Chapter 8 Barbara Invented It

• Samuel is not any of that!
• I defended myself, feeling a bit unsteady from the emotions of the moment.
• How do you know?
• He shouted now.
• Barbara investigated it!
• Aaron watched his mother furiously. -Did you use our company's resources for this, mom? Will you take responsibility if Romina ends up opening the...?!
• My hand struck forcefully and violently against his face, Sullivan kept his eyes wide open for a couple of seconds until his gaze and mine connected. Dad called an ambulance to take Samuel to the clinic as soon as possible. His condition was not very good.
• -You're a damn!
• I shouted, looking for a way to hit him again, but Aaron grabbed my hand before I could.
• -Now we are family and you will have to see my face for the rest of your perfect and rosy life.
• Harold walked angrily towards us and I smiled because I knew that for the first time dad would agree with me. -What the hell were you thinking?! -I couldn't help but laugh. -At my wedding, Romina! -I swear that all the expressions on my face disappeared immediately at the accusation of my own father. Kitty shook her head in disbelief and I joined my best friend. -Look what you just caused! Aaron get in my car because we have to go to the police station to testify what your sister forced you to do to defend her honor.
• ...What the hell...?!
• -My honor? -I spoke in a loud voice. -Do you remember who gave me the condoms when I decided to sleep with Hugo and you still didn't know he was poor?
• My stepbrother looked at dad.
• -Those were different times!
• -It was two years ago! I'm not a little girl anymore, dad! Why do you tell me I'm to blame when Aaron had his tongue down Maribel's throat? You never... You never made me feel this way...
• The ambulance lights made me snap out of it as soon as they arrived at the Western mansion. The employees began to bid farewell to the guests and I understood that Harold felt that I was to blame for all of this.
• -Go inside the house with Barbara and wait for us to come back...
• Samuel complained as he entered the ambulance and I walked up to him to take his hand. -I'm sorry... -I cried bitterly. -I'm so sorry, I hope you forgive me... -Sullivan pushed me away but my hand slammed against his face. -You're the worst kind of animal!
• -Am I?
• He smiled and I hit him again.
• -Stay away from me... We are not siblings, you're just a damn who thinks he can do whatever he wants with me just because he has my father's approval and no, no, Aaron Sullivan, I am the owner of my body and my actions and I swear to God I will prove it to you...
• -Are you challenging me?
• I brought my face close to his.
• -It's going to hurt when you fall in love...
• -Who with?
• Now it's me who's teasing.
• -With me”I whispered softly so our parents wouldn't hear”and you know what's the best part of it all?
• He denied, staring at my lips in disbelief”Tell me...
• -That you'll never have me... And you'll beg me to love you...
• This is war, you damn stepbrother...
• The next day, a party, a beach, and a lot of alcohol welcomed this never-ending war.
• Let's see if you'll still be the same after this!
• I don't know how much evil can be in people's hearts, but the only thing I do know is that Aaron Sullivan is the reincarnated demon who has come to this earth just to mess up my life.
• Barbara says goodbye to her husband and son, then walks towards me and takes my hand, perhaps to console herself. Harold and Sullivan head towards dad's car and leave, leaving the void of their absence in a failed party that maybe I did ruin after all.
• -What was all that? -Kitty's voice brings me back again, Paul watches us doubtfully before leaving with our other friends from university. Not only do I feel embarrassed about everything that happened here, but now I also have to worry about what they'll say about me from now on in my own school.
• -My dad married Aaron's mom... -The expression that just appeared on the brunette's face, even I would have put it there myself, How the hell did dad come up with the idea of connecting with such a wild beast?
• -You hadn't slept with Sullivan?! -God! I ran to where my best friend was and covered her mouth when she theoretically just shouted it. Some employees who were organizing the party disaster and storing some things looked quickly at us for our commotion; but I denied, forcing them to return to their tasks.
• -Are you crazy, Catalina?
• -You know I don't like being called that! -She added, stepping back a couple of steps from me”Did you lie for Bobbie? Hey... Speaking of the big shot, did you know he dropped out of university today?
• Damn!
• -Why did he do that? -And of course I didn't care, I just needed to add drama to the situation”Did he go to the town with his grandparents?
• -Why so many questions? -Kitty made a playful expression with her eyes and pushed her”Will you go after him if I tell you he went to Ville Side? Well, anyway, what matters now is that he's out of your life, right?
• -Do you think so? Bobbie has been in love with me for four years, did he give up so easily? -And I didn't say this because I had any romantic interest in him, it's just that it seemed too strange to me that out of nowhere he would let go of a love he held onto for so long and now simply, vanished?
• My best friend climbed the stairs leaving me behind as soon as we entered the Western mansion, Barbara smiled at me from afar while some employees asked her what they should do with the roses. My legs ached from standing for so long in these heels, and I could feel my body enveloped even more in the cold of the night.
• "Do you think Bobbie gave up for your stepbrother?" I say, "Look at what he did to Samuel today, do you think that's normal?" Kitty's body fell back onto my bed, her hand slid to my nightstand to pick up my book "Romeo and Juliet."
• "I don't understand anything..." I snatched my book from her hands and placed it back on the nightstand, "You know it was Mom's..." Catalina relaxed her shoulders and rested her head on my favorite pillow, "I met Aaron in detention at Western..." The brunette leaned on her elbows to lift her torso a bit and look at me better, "Do you know he insulted me from the moment he saw me? He said some horrible things and I..." I lowered my head to smile, "I hit him and had decided to avoid that mangy dog, but somehow I found him having sex in my classroom that same day..."
• Kitty dropped her jaw in shock, "That guy is a real problem! But why did you make Bobbie believe that you and him...?" My friend made an obscene gesture with her hand and I shook my head in horror.
• "I've never thought of sleeping with Aaron! Do you think someone like me would do something like that? I just said it so that the stinky Bobbie would leave me alone, and now that it worked..."
• I looked puzzled at Catalina, who was now pacing around the room as if the best idea of her life had just occurred to her, "What do you plan to do about Aaron's jealousy?"
• "Jealousy? Are you crazy? Sullivan is just a guy who's mad at his mother for marrying my father, that's all. He likes to stick his penis in every vagina he finds, do you really think he...?" I stopped as I watched her nod confidently.
• "You know I have an older brother, right?"
• "What about Donovan?"
• "What if we try to make Aaron jealous?"
• I rolled my eyes, distancing myself from her and her nonsense. Good Lord, what kind of mind would think that this panty-dropper could feel jealous of his little stepsister? All Aaron wanted was to mess up my damn life and look good in front of Dad.
• Someone knocked on my bedroom door a couple of times as I laughed out loud at Kitty on the floor after running to try to open the door. I helped her up as best I could, then quickly turned the doorknob to see Barbara's smiling face on the other side.
• Dad's wife carried a silver tray with chocolate chip cookies and milkshakes of the same flavor.
• "Excuse me... Excuse me if I'm interrupting..." She took a step back, unsure.
• “You can come in” I stepped aside and she refused to give me what she had prepared for us.
• “Your Nana told me it's your favorite... She helped me prepare this, it's just that I...” Her voice trembled” I always had Aaron and well, he never brought friends home, he only knew his best friend from afar, I never spoke to anyone close to my son... And...” I hugged her tightly, causing her body to tense” It's the first time I do this and I didn't know what to do...” She added before wiping the moisture from her eyes with the sleeve of her blouse.
• “I like milkshakes and Kitty does too and...” I swallowed” You can do this again every time my friends are at home... I would be happy if you keep doing it.
• “Really?” She shouted excitedly before leaving the way she came. A lump formed in my throat. I had wished for a long time that my mother would do these kinds of things until Barbara appeared in our lives and began to change everything. I was smiling because I had only seen my Nana as that motherly figure and now I have her too.
• “What will your stepmother think when she finds out her son likes you?” I quickly grabbed the cushion from the sofa that decorated my room to throw it in her face” Donovan arrived from France yesterday, did we find out or not?
• “You're crazy!
• I added, getting into bed ready to sleep.
• “I have an older brother and I have never seen him lurking around every guy who approaches me! You are the only person in this world who thinks this is normal, and no, no, Mina, this is not normal. Did you see the way he looked at Bobbie? The guy scared him so much that he gave up a four-year love, damn it! Besides, what does he gain by taking care of you? His mom is already married to your dad, what does he gain from all this?
• I covered my face with the sheets because I knew that at the end of all this, Kitty was right; the way Aaron looks at me scares me too much and sometimes I feel like he's watching me too much.” What's the plan?
• My best friend jumped on the bed and then covered her mouth with excitement” We'll make him jealous with Donovan!
• “And if he hits him?
• God, not that face, Catalina usually wrinkles her nose when something really big is coming” We'll make him understand that my brother is gay and if my suspicions are correct...
• “I get it!
• “I'll have a secret to keep him away from me!
• ⋙════ ⋆★⋆ ════⋘
• Samuel left the same day he was hospitalized and did not press charges against Aaron or my family, and now I was sure that my summer love would never happen. Walking down the stairs to the living room, I held onto the huge teddy bear that dad gave me when I turned eight. Kitty holds my arm as she yawns and we both stop to look at each other once we see my stepbrother enter the Western mansion wearing a tracksuit.
• Sullivan parks a few meters away from us without even looking at us, a bead of sweat sensually and delicately slides from his forehead to the beginning of his neck, and I gulp as I watch him remove it with his index finger, making a completely hot move.