Mayhem

by Catharina Maura

  Kate looks disgusted at the idea of her brother sleeping around. She flicks her long auburn hair over her shoulder and sighs. He’s a total dick to me, but he treats his mother and his sister like they’re the most precious people alive. He’s always polite and caring to them, while he saves his crudeness and malice for me.

  “I’m sure that’s not true,” she murmurs, looking away. The mere idea of Carter sleeping around makes her uncomfortable, but she and I both know that it is true. She’s heard the same rumors that I have. She just chooses to believe that they’re merely that. Rumors.

  “Ugh,” I groan. I bury my hands in my hair and seethe in silence. “I’m going to get him for this. He’s going to regret getting between Zach and me,” I snap. Kate nods in agreement. Usually she tries to dissuade me from arguing with Carter, but today she’s on my side.

  “What’re you gonna do?” she asks with a hint of excitement. I grin evilly and wink at her, leaving her to wonder what I’m planning.

  Chapter 2

  Emilia

  I walk into Kate’s house as if it were my own, like I’ve done almost every day since I moved here seven years ago. Helen looks up at me and smiles.

  “How was school, sweetie?” she asks, like she does every single day. Helen has shown me what it’s like to have a real mother. Straight from the start she’s treated me exactly the same way that she treats Kate, and over the years I’ve come to love her just as much as I love Kate. Helen is one of my favorite people in the world.

  Years ago my dad asked her to watch me after school while he was at work, and the habits we developed then have remained. Even now I’m usually at the Clarke’s house after school. I’ll go home to change and to drop my bag, and then I’ll usually go straight next door. More often than not I’ll have dinner here before going back when my dad finally gets home. It seems like he works more overtime every year, and I can’t help but wonder if it might be because he just doesn’t want to spend time with me. When he comes home, he usually just goes straight to bed. He barely even looks at me.

  “School was good. I aced my math test,” I tell Helen proudly. She gasps and smiles from ear to ear. Carter rolls his eyes and coughs as he shouts, “Nerd!”

  I glare at him and look away, intent on ignoring him. I’m not over that stunt he pulled with Zach a few days ago. Besides, he’s one to talk. Carter is one of those horrible people that are just good at everything they do. His grades are top notch and he’s the school’s quarterback too. I hate him. If only people at school could see past the stupid facade and that stupid smile of his. I’m the only one that sees the devil within. Even Helen and Kate adore him.

  “Oh, honey, I’m so proud of you,” Helen says. She walks to the freezer and takes out a tub of my favorite Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. My mouth waters just looking at the tub of Chocolate Fudge Brownie.

  “For you,” Helen says, pushing it towards me. I grin and reach out to grab it, but Carter gets to it before I do. He takes the lid off and looks right into my eyes. Carter grins wickedly and then licks the entire top layer, slowly.

  “Ugh! You’re not twelve anymore. Why are you so freaking childish?” I shout.

  I lunge towards him and he jumps up, out of the way. He holds my ice cream right above my head and I jump up in an attempt to reach it. He’s so much taller than me now that holding it above my head is easy for him. I hate it.

  “You asshole!” I shout.

  Helen clears her throat and looks at us in amusement. “Language, Emilia,” she murmurs. None of Carter and my antics have ever fazed her. If anything, she seems to enjoy them. She rarely interferes with our ongoing feud, no matter how bad it gets. I glare at Carter, blaming him for getting chastised.

  “You... you… snickerdoodle!”

  He bursts out laughing and I take that moment to aim. I jam my knee up in an attempt to knee him in the balls, but he’s become a pro at evading me. He grabs my leg and pulls on it, making me lose my balance. I fall down onto my butt and he laughs before dragging his tongue over my ice cream. That disgusting devil.

  Kate walks down the stairs and smiles when she finds me sprawled on the floor. “Thought I heard you,” she says. She drops down on the floor beside me, completely ignoring the fact that I’m obviously not sitting here voluntarily.

  Carter grabs a spoon and starts eating my ice cream from the tub, his eyes on me with every bite. I’m seething.

  “Are you prepared for the mid-year cheering auditions?” Kate asks. I bite down on my lip and shake my head. Kate joined at the start of the year and she’s been trying to get me to join her ever since, but I’m just not sure I’m cheerleader material. I’m far better at studying than I am at jumping and dancing. I didn’t think Kate would enjoy it either, especially because she’s always hated cheerleaders. I guess that changed when the most popular one of them befriended her. Ever since Kate became friends with Gabby she’s started to change, and I’m not a hundred percent sure I love the change.

  Carter bursts out laughing. “She’s joining the cheering squad? When hell freezes over maybe. She’ll break a leg in the first week.”

  I cross my arms over my chest and glare up at him. Carter smiles and takes another bite of my ice cream. “Yes,” I say suddenly. “I’m ready. I might as well give it a try.”

  I know deep down I’m just doing it to prove Carter wrong and that I should be above that, but he truly brings out the worst in me. Kate grabs my hands excitedly and grins. “Oh my god, really?” she says, overjoyed. My smiles wavers. I can’t get out of this without letting her down now. Kate looks beyond happy, while Carter looks annoyed. I’m not surprised. I’ve heard the rumors about him and the girls on the cheering squad. He’s probably worried I’ll cock block him the way he did to me last week, and I probably will. He deserves it.

  Kate grabs my hand and pulls me up. She drags me to the staircase and I look back at Carter. He’s staring at me, obviously brooding. His eyes meet mine and for just a second I see a glimpse of worry in his eyes. Surely he isn’t worried that I’ll actually get injured? I’m a little accident prone, but how hard can cheerleading really be?

  Kate drags me up the stairs and into her room in a rush. “The cheering thing just reminded me that I totally forgot to tell you,” she says. “Look what I bought my mom for Mother’s Day!”

  I don’t follow and totally fail to understand what cheering has to do with Helen’s Mother’s Day present. Kate walks towards her wardrobe and takes out a gorgeous dark blue gown that Helen is definitely going to love. I stare at it, equal parts confused and equal parts stunned. The gown is amazing, but Kate and I have been buying one joint present for Helen for the last three years. Why would she suddenly buy something without me this year?

  Each year, Kate and I compete with Carter to give Helen the best Mother’s Day gift. Though she refuses to ever pick one over the other, we both know that we lose more often than we’d like to admit. The devil can be quite thoughtful sometimes – so thoughtful, that Kate and I have had to join hands to surpass him. I stare at the shimmering blue fabric in awe. I guess Kate is definitely winning this year.

  “I went to the shopping center with Gabby yesterday and she recommended this dress for my mom. She has such amazing taste,” she gushes. My heart sinks. Gabby again. She moved here from New York right before the start of the school year and very quickly became the most popular girl in our grade - scratch that, in our entire school. She took a liking to Kate almost instantly, and they’ve been friends ever since. It’s because of Gabby that Kate insisted on joining the cheering squad, even though she’s always been incredibly introverted. I guess I’m just not used to sharing Kate, and Gabby doesn’t really seem to like me much, so they never include me when they hang out.

  “I didn’t realize we were doing separate gifts this year,” I say carefully. Kate’s expression drops and I immediately feel bad for bringing it up at all. Kate shouldn’t have to discuss anything with me before buying a present, yet I still feel oddly lef
t out. I don’t mind it as much when she hangs out with Gabby and doesn’t invite me, but this is different. Besides, we still have a couple of months left until Mother’s Day. I thought we’d plan something out together. Usually it takes us weeks to even decide.

  “Oh, well… I saw this and I thought it would be perfect for my mom. I guess we can give it together? Or maybe you can buy her something else,” she says awkwardly. I hate that I’ve taken away her excitement over the gown and shake my head, trying my best to shrug it off.

  “I should buy Helen matching shoes,” I murmur. Kate looks at the dress and purses her lips. She’s quiet for a couple of moments and then looks up at me with an expression I can’t quite decipher. “Well, you know, my mom isn’t your mother. You don’t need to get her anything at all,” she says, her eyes flashing.

  I freeze, a pang of hurt coursing through me. Recently she’s been making remarks such as these more and more often, and I never know how to respond. I’m always worried about overstepping, and recently she’s been making me feel like I am.

  “Anyway, we can go to the shopping center tomorrow if you still wanna get something. She’s going to absolutely love this gown!”

  Kate puts the dress away carefully and sits down on the bed next to me. I’m a little thrown. Recently I’ve started to feel like the way Kate treats me has changed. She’s always been my best friend - the girl that stuck with me when I was the new girl in a close knit town. She defended me when kids made fun of me for not having a mother and she’s always done her best to include me in her family, so I’m not sure what I’ve done to cause the recent change in her.

  “So, I saw Carter ate your ice cream,” she says, changing the topic. “Mom picked that up especially for you when she bought me some Cookie Dough. It’s so sweet of my mom to get you something too, isn’t it? You know Carter doesn’t even like chocolate. I can’t believe he’s acting like this after ruining your chances with Zach. I saw the photos from the party, and we really missed out.”

  I’m enraged instantly. “I know. That devil,” I snap. Kate grins and I’m relieved. I hate it when Kate and I are even remotely at odds with each other.

  “What’re you gonna do?” she asks, giggling. She always tries to dissuade me from arguing with Carter in an attempt to be a good sister, but I know she secretly enjoys our feud.

  I glance at her bathroom door and grin. “I have an idea,” I murmur. I walk into her bathroom and emerge with a tube of Nair hair removal cream. Kate’s smile drops and she looks at me with wide eyes. “Oh my god, Milly. Carter will actually kill you this time,” she whispers.

  I shrug and walk out of her room, Kate hot on my heels. As always, she keeps an eye out while I sneak into Carter’s room. I giggle and walk into his bathroom, my heart racing. I grab his bottle of shampoo and shake it, happy to find it half empty already. I fill it up with Nair and shake vigorously, without an ounce of remorse. Just in the last week, he’s thrown itching powder all over my bed, ruined my chances with Zach and eaten my damn ice cream. I can’t wait to see his face after his next shower. Maybe this’ll finally teach him.

  Chapter 3

  Carter

  I pause on the stairs when I hear Kate’s bedroom door open. Emilia walks out looking like she’s on a mission and Kate follows her with a worried expression. I grin when I see the bottle of Nair in her hands. This little minx. She’s getting cleverer and more ruthless. The stakes in our game keep getting higher. Very well, I’ve gotta hand it to her. This is a good one. I bet she’s still mad as hell that I stopped Zach from flirting with her last week. She’s been trying to ignore me all week now – I wonder how long it’ll take her to get over it. She’s too young to be going to parties like Zach’s and it’s obvious what he wanted from her. No way was I gonna let that happen on my watch. I might mess with her, but when it comes down to it I’ll always protect her the way I protect Kate.

  I should’ve tried to appease her this week and I definitely should’ve been nicer to her when she got home today instead of eating her ice cream, but I couldn’t help myself. That flustered and angry look on her face just makes my day.

  Kate is meant to stand watch in front of my room but all she does is stare at her phone. I could walk right up to her and she wouldn’t even notice. Eventually Emilia emerges from my room with a triumphant look on her face. She looks so damn pleased with herself. She’s smiling widely, and her stunning blue eyes are twinkling with mischief.

  I grin to myself and take a few steps back before walking up the stairs with loud steps, making as much noise as I can. Both of them gasp and hurry back into Kate’s room, the door closing just as I make it to the top of the stairs. I smile and walk into my room. The perfume I gave Emilia for her last birthday is all over my room, betraying her presence. She claimed she hated the smell, but she wears it every day. I chuckle to myself and shake my head. How she thinks she gets away with these things is beyond me. There are always traces of her.

  I strip and walk into my bathroom, scanning the bottles in the shower. She’s done a meticulous job. Not a single thing is out of place. I stand underneath the stream for a few minutes and lean back against the wall. What expression will she have on her face if I walk out of here with clumps of my hair missing? I’m filled with excitement and anticipation. She’s vicious, that’s for sure.

  I smile and grab the shampoo bottle, lathering my hair with the undoubtedly Nair-laced concoction. I leave it in for a couple of minutes for good measure. I’m not surprised when chunks of my hair fall out when I rinse the shampoo off. I smile to myself and shake my head. She really did it, huh?

  I turn the shower off and step out to get dressed. I take one look in the mirror and burst out laughing. I look fucking ridiculous. This damn Minx. I throw on some shorts and a tee before storming down, my angry game face on. I’ve learned to school my amused expressions for our feud long ago. I hear the front door slam closed just as I reach the bottom of the stairs and bite back a grin. Dad just got home. Perfect.

  I storm into the living room angrily. My parents both look at me with wide eyes when I enter. My hair wasn’t very long to begin with, but now there are huge chunks just straight up missing. Everyone’s eyes move to Emilia slowly. No one feels the need to point out the obvious. We all know she’s the culprit. I wonder if Mom will finally let her have it this time. If I did this to Emilia I’d be grounded for the rest of my damn life.

  Emilia looks at me, but instead of the satisfaction and victory I expected to see, her eyes are filled with horror and remorse. It’s not a look I like on her. Through all the shit we’ve pulled on each other she’s never once looked remorseful, and I’ve never wanted her to.

  My dad clears his throat. “That’s something, huh. How did that even happen?” he asks. Kate and I both inherited my dad’s eyes - the very same eyes that are currently sparkling with amusement when he should be outraged on my behalf. Dad rubs his neck and tries to look stern, but I can see him trying to suppress a smile. Trust him to find this shit funny.

  My mother looks at Dad through narrowed eyes. “William,” she says, her tone disapproving. Dad merely shrugs. It’s obvious he finds this funny as hell and I don’t think Mom appreciates how hard he finds it to hide his glee.

  Mom ignores Dad and instead looks at Emilia with disapproval, and though I’ve achieved what I wanted to, I find that I don’t feel pleased at all. “Emilia, sweetie... What did you do?” my mother asks, her voice stern. Emilia looks up at her and I see the panic building in her eyes. I can tell my mother’s disappointment hits her hard and I hate it. She trembles as her eyes fill with tears, and my heart starts to ache at the sight of her.

  “You,” I say, interrupting the scolding my mother is about to give her. “Come here.”

  Emilia jumps out of her seat and takes a step back, but I keep stalking towards her. “Shit. I’m sorry, Carter!” she yells. I shake my head and point at my hair. “I’ll make you pay for this,” I tell her. She dashes into the hallway in an attempt
to escape to her own house but I won’t let her. I chase her and she looks at me with wide eyes as she tries to evade me. I chuckle humorlessly as I lift her into my arms and right over my shoulder. She squeals and fights me but I hold her down and turn back towards the stairs.

  I carry a thrashing Emilia up the stairs with ease. I’m tempted to slap her ass for thrashing so wildly, but I know she’ll kill me if I so much as try. I walk into my bedroom and throw her onto my bed. She sits up, undoubtedly ready to argue with me, but I lift my arms and pull my shirt up and over my head. Emilia freezes and falls silent, her eyes glued to my abs, courtesy of hours and hours of football practice. She blinks as though she’s startled and I grin when she fails to snap out of it. If I’d known that all it takes to get her to shut up was walking around half naked, I’d have started doing it ages ago.

  “You’re gonna fix this,” I say, pointing to my hair. I walk into my bathroom and walk back out with an electric shaver. She takes it with trembling hands and I take hold of her tiny little chin, pinching it just slightly.

  “Mess around with me and it’s your hair that’s next. You’d better fix this, little Minx.”

  She glances at the mess that is my hair and the edges of her lips rise, as though she suddenly realizes how hilarious I look and how stupid this situation is. My relief is instant. I fucking hate seeing her upset. If I’d known my mom would be disappointed with her then I would’ve just thrown the whole damn shampoo bottle out. Mom never really interferes much and I thought this would be the same. I guess I look pretty damn ridiculous though. In hindsight, it’d be more surprising if she did let this go.