Chapter 27 Paying Attention
2 years ago
Rain
Today a car was delivered to the house as part of my 16th birthday. I was shiny, fancy, and supposedly a hot ride, but I looked at it and wanted to puke in my shoes. It was pink, of all the fucking colors in the world, why the fuck would someone want a pink car?
Zoey’s had some hideous neon color, but I wasn’t sure I wouldn’t prefer that to this monstrosity. The idea of actually driving this fucking thing made me break out in whole-body shivers. I would have thought perhaps all of those years ago me redecorating my room in shades of dark purple and black, would have clued them into my hatred of pink. My mom knew, but I guess she couldn’t be bothered to share that information.
They have actually been around more for the last 8 months or so. Mom had said that there were some things in the company that needed a more in-person solution so Derek needed to come and take care of them, and that’s why they were coming around more. I didn’t really look at it as a good thing. When she was here it was so obvious how much my mother had changed, it was actually hard to see her. She seemed to think that what she had done wouldn’t affect me in the least. I didn’t think she was obviously that clueless, I think she was just trying to spin it in her favor. I remained quiet about what I thought.
Zoey had gone away to college for about 4 months before she was back. My mother had actually called me to tell me that Zoey was coming home, that there were just some absolutely hideous people at that school. So, Zoey was going to come home and take a break for a while before she went off to another school. When she told me I remember I just stood there mute and stunned.
I wasn't really stunned that Zoey was already back, having not managed to really embrace the whole “college” thing, well other than the partying aspect I would guess. What shocked me most was that my mother called to tell me about it, and that she was involved enough in Zoey’s life to actually be aware of what was happening. That actually hurt if I was honest.
So, now, once again, I was subjected to Zoey and her bullshit. She was constantly having friends over and there were drugs, drinking, and she fucked them all over the house. I had no idea from one moment to the next if I would walk into a room to see Zoey having sex with this guy or that guy. One of them even asked if I wanted to join in, which pissed Zoey off, and I never saw that guy again, which I was thankful for. I made sure my door was always locked.
Haden, Sarah, and I had started talking about college, and where we wanted to apply. We would supposedly be sending out applications next year. So, the ideas were flowing. They were good enough friends that they were aware of my love of all things art and they were both encouraging me to get my degree with some kind of art program. They had also suggested that I go to an art school, rather than just a regular college. So, that was something I was tossing around.
The only drawback with that was that I wouldn’t be with Haden and Sarah if I did that. They both told me I was being stupid, that we would be able to talk all the time, video call, and we would still get together for all of the holidays. Plus, we could choose schools that were close together.
Neither of them really knew for sure which direction they wanted to go with everything. Zoey was thinking she really wanted to be an architect like her father, and Haden was leaning more towards something to do with history, which he loved.
Sade would show up during school holidays, and he always wanted to have me spend time with him, but it was awkward a lot of that time. I wasn’t sure what to actually talk to him about. Once I had tried to find out if he was at all attracted to Sarah, as she had really developed a crush on him as he built up his muscles and grew out his hair. She told me he had become incredibly hot. I wrinkled my nose at that, because I had him firmly in the “brother” zone. When I brought her up he simply told me he wasn’t interested. I didn’t ever tell Sarah that, I thought it might hurt her feelings.
When he came home for Thanksgiving after my 16th birthday, he had stopped and stared at my new car, then after just looking at it for a few moments he continued on with what he had been doing. I drove it only when I absolutely had to, which basically constituted never.
The next morning I heard noises out at the front of the house. I looked out the window of my room to see Angelo and Sade standing in front of an open garage, my pink pile of hideousness being towed away. I just blinked, wondering what the hell, but I didn’t ask. Later that day a new black Range Rover was delivered for me. I had to blink several times while looking between the car and the keys in my hand.
“You don’t like pink. You also don’t really like small sports cars with no back seat, so I had it exchanged out for something I knew you would actually like.” Sade said from beside me.
I looked at him and just blinked again, once again, Sade knew something about me, and he observed a problem, and he fixed it. Like my birthday cupcakes, which he always made sure I got. Like that day when I was 12 and he brought me a huge box of supplies for my 1st period. In some ways, I guess this fell under the umbrella of an older brother taking care of his little sister, but with Sade, these things had always felt more multilayered than that.
“Thank you Sade, it is great, I love the car. Thanks for actually knowing that.” I sighed as I said that.
“I’ll always take care of you Rain, and I’ll make sure you’re happy.” He smiled his signature smile, which was small and not quite a real smile, well not for most people, for Sade, who didn’t really feel things, this was the equivalent of a huge grin.
I didn’t unpack what he’d said. I just brushed it aside as just the way he worded it, and he didn’t mean it how it sounded. Maybe I should have paid better attention.