needed to get out from under my family’s roof, and her house is my dream home. I promised to keep her house free of orgies—an easy deal on my end, since I’m not my fun-seeking brother Justin—and parties. It’s not like I have friends to throw crazy celebrations, because I don’t. I have Josie, but she’s an internet friend. You know, one you talk to every day but never meet in real life. Kayla considers herself my friend, but I don’t deserve her. Sometimes it’s hard to think I deserve anyone.
Maybe I’ll make some friends eventually. This first step on the path of accepting my new self might be what I needed.
Mrs. Jenkins gave me endless instructions, including attaching a photo update of her houseplants with every monthly money transfer. She has quite a few of those, and I already know how I’ll set up a green corner in the living room next to the wide window, a beautiful collection of all those plants scattered all over the place. Mrs. Jenkins took all the furniture but left the plants. It doesn’t make any sense to me, but who knows what quirks I’ll have at her age.
“Did you meet your new neighbors?” Kayla asks, placing cleaning supplies in the cabinet underneath the sink.
“Not yet. I’m sure they’ll be great.” I pause and add with a chuckle: “If I ever talk to them.”
“Right.” Her laughter is forced, and I do a double take to ensure I haven’t missed anything. She’s standing in the same spot, rocking on her heels and watching me with a weird look on her face.
“I think that was the last one.” Justin walks down the stairs, drawing my attention away from Kayla. “Jake’s bringing pizza if that’s all right,” he tells Kayla while heading to the bathroom, and she rolls her eyes.
I quickly glance at her. I know she hasn’t made amends with Jake after his evil actions nearly cost them their relationship. Well, it’s more likehehasn’t made amends withher. He should start by begging her for forgiveness for the years of torment. In his defense, he thought she was to blame for what happened to me that night. He was wrong though. We all were. And now we all have a lifetime to make it up to her.
She never brings up the years of hate we sent her way. We don’t deserve her. She’s a bigger person than any of us will ever be.
As for Justin, he’s still mad at Jake, and it pains me. No matter what happened, they’re still my brothers, and I love them. I wish they would bury the hatchet so we can return to being a big, happy family. Justin tolerates Jake at family gatherings, but I think the biggest thing stopping Justin from accepting Jake is that his meek apology to Kayla didn’t seem sincere. It didn’t seem genuine to any of us, to be fair. I understand where Justin comes from since Kayla is his person, but it still hurts to see our family so fractured.
Jake’s our little brother, and we all look so much alike. Anyone can tell we’re related. We’re all blond with baby-blue eyes. The boys have athletic builds, which is the one difference between us. I have huge boobs and a few extra pounds that I could survive without nowadays. I used to be told I was pretty and I liked to believe that, but I’ve grown to resent it.
“I bought these new hair bands. You know, I think they’ll look absolutely amazing on you.” Kayla notes as she bends to drag a giant box marked ‘clothes’ to the exit, murmuring, “How the hell did this box get into the kitchen? Men.” She rolls her eyes, and I chuckle. “So anyway, wanna try these bands? I can drop them off if you want.” She glances at me while dragging the box on the floor.
“I mean, yeah, sure.” My eyes dart around as my palms turn sweaty.
“Awesome!” Kayla finally drops the box as Justin returns. “Be a dear and carry this to the bedroom, please.” She walks to stand behind me and suddenly touches my ponytail, making me jump. She instantly drops her hand, and my cheeks turn hot.
“Sorry,” I murmur, avoiding her eyes.
“Don’t be!” She waves her hand dismissively. “I have this tendency to startle people. Not a good thing when I have a pen with ink in my hand, if you ask me.”
I finally manage to meet her eyes, and she winks at me. “Yeah” is all I can squeeze out. I’m grateful to her for not making it weird.
“Go, Justin. The box won’t carry itself.” Kayla shoos him away, knowing he won’t leave on his own. Every time he sees me triggered by something, he goes into this overprotective-brother mode. I adore him—I do—but I’m being suffocated a little. And to be honest, I think he is too.
“Yeah. Thanks, Justin. I mean it,thank you.” I find and hold his gaze, silently showing him my gratitude for everything. He helped me convince our parents to let me live alone. They’re overprotective. Not without reason.
“Welcome, Tiny.” He strolls over and throws his arm around my shoulders.
I punch him under his ribs. “I told you to stop calling me that.” I’m anything but tiny. I’m five-eleven, for heaven’s sake.
“You did?” He snickers, and I punch him again. He lets me go with a loudoof,smiles, and heads toward Kayla. I can feel their love in the air. Thick with passion. It’s where I find inspiration, in people like them. Their chemistry and life stories. It’s also where I feel overwhelmed with guilt, remembering how I nearly ruined everything for them. He leans in for a kiss, and within a second, their perfect Disney-worthy kiss turns into something you’d find on Pornhub. I instantly cover my eyes with my hand.
“Jeez! Stop it!” I yell. “You can’t christen my kitchen before me!”
Justin jumps from Kayla immediately. “What the hell are you talking about? You aren’t having sex here.” He thinks for a moment. “Or anywhere else, for that matter.” He looks horrified, like the actual idea of me having sex with somebody makes him sick.