She walked up to me and got up in my face. “Did you just call me a bitch?”
I looked her in the eye and held her stare. “Yep.”
We stared at each other for a moment before the girl smiled. “You’re tough. I like you. How come I’ve never seen you around before?”
“I just moved here from Los Angeles.”
“Oh. I know someone who just went up to Los Angeles,” She held out her hand as she said, “I’m Whitney Terse.”
I shook her hand. “I’m Chrysanthemum Scoppio. But everyone calls me Chrissy.”
“Scoppio? Oh, so you’re… You’re Josh’s sister?”
“You know my brother?” I asked.
“Yeah, he and my brother are like best friends. Wow. You are not what I expected.”
“What were you expecting?”
“Someone like him. Mean, tough. I mean, you’re tough too. I already said that. But you don’t seem mean or anything. I don’t think you’d go starting trouble like he would. You seem nice.”
I smiled. “I try to be,” Secretly, being told that I wasn’t like my brother was the best compliment someone could give me.
“So what grade are you in?” Whitney asked.
“I’m a sophomore,” I told her.
“Me too. You and your brother are living at Greg Saffer’s, right?”
I nodded.
“I’ll stop by in the morning. We can walk to the bus stop together.”
“Sounds great.”
After we left the store, we stopped by what would be my new home. I looked up at it in awe. It was a three-story house. I had always wanted to live in a three story house!
Joshua lead me in through the garage. On the bottom floor were two bedrooms that had been turned into game rooms, a laundry room, and a bathroom. The middle floor had a bedroom with a bathroom, another bathroom, and a kitchen and living room.
“This is awesome!” I cried. I looked out the kitchen window, down at the street below. “Look! I’m in the kitchen, and I’m looking downstairs!”
“It’s not downstairs if it’s outside,” Joshua said, rolling his eyes.
I waved my hand. “You know what I mean.”
“Come on, here’s our room,” Joshua said, leading me up another set of stairs.
It wasn’t a bedroom. It was more of a loft. There was no door, and the wall surrounding the stairs that came up in the center of the room didn’t reach the ceiling.
“Where’s the bathroom?” I asked, looking around. “Where do I shower?”
“Bottom floor.”
“The bottom floor? There’s not even a bathroom in here?”
“It’s the best I can do, Chrissy.”
“Can’t you get a better job?” I asked. I knew I was being unfair, but I couldn’t help it. It was hard to imagine sharing nothing but a small loft with someone.
“A job?” Joshua laughed. “You’ll learn pretty quickly that nobody around here is going to hire me with my record.”
“So, you haven’t grown up since Los Angeles?”
“No, but I have to now.”
“Why?”
“Because they can take you away if I get in trouble.”
I froze. Me staying here was riding on my brother’s ability to behave? I didn’t think he could behave for very long.
“Go take a shower,” He told me. “Then we can go meet my friends.”
As I stood in the shower, I tried to convince myself that I hadn’t made a mistake. Foster care was definitely worse than this. Besides, if this didn’t work out then I could always leave. I had nowhere to go, but I’d figure something out. I’d have to.
After my shower, we walked over to Joshua’s friend’s house.
“We’ll have to walk most places. Or maybe take the bus,” He explained to me. “I was just borrowing the car from Greg.”
“Greg seems nice,” I said. “He lets you live with him for free and he lets you borrow his car.”
“No, he’s not nice. Stay away from him. And don’t go downstairs when there’s a party going on, ‘kay?”
I nodded. If Joshua wanted me to stay away from someone, then they must be pretty bad.
As we got closer to his friend’s house, Joshua said, “You’ll like my friends. They’re not bad guys. They don’t really know about you, though. I only told them that I have a sister when I left to get you.”
“How come?”
“I don’t really like to talk about Los Angeles. Anyway, we’re going to the Peribat house. It’s usually where you can find me. Tyler’s the youngest. He’s fifteen and he skipped a grade like you, so you guys are in the same grade. I’m sure he’ll let you hang out with him until you make your own friends.”
“Well, Whitney Terse said we can walk to school together tomorrow.”
“Oh, you met her?”
I nodded. “At Hobby Lobby. She said you and her brother are best friends.”
“Yeah, Shane and I get along pretty well. There’s also their brother, Jack. He’s cool too.”
“Do I have to stay away from them?”
Joshua shook his head. “Nah. They’ll leave you alone if they know that you’re my sister.”
I didn’t know if that comforted me or not.
“Here, this is the Peribat’s house. Don’t bother knocking. The key’s on top of this light,” He said, reaching up toward the top of the porch light. “Just let yourself right on in.”
“Isn’t that dangerous?” I asked.
“They don’t care. It’s not like they have anything worth stealing anyway.”
I didn’t say anything.
“Hey guys, what’s up?” Joshua asked as he walked through the front door.
I stayed on the porch.
“Oh good, you’re all here,” He turned to me. “Chrissy, come on,” He turned back to everyone in the house as I walked in. “Guys, this is my sister, Chrissy. Chrissy, this is… The guys. There’s Caleb, Cameron, Kyle, Tyler, and this is Jordan. Watch out for him, he’s mean.”
I looked at Jordan. He did look mean. Not mean like my brother, but mean in a stern way. I could tell that he was probably like the parent of the group. I shook everyone’s hands as I tried to match names with faces. I couldn’t help but notice how cute Tyler was. All the Peribat brothers were good looking, with golden blonde hair and green eyes. Cameron looked like a model. There wasn’t anything remarkable about Caleb or Kyle’s looks, but I didn’t think I’d have any trouble remembering who was who.
“Tyler, Brooklyn skipped a grade too. Maybe you’ll have some classes together,” Joshua told him.
“Cool. You should sit with us on the bus tomorrow. Caleb, Kyle, Cameron, and I all ride the bus together,” Tyler told me.
I looked up at Joshua. “You don’t sit with them?”
Kyle laughed. “Josh? He hasn’t gone to school as long as I’ve known him.”
“You don’t go to school?”
Joshua shook his head. “There’s nothing important there anyway.”
“Good, so I don’t have to go either then.”
“Yes, you do. I could get in trouble if you don’t.”
My eyes widened. I didn’t know there were so many rules about what Joshua and I had to do. I turned back to Tyler. “Thanks, but I’m riding the bus with Whitney Terse tomorrow. Do you know her?”
Tyler nodded. “Yeah, I know her. I’m kind of friends with her brother, Jack.”
“Oh, so you all know each other around here, huh?”
Tyler nodded again. “This is a newer neighborhood. Not too many people have moved in yet. These houses were all built maybe five years ago. Probably less than that.”
I sighed to myself. “I have a lot of catching up to do.”
Tyler and I sat on the couch talking all day.
“So, your parents are cool with all your friends being here all the time?” I asked. “You’re lucky. My dad didn’t really like me having friends over. He said it was too loud.”
“My mom died last ye
ar. And my dad travels a lot for work,” Tyler explained. “It’s just Cameron, Jordan, and me most of the time. But my dad doesn’t mind our friends being over. Neither did my mom. They both love kids. Or at least, my mom used to love kids. Josh and my mom really got along.”
“I’m sorry,” I told him. “I don’t know if Joshua told you, but the reason I’m living here now is because my dad died a few days ago. Now Josh is all I have left.”
“What about your mom?”
“She left a long time ago. About ten years, in fact. I don’t remember her that much.”
“Hm. Maybe that’s why Josh liked my mom so much,” Tyler said.
“What do you mean?”
“He was looking for a mother figure. And my mom loved to mother people. It’s like they needed each other or something.”
I thought for a moment. “You’re smart,” I told him at last.
“I guess.”
I laughed. “No, seriously. You figured out something about my brother. I can’t figure out anything about him. I’ve never been able to. We don’t know anything about each other.”
“Maybe now you can find things out about each other now that you’re here.”
I shrugged. “I don’t know if I want to know about him,” I replied honestly.
“Josh isn’t so bad. I don’t know exactly what he was like in Los Angeles, but I think he’s calmed down since then. At least, it sounds that way from what he’s told me.”
“He told you about Los Angeles?”
Tyler nodded.
“He said he doesn’t like to talk about California.”
“Not usually. But sometimes when he’s stoned you can get him talking about California.”
I stared at Tyler. Maybe he knew why Joshua left home. Because I sure as hell didn’t.
Chapter 5
The next morning, I woke up at five-thirty. I needed to find a few different ways to wear my dress since it would take some time to make my new clothes look the way I wanted. Unfortunately, there weren’t many ways to wear my dress that I could think of.
Joshua came downstairs with me while I ate breakfast. He stared at my outfit as he said, “Those kids are going to eat you alive if you dress like that.”
I shrugged. “I did inherit some of your attitude, you know. We’re not completely different.”
“You must have my attitude if Whitney Terse wants to hang out with you.”
“She isn’t being nice to me just because I’m your sister?”
“Whitney? No way. She’s not nice to anyone.”
“That’s good to know. At least I know she really likes me.”
“Yeah, she doesn’t really like anyone. Shane says she doesn’t have a lot of friends,” Joshua reached into his pocket and said, “Here. I want you to carry this with you at all times.”
I looked at what he had handed me. It was a switchblade. “Why do I need this?”
“There’s a lot of kids you need to watch out for.”
“Like who?”
Joshua sighed before saying, “I’ve made some enemies. Just watch your back, alright?”
“I probably won’t be using this.”
“Just keep it anyway.”
As I slipped the switchblade into my binder I asked, “So, you really have a reputation around here, huh?”
Joshua smiled. “You could say that.”
I sighed. “Great.”
As Whitney and I walked to the bus stop, I asked her about Joshua’s enemies. She explained things to me better than Joshua did. Apparently, he spent a lot of time jumping people and conning them out of their money. Then she said that it would probably help if they knew that Joshua was my brother.
“What? Why?” I asked.
“People are terrified of him,” She told me. “If people knew that you were his little sister, they’d stay way the hell away from you.”
“I’m not really sure if I want people to know that we’re related.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.”
“What does that mean?”
Whitney smiled. “Just trust me.”
At the bus stop, Tyler, Cameron, Kyle, and Caleb were all there.
“Hey guys,” I said.
“Hey, Chrissy,” Everyone said.
Whitney asked, “What? No ‘Hey, Whitney’?”
Kyle smiled. “No, we don’t like you. But Chrissy, here? Chrissy’s my new best friend,” He said, putting his arm around me.
I hadn’t talked to Kyle that much the day before, but he was pretty funny. I liked him already.
Whitney pulled me away from him. “No way. Chrissy’s my girl. She’s too good to be hanging out with you.”
Caleb, Cameron, and Tyler started yelling and laughing.
“She burned you, man!” Caleb said, clapping Kyle on the shoulder.
“Yeah, yeah,” Kyle laughed.
Just then, the bus pulled up. We climbed on with all the other students, and Whitney lead me to the back.
“This is where we sit,” Whitney told me as we sat down in the row second to the back. “Too bad it’s right in front of these idiots,” She turned back to look at my brother’s friends as she loudly said, “Who always kick the god damn seats!”
“We won’t kick them now that Chrissy’s sitting with you,” Caleb said.
Cameron nodded. “Yeah, we’re not that mean.”
Whitney grinned. “Whatever.”
Cameron and Caleb kept their promise and did not kick the seat.
When we got to school Whitney went to the office with me to get my schedule, then showed me where everything was.
“I’ll meet you by the cafeteria doors at lunch, alright?” She said.
I nodded. “See you then.”
In first period, which was English, I discovered that Tyler was in my class.
I smiled as I sat down next to him. “Hi.”
He smiled back. “Hey. How are you liking Vegas so far?”
Wow, he looked so good when he smiled. It was at that moment that I decided that I liked him. I mean, like-liked him.
“It’s so different from Los Angeles. I don’t know how Joshua adjusted. I mean, in California we had the beach and here it’s just desert. And oh my god, it’s so hot. It’s only April and I’m roasting here.”
“Yeah, I imagine things are pretty different. How do you like living at Greg’s? Have you met him yet?”
I nodded. “Joshua introduced me to him last night,” I made a face as I said, “He seems sleazy. I already can’t stand him.”
“Why do you do that?”
I paused. Was I doing something weird? “Do what?”
“You call your brother Josh when he’s around, but when he isn’t, you call him Joshua.”
“Oh, that. I’ve always called him Joshua. Everyone in California did. Josh must have been something that you guys started calling him. And when he picked me up in Los Angeles, he told me to call him Josh. He’s probably trying to forget Los Angeles or something like that.”
“It makes sense. He seems annoyed whenever one of us calls him Joshua.”
I wanted to say more, but the teacher walked into the room, cutting off our conversation. It’s alright, because Tyler and I ended up having second and fourth period together too, so we ended up having more time to talk.
By lunch after fourth period, everyone knew that I was Joshua’s sister, thanks to Whitney.
I found Whitney in the cafeteria and pulled her aside. “Why did you tell everyone that Joshua is my brother?”
She laughed. “Relax. No one’s going to bother you now,” She pointed to a group of girls rushing past me with their heads down. “See? People are going to leave you alone.”
“Yeah, and that’s the problem. Back in Los Angeles, people were scared of me because of my brother’s reputation. I didn’t have friends up until this year. I wanted a fresh start here.”
Whitney turned serious. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I know what it’s like though. People wo
n’t talk to me because they’re afraid of my brothers.”
I smiled. “I guess we’re stuck with each other, then.”
Whitney grinned. “I guess we are.”
We sat down after getting our food.
Whitney looked around the cafeteria before saying, “I saw you come in here with Tyler.”
I nodded. “He was just showing me how to get here. My brother asked him to help me out today.”
“He’s really cute, don’t you think?”
I shrugged. I may have thought that he was cute, but I wasn’t about to go spilling my guts to a person I barely knew. Telling her about Los Angeles had been enough for one day.
“Do you know if he’s dating anyone?”
I shook my head. “I have no idea.”
“Do you think you could find out?”
I looked up. “Do you like him?”
Whitney nodded. “Yeah. I have for a while.”
That was one of the things I liked about Whitney. She was who she was, and she was unapologetic about it.
“I guess I could ask him,” I told her. I didn’t mention that I liked him too.
“That’d be great. Thanks, Chrissy. And you know, I really am sorry about telling everyone that you’re Josh’s sister. But people would have figured it out eventually. I mean, you look alike and you’re both from Los Angeles. And your last name? No one has a last name like that.”
I shrugged. “I was just hoping that everyone would think that it was a coincidence.”
Whitney laughed. “Believe me, if I could figure it out, then everyone else would have been able to too.”
“You mean he didn’t tell you why he was going to Los Angeles?”
Whitney shook her head. “I didn’t even know that he had a sister. It was just a lucky guess. He doesn’t tell anyone anything.”
I nodded. “Yeah. I know.”
Chapter 6
I ended up going to Whitney's house after school. It was there that I met her brother, Jack.
“Hey, Whitney,” He said as he sat down at the kitchen table. “Who's your friend?”
“Jack, this is Chrissy. Chrissy, this is my brother, Jack.”
Jack looked me over as he said, “Chrissy? That's an exotic name.”
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