The Sister Code (D.O.R.K #2)
Page 13
I felt terrible for both her and Raven earlier today when she told us. It was like watching a person with no arms trying to lift another armless person out of a pit. They seemed so helpless, so fragile in the face of this news. They don’t have the strong support system Dad and I have in each other. Strong families band together in the face of adversity. Weak families crumble and turn against each other.
I seem to be the only one with Redinger blood around here who’s keeping my cool. I don’t have a reason to be destroyed by this, at least not yet. Jess and I are not likely to ever be close. I’ll be sorry to see her die if it comes to that, but our past together makes me a little distanced from this whole situation. Maybe that’s a good thing, or maybe it’s just a really sad reminder of how bad things were…I dunno.
Jess is still the woman who abandoned me, but she’s also the woman who has shown me a lot of care and consideration over the past couple of months. She didn’t berate me once for my mishaps of the summer and tried to help me any way she could on the press tour. Our bond grew back on the farm when we took a ride around the property together. She really does love horses almost as much as I do. It’s sad…so sad that we had to be ruined by some stupid, drug-induced decisions. I could feel the fact that we both wished we could turn back the clock.
I pity anyone who crosses Raven tomorrow at school. If any of the minions dare to step one foot out of line, there will be heads rolling. Maybe I should get there early and give them all a courtesy warning that she might not be her usual self, leaving out the part about Jess’s cancer, of course.
Man, it’s going to be hard not to blab this news. I can’t tell a single soul at school, though.
Here’s hoping I don’t do anything stupid tomorrow and all the Wilcox students get to keep their heads…except for maybe Liam Wellington. Raven can bite off his head if she wants. In fact, I encourage it.
Ttyl,
Mads
***
I don’t get time to warn the minions in the morning because my alarm didn’t go off. I don’t even get a chance to wave hello to Gio in the hallway because I’m so close to being late. I slide into my desk in the nick of time, just as the homeroom teacher’s getting ready to call attendance.
All the way to lunch, my day is pretty uneventful. Some students reach out to me and tell me how much they liked my singing, and I thank them warmly. Having strangers compliment me for something instead of looking at me half-naked or hearing me screech like a banshee is a refreshing change. I could definitely get used to this kind of attention.
I sit with Raven and the minions at lunch and, sure enough, Miss Queen Bee is on a rampage, barking orders left and right and making girls tremble in her presence. I try to appease her by acting excited to go to the SAB club after school with her this afternoon. After receiving a freezing cold glare, I wise up and keep my mouth shut. No amount of cheerfulness or pretending the events of yesterday didn’t happen is going to soften her up today.
Her bitchiness is bearable until something happens that I just can’t ignore. Chandler is in the seat between Raven and me, and when Raven moves to get up, she misjudges how close Chandler is to her and bumps into her, which sets her off balance. She narrowly avoids stumbling to the ground by grabbing onto Chandler’s shoulder for dear life. With a nasty grimace, Raven shakes off her hand like she just touched a snake and scowls at Chandler.
“Don’t you own a scale, you bloody hippo? I can’t even find the bone in your shoulder. You disgust me.”
Everyone at the table gasps. My stomach plunges when Chandler’s lower lip trembles and tears build up in her eyes. I stand hastily and stare Raven down.
“Raven Redinger, that was uncalled for. Apologize to Chandler right this second.”
Raven scoffs at me. “What are you, my mother?”
I stand my ground with a firm expression. When she sees I’m not going to waver, she mutters an insincere “sorry,” picks up her tray, and stomps her way into the café.
Kiki comes over to hug Chandler from Raven’s vacated seat as Chandler muffles a sob with her palm. I sit down on her other side and wrap my arm around her.
“Hey, Chandler, don’t listen to her. She’s a stone-cold bitch. You’re beautiful,” I assure her, brushing her hair back from her face.
“I know.” Chandler sniffles and wipes moisture from her eyes. “It just sucks having someone plunge a knife into your heart like that. It happens all the time, though. I’m such a baby for crying over it—”
“No, you’re not,” Kiki soothes her. “Raven makes everybody cry.”
Some of the other girls mutter their agreement. Overcome by confusion, I look them in the eyes one-by-one and ask a question that’s been bugging me.
“Why do you all put up with this abuse? Is it really worth getting invites to those parties?”
Kiki glances up at me with a scolded-puppy expression. “All of us have a dream here in L.A. I want to be an actress. Chandler wants to be a model. Raven promised us she would recommend us to recruiters once we get out of high school if we work for her while we’re here. That’s the real reason we’re willing to put up with all this.”
Chandler dabs her eyes with a napkin and nods. “It’s true. I’d never endure this for parties, but I will do anything to achieve my dreams, even if it feels degrading.”
My jaw tenses and I shake my head. Who does Raven think she is, representing an anti-bullying cause when she’s the one doing the bullying? She’s not just a part of the SAB club—she’s the president. I know she’s hurting, but that doesn’t give her an excuse to turn her pain on other people like this. Everyone has their struggles. Making other people’s lives more difficult doesn’t make hers any easier. I’ve got to come up with some way to end this reign of terror. There are ways to help these girls without treating them like doormats. Raven’s attitude toward those she views as “beneath” her is absolutely unacceptable.
***
I’m still brainstorming about how to transform my villainous twin when I get to Physics and take my seat beside Gio. He looks up from his iPad and flashes me a dimpled grin. My face cracks into a smile and I temporarily forget about Raven. Talking to this guy again sounds like a lot more fun than thinking over family issues.
“Come va, Madness?” He locks his device and angles himself to face me. “I sat on my Xbox yesterday hoping you’d come online but you never did.”
I kick myself inwardly. “Sorry, we had some family issues to deal with yesterday.”
His brows draw together with concern. “Is everything all right?”
I swallow hard. Mr. Observant is not likely to miss my facial expression. I might as well tell him a veiled version of the truth.
“Jess needs surgery and Raven’s going to have to stay with us for a while. We were over at their place making arrangements.”
Gio cringes. “Yikes.”
I giggle. “Tell me about it.”
“So Raven is going to be living next door to me for a while?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
“Thanks for the warning,” Gio says with a smirk. “I’ll turn off our security cameras so she doesn’t hack into our system and spy on us.”
I raise an eyebrow. “You sure you want to turn off your security instead of tighten it with my sister around?”
His velvety chuckle melts my insides. “Touché.”
I lean toward him as we discuss our upcoming Physics project. Gio’s strong with numbers and I’m strong with catching mistakes, so it seems like we’re going to be a good team. Talking and laughing with him again makes everything else in the world seem to fade around us. I forget my troubles and feel lightened, liberated somehow.
“You should come over sometime so we can work on this,” Gio suggests. “That might give you a little escape from the she-devil once she arrives.”
“Good idea. I’ll let you know when I’m free. Saturdays are band practice days so I’m busy then, but maybe on a Sunday I could come over.”
I smile at his eagerness to see me. “Sounds good.”
As the teacher calls attendance, Gio and I steal glances and grins, and I wonder why the hell I ever broke things off with this incredible guy.
***
Things are beyond awkward at the SAB meeting after school. Raven is still in a foul mood, yet she’s the president of the club, so she’s supposed to give a beginning-of-the-year speech. Every word is scripted and wooden and you can clearly tell she’s just going through the motions. She must only be heading up this group because it looks good on her record. It’s the only explanation for her joining it in the first place since she’s one of the meanest, most unapologetic bullies I’ve ever encountered.
“Bullying scars students’ self-esteem for life and makes them feel unsafe in an environment that should be the safest of all for learning and finding oneself. Students Against Bullying exists to make others aware of their effect on other’s psyches and work to effect change in the student body on a daily basis. Our ambassadors monitor bullying in the hallways and report any incidents they see to the principal or a teacher the same day. We have already stopped ten incidents so far this year, and we are working to prevent more all the time. Thank you all for being a part of this great club and caring about creating a safe environment for your fellow students here at Wilcox High School. I look forward to being your president once again.”
Raven sits down and the other students golf-clap. Looking at the blank faces around me, I’m thankful that these people are at least not fooled by her even if they’re sheeple for allowing her to head up this club in the first place.
The rest of the meeting is rather dull. We have to discuss a bunch of logistics for who stands in what hallway at what time and how the hell we’re going to cover the whole campus with the handful of people we have in here. Looking around at this group, I can tell they’re just a bunch of people who needed a club to join and thought this one was a worthy cause. They’re not really passionate about ending bullying or helping their fellow students. This is yet another area where I feel like maybe I can make a difference. I’ve been affected by cyberbullying, which is nearly as bad as in-person bullying, and watching Chandler suffer today really got to me. I’m planning on throwing my heart and soul into this.
Thinking over my now-long list of commitments and responsibilities, I start to wonder how I’m going to manage it all.
Chapter 21
September 25, 2015
The Week From Hell
This week I’ve been ping-ponging between playing the devil’s advocate and standing up to the devil herself. The minions say they’ve never seen Raven so irritable. She’s been lashing out at anyone who dares to address her personally, so now people are just waiting for her to bark her orders at them instead of approaching her about things. Being her sister, I’ve taken the brunt of her anger more than once this week. I’m learning not to let her words get to me. She may think she can break me down with her cutting remarks, but actually I feel like I’m getting stronger every day. When it comes to verbally assaulting me, Raven’s bark is worse than her bite. She can threaten with whatever she wants, but I know she’s never going to act on it. She needs me too much for our rise to the top.
The thing that bothers me the most is watching the other girls suffer. I’m starting to realize that none of them actually want to be her friend. Raven’s power drew them to her in the beginning, and now they’re ensnared in her trap and they feel like they have no escape. I can’t figure out any other reason why people unrelated to her would put up with her abuse. Her fame and money are the only thing keeping her friends right now, plus the fear of turning their backs on her.
The only bright spots in my week were playing Battlefield with Gio twice after my homework was done. It felt just like old times—competing for who could get the most kills while talking on the headsets and catching up. We didn’t say anything about still liking each other, but he did flirt with me a little bit, and I hesitantly flirted back. I’m still irrationally nervous that Raven might find out about our fun times together. Playing games with him is innocent compared to what we used to do, but she probably won’t see it that way.
I’m always forced to choose between the guy I like and my sister. Damn that code…
If I had just been in L.A. where I was supposed to be my whole life, my prince would have fallen for me first and we could have lived happily ever after.
But I guess this is my luck. What more could the Basket Baby expect, right?
Ttyl,
Mads
***
Saturday morning, I practically skip inside the rehearsal studio, letting the struggles of the week roll right off my back. Nothing could be more important right at this moment than getting together with these guys and giving birth to our sound. Dalton, Logan, and Max join Dad, Cass, and me shortly after we get there and everybody gets pulled into a huge circle hug in the middle of the room. Max teases after the other two hold us a little too long:
“Hey Dalton, stop squeezing my ass. No offense dude, but I don’t swing that way.”
Dalton playfully punches him in the shoulder, which turns into a childish slapping fight. They jab and laugh as if they’ve been friends for years. Logan and I just glance at each other, chuckle, and shake our heads in dismay.
“Okay boys, break it up,” I tease. “Let’s get this show rolling.”
After we unpack our instruments and tune them up, Dad and Cass coach us through some warm-ups and sound tests. We start with a cover to get inspired and into the groove. After that, Dalton shows us some of his songs and I play and sing my originals. Logan shows us the beats he’s been working on, and Max even has some new stuff to contribute. All in all, our sounds are pretty similar. Now we just need to work on blending those ideas into something we can all get behind.
With Dad and Cass’s help, by the end of the rehearsal, we have two original songs started and a couple of covers down pretty solid. All of us are feeling good when we pack up our instruments. We’re not riding any highs yet, but according to Dad, that will come later. Right now we need to focus on finding our niche and not giving up when things don’t exactly run smoothly or fall perfectly into place on the first try.
Logan waves at me to get my attention as I’m about to leave. I smile and go over to stand by his drum kit. His smile mirrors mine.
“Mads, I just wanted to say your original music is amazing. You’ve really got the song-writing gift. Dalton’s music is great, but I think your talent is going to make this band.”
“Aw, thanks!” I try to keep the delight out of my voice. His approval makes me blush from the roots of my hair all the way down to the tips of my toes.
“Are you free to play WoW tonight?” he asks.
I nod and lean against the wall beside him. “I should be free after I finish my homework. I’ll let you know when that is.”
“Okay, great. Claire’s out of town at her friend’s bridal shower tonight, so we won’t have to worry about her making our ears ring.”
I laugh a little too loud. Thank God he at least notices her whining. I was starting to think he was partially deaf.
“I’m glad to hear that. No offense to your girlfriend, but WoW is a lot more fun when she’s not around.”
He grins knowingly. “Agreed. Just text me when you’re done.”
“Will do.” I wink and turn around to walk out the door.
***
I feel a pang of guilt when I’m sitting in front of my desktop at home, waiting for Logan to log on, and I get a text from Gio.
Gio: Hey, no parties going on tonight. You wanna hang out on BF or maybe at SM?
Santa Monica. I haven’t been there with Gio since July. I remember the last time I walked down that strip of beach with him as clear as day.
***
The roar of waves crashing on the shore surrounded us, enveloping us as we dug our toes into the sand and gazed off toward the pier
. Whenever he stopped during one of our walks, I knew just what it was for. I lifted my lips expectantly, waiting on his butterfly-inciting, electrical-sparks-shooting kiss. Instead, I was met with a pair of concerned silver eyes.
“Why do you have to meet with them? Hasn’t Jess hurt you enough?” he asked.
I sighed and dropped my gaze to the sand. I kicked at a broken conch shell as I responded. “It’s complicated. Jess made a promise to me the night of the premiere. I need to see if she plans to make good on that promise.”
“You know you can’t trust anything she or Raven say, right?” He leaned down in an attempt to catch my gaze. When I gave no response, he sighed and took hold of my shoulders. “Madness, promise me you won’t let them talk you into anything you don’t want to do. I worry about you.”
I lifted my head to look him in the eyes earnestly. “I want to do this, okay? Is it really so hard to imagine I’d want to meet the twin sister I’ve never known?”
A mixture between a scoff and a grunt escaped his kissable lips. “If she were a normal human being, no. I wouldn’t blame you at all. But I’m telling you, she’s bad news. You shouldn’t have anything to do with her.”
I jerked away from his grip and narrowed my eyes into slits. I wasn’t a girl who liked to be told what she can and cannot do, especially by a boy.
“Gio, I understand you don’t want me to see them, but I am going to see them. You need to get that through your head. I’m not some mousy girl you can order around.”
“I’m not ordering you around; I’m trying to protect you,” he insisted, taking a step toward me. “There are things you don’t know about her. You need to listen when someone gives you a warning like this—”