4. Chapter Three
Chapter Three
Lisette
W hen the front door shuts , I stand up from my seat. “I need to go.” I turn on my heels and Sire’s face drops.
“Why?”
I bite back a smile at how disappointed he sounds. “Aww, are you going to miss your favorite person?” I tease.
He rolls his eyes at me now as he settles on the couch. “I’ve been missing August for hours.” He mentions our brother who he not so secretly favors.
I throw a pillow at him but he catches it.
“You feeling better?” He watches me carefully.
“Yeah,” I voice honestly. “I told you I just needed to sleep the urge off.” I offer him a smile, and when he nods in understanding, I’m glad he doesn’t force me to talk about my feelings again.
“Thanks for listening earlier, I’ll repay you with a drink.”
He stifles a laugh.
“I’ll probably come by tomorrow to bother you.” I take one step before he sticks his foot out to trip me. I catch myself before I can eat shit and he’s laughing up a storm from beside me.
Vidia stifles a laugh as she settles next to her boyfriend and I flip them both off as I head for the door. “Maybe I won’t come back at all.”
“Ugh, thank god,” he mumbles loud enough for me to hear.
“We love you,” Vidia calls out.
“Mhm.” I slip out as Harmony texts me again. I quickly reply and let her know I’m on my way down as I step into the elevator.
As I’m leaving the building, I spot her with her back to me. I walk up behind her quietly before grabbing her waist. “Whatcha looking at?”
She jumps with a yelp before turning on her heels.
I let out a laugh at the terror on her face. “Who had you so distracted?”
She turns back around as she nods across the street. I follow her line of sight to Jackson. He talks into his phone as he sits in his car. His short blond curls styled perfectly, complimenting the charcoal gray suit he’s in.
“He’s hot,” she whispers as if he can hear from all the way over there.
“I’m sure he’s twice your age.” I flick her forehead before pulling her to my car by her school bag.
She rolls her eyes at me as she pushes me out of her grasp. “You’re the one who said older men are better.”
An older lady glances at us, her eyes wide, and I plaster a smile on my face as I shove Harmony in front of me.
“You’re making me look bad. Get in.” I unlock my car and she only laughs at me.
“Since when did you care about being perceived as the good and responsible older sister?” She raises one brow and I falter as she calls me her sister.
I’m aware that’s what I technically am to her, but it doesn’t feel that way considering we didn’t grow up together.
I ignore her before walking to the driver’s side.
“Speaking of your responsible sister, where does Satan think you are?” I steal a glance at her and a guilty look covers her face.
“She knows I’m here.” She keeps her eyes forward and I simply stare at her until she caves and turns back to me. “Okay, that’s a lie, she thinks I’m at a friend’s house.”
I nod in return. I know I don’t have the best relationship with my biological family; I haven’t spoken to most of them in years, but it still hurts when I’m reminded just how much they hate me.
“What did Ana say when you got home yesterday?”
Harmony is quiet for a beat as she picks at her nails and a smile touches my lips as I stop picking at my own nails. Ana is the middle child between us and she makes it her whole personality that she raised Harmony and is a twenty two year old mom to a seventeen year old.
“She asked about you.”
I roll my eyes at her lie as I start the car. “Stop trying to make me feel better.” I can see her shoulders slouch in the corner of my eyes before she tries again.
“She mentioned something… something I actually wanted to ask you about.”
I prepare myself for her to bring up my addiction, knowing Ana loves to throw that one in my face. I can feel Harmony watching me and after a beat, she builds the courage to speak up.
“She said I shouldn’t hang out with you, but I reminded her about what my therapist said about mending my family.”
I steal a glance at her and I hate that she even needs therapy.
“Ana said we’re not family because you chose the Hales…”
I let out a scoff as I grip the steering wheel tighter. I’m about to open my mouth and say every awful thing I can about a girl that lost her title as my sister a long time ago, but I bite it all back. Up until a few months ago, I hadn’t seen Harmony since she was a baby, and it wasn’t until she wanted to mend her family that we started to get closer.
No progress has been made with her family because our bio mom is still using and I’m not going back there. I told her she could mend her family and get to know me separately but we aren’t a part of the same family anymore, and I don’t think she’s come to terms with that just yet.
“Is it true?”
“What?” I steal a glance at her as I snap out of my thoughts.
“Did you leave us with mom when we were babies to go live with the Hales?” She sounds torn and a bitter feeling takes over me as I realize this is the narrative her sister has of me.
“I was a baby, too, Harmony.” I look over at her at the red light. “I was four when I met Sire. When I met August and Sage, the twins, you had just been born and your dad was beating me upside the head. I was seven .”
She flinches.
“You and Ana were always with your grandma and I was with the Hales. I grew up with them and when I moved in with them at fourteen, it wasn’t because I hated you, I just—” I cut myself off and someone honks behind me before I can continue.
“You just what?” she voices as if she desperately needs to know.
“I didn’t leave you and Ana. I was escaping that house. It had nothing to do with you. You were fine with your grandma, and if she wasn’t such a bitter old hag, maybe I would’ve stayed.”
I let out a frustrated breath before slowing down the car. I remind myself that I answer her questions because I would also want to know if I were her. She was a baby when our lives were falling apart and I’d want to know what happened, so that’s why I put myself through hell and answer everything she wants to know about my childhood.
“I just don’t understand why Grandma didn’t take you in with us. Why did it matter to her that we had different dads?”
I shrug in return.
She takes my phone and I sit in silence as she puts a song on, keeping the volume low.
It isn’t until I’m parking in front of my apartment that she turns to me. “I’m supposed to hang out with Mom again next week.” She watches my reaction carefully, but I don’t give her one.
Ana has custody of her, but Harmony insists on bonding with her mom. If this is what she wants, I’m not going to let my relationship with her get in the way.
“Is she sober?”
She shakes her head gently. “She’s on and off.”
I hold back a bitter laugh. “There is no on and off with her, babe. Don’t get your hopes up. She’s either on or trying to be off and failing.” I know I sound hypocritical since I’m also struggling with my addiction, but I’m not the one who had three little girls begging for her attention and still has one daughter who wants her in her life.
Harmony’s eyes dull slightly as she looks down at my phone. I follow her line of sight to my home screen of a picture of Sire and me with the twins.
“Who’s birthday was it?” Harmony has a small smile on her face as she stares at the four of us around a cake.
“It was mine and Sire’s first soberversary.”
She steals a glance at me, a somber smile on her face. “How old were you?”
“Fourteen.”
She nods as she looks between me and the picture. “How are you doing?”
I know what she’s asking, but I don’t answer as I study her. I was just four years younger than she is now when I started using drugs to cope. As my eyes roam her gentle features, I can’t help but think she’s too pure to belong to the family she was born into.
I’m flawed beyond repair. Ana is filled with too much hate to feel an ounce of happiness. Her parents are a piece of shit, but Harmony… She’s perfect. She’s so understanding and too forgiving. She’s bubblier than my sister Sage, which I didn’t think was possible. A part of me understands why Ana doesn’t want her bonding with me.
“Your sobriety I mean,” she clarifies when I don’t answer.
“I know what you meant, baby girl.” I muster a smile. “I’m six months sober.”
Her entire face lights up. “That’s so good!” Her smile nearly lights up my car and I can’t help but smile in return.
“And how are you and Sire?”
My smile grows at her great memory or maybe she just pays attention to me which is refreshing.
When she reached out to me, Sire and I were still silently fighting over some harsh words that were exchanged a few years ago. We were close, but there was a tear between us for a while.
“We’re good,” I voice. “Ever since he apologized to me earlier this year we’ve been good. It’s like a weight is off my shoulder having him back.” I shake my head at my words. “He was never gone, but we weren’t talking to each other about our sobriety—now we do.”
She watches me and slowly, her smile drops. “You talk about him like he really is your brother.”
“He is.” My brows slightly furrow at her words as a short laugh escapes me.
She nods softly before she musters up a smile. “Do you think I could ever be a sister to you?” She glances down at my phone again. “Like you are with your other sister?”
I glance down at my phone and my eyes immediately land on Sage’s bright smile as she slides a finger full of frosting across my cheek.
“No one can compare to Sage, but you can get a close second.” I shove Harmony’s shoulder and she lets out a laugh in return. “You have nearly eighteen years to catch up on though, so don’t get your hopes up.”
She rolls her eyes at me as we step out of the car, but I don’t miss her hopeful smile.