Careful Wishing:
Careful Wishing:
Logan Williams
<2015>
Copyright © <2015> by
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal.
First Printing: <2015>
Chapter 1
Eight months ago, if you asked me how my life was going, I would reply saying it was perfect. I was entering my sophomore year of high school. I had a bunch of friends, a boyfriend, and plenty of support from my mother and father.
I kept my grades high, my hate low, and I followed all of lives rules. Never straying outside the lines, one could say I was a teachers pet. Yet, I still had friends. Amazing right? Well it was true, I was very popular. So was my family.
My mother was a social worker who worked hard for the children of Stamford. Most of the children came from the city. They came like a drop of rain in a bucket, slow, but eventually filling the space available.
My dad on the other hand was a lawyer in Manhattan. He saw the law as taking advantage of the less educated. Therefore he worked as a public defender. He took clients who couldn't afford a lawyer. It didn't offer as much money as defending high profile clients. Yet, my dad didn't care about the money. The way he saw things, the ones who could afford to pay a large chunk of change for a lawyer were guilty. Meanwhile, many of the poor couldn't properly defend themselves, being punished for crimes they didn’t commit.
So as you can see, my parents where busy people. Taking life by the horns and making the world a better place. However, no matter how busy their life got they made time for me. We always ate dinner as a family and we went on many trips.
We lived in a great community. I loved Stamford! It was a town that I could have seen myself living in forever. It had everything I could possibly want. It was perfect.
However, as they say, everything good must come to an end. Life just had to go and screw everything up. The first person it took from me was my mother. She died one day while out on a jog. The autopsy showed that she died of an irregular heart beat. While running she had exerted too much stress and her heart gave out.
My father and I were devastated. For months it seemed like the world had ended. Everything that once caused joy, only caused pain. For instance, my father and I stopped eating at the dinning room table. It caused too much pain. Now that I think of it, the whole house caused pain.
My farther felt the same way about the house, so he started staying at work late. At first it was only a few days a week. Then eventually he stopped spending time with me all together. He told me that he needed time to himself. That he was in a dark place and didn't want me to seem him in his current state.
So I went along with it. I was only sixteen! What was I suppose to do? Leave town and start a new life? No I didn't want that. I had a lot of friends in Stamford. It was my home, I didn't want to leave!
As time went on, my viewpoint changed. I realized that I wanted out of Stamford. Everything reminded me of my mother. Therefore, it was no longer a welcoming place.
The thing was, due to my mothers death, I fell into a deep depression. In the beginning my friends were supportive. My boyfriend went out of his way to cheer me up. But, after a few months, when I didn't come around, they started to distance themselves from me. They told me that I was bringing them down. They couldn't stand the negativity. Really who could blame them?
So three months after my mothers death, I found myself without friends, single, and sad. My grades were slipping and I had trouble focusing at school. Likewise, my father wasn't performing well at his job. He had lost the motivation to fight for clients on minimal pay. He wanted a change, and so did I.
One night we discussed our options. It was more of me listening and him talking. Nevertheless, we ran through the various pathways that were open. Ultimately I left the decision up to him. I told him that anywhere away from Stamford would be fine.
A week later the house was on the market. A few more weeks and it was sold. Taking the money, we moved out to Brooklyn. We got a small one bedroom apartment. It was a tight fit, but it would work for the time being. My dad promised me it was only for a little while. Once he got a new job, he would work on getting a bigger place.
So there I was, in a new place, scared with nobody to comfort me. My father wasn't a touchy feely guy and I didn't try to guilt him. I just wished I had my mother.
Laying on my bed most nights, I couldn't stop crying. I had lost my mother, my friends, my boyfriend, my grades, my school, my town, but most of all, I had lost myself. I didn't know who I was anymore.
At that time, I thought things couldn't get worse. That I was officially at rock bottom. What I didn't know,was that it was going to get worse. Someone was going to make it worse. That someone would be Maya Greenwood. She was a young blond women my dad had begun dating. A tasteless individual I could tell she was after my dads money.
At this point you are probably wondering what money? I mean I just said that we were in a tiny apartment in Brooklyn. Let me explain. After moving to Brooklyn, my dad started working at Clyde's Law Firm. He had a solid track record and they put him to work right away. Dealing with rich clients, my dad found his wallet to grow.
After a few months, he landed a high profile client. The man was suing a large retailer for the injuries he sustained at their store. What happened is the man was shopping at Drexler's. While in the store one day, he reached up for a blender. However, on the other side of the aisle, an employee was stocking the shelf with a fork lift. The employee accidentally pushed the peddle to far and it got stuck. The fork lift ran into the shelf. The blow caused the shelf to tip over, landing on the man. He sustained major injuries and was in a wheel chair. He no longer could walk.
Well my dad and his colleague won the case. The settlement was for twenty million. My dad got a hare over 3.5 million, 3 million even after taxes. We were officially rich, and the women knew it. Girls were practically throwing themselves at my dad.
Most of the time he just brushed it off. He wasn't ready to date anyone. Yet, one day, Maya Greenwood laid eyes on my dad. Once he was in her sights, she refused no for an answer. For a reason I can't explain, my father didn't see her ill intentions. He only saw her beauty and persistence. So, he began dating her.
Even then I thought things wouldn’t last. That my dad was just lonely and soon he would see the flaw in his decision. But it never happened. He stayed with Maya. So now here I am in my new apartment. A three bedroom with plenty of space. Yet, ever since Maya moved in, it has felt emptier then ever.
My life had gone from bad, to good, to worse. All because of Maya Greenwood.
Chapter 2
Today was my first day of my junior year of high school. For some reason life changes between tenth and eleventh grade. Last year I was allowed to enjoy my free time. I didn't have to worry about my grades. I mean I still had to do good, but I didn't have to worry about not getting an A on a test. Yet, entering eleventh grade, everything changed.
In eleventh grade my grades mattered. I was approaching the end of my high school career and it was time to think about college. I needed to get my grades to where I wanted them. In eleventh, there is still time to make up for any mishaps, I made in the first two years of high school. Yet, if I didn't get my act together soon, the damage would be irreversible.
The biggest issue was tenth grade. I had been in such a deep depression after my mother
passed, that I let my grades slip. By the end of the school year, my average was a 78. This brought my career average down from a 97 to a 87.5. I wasn't even a high honor role student anymore. Being the nerd I am, I calculated everything out. The highest possible average I could achieve was a 93.75. That was if I got a perfect grade for both my junior and senior year.
Just thinking of what I had done made me sick to my stomach. I had lost all hope of getting into an ivy league school. I used to be on track to get there. I wanted to attend Columbia. Yet, I wasn't going to get a one hundred average for two years straight. And even if I did, my grade was far below the average student accepted into Columbia. I probably would end with a 92 grade point average. Far below where I wanted to be.
Oh well I guess! The past is the past and thats that. All I can focus on is finishing school and getting out of my father's apartment. Any college would beat living with Maya. God I couldn't stand her.
The other day while I was eating breakfast, she came down in nothing but her underwear and bra.
“Oh I thought you had left for school already!” She told me when she found me in the kitchen.
“Nope it is only seven a clock.” I retorted. “You know school doesn't start till eight.”
She just laughed and went about her business. Even after she noticed I was there she didn't leave. She wasn't even embarrassed, it was more of a surprise. One would think she would go get dressed after she found out I was home. Nope!
So I gave her a death stare to show her I wasn't comfortable with they way she was dressed.
Maya just laughed and said, “I hope you don't mind seeing me like this. After all we are both women. We have the same parts and all.”
She laughed again and I smiled through gritted teeth. I didn't want her to know how much I hated her. That would only allow her to exploit me further. So I pretended to be okay with her begin half naked in the kitchen. In reality, I had lost my appetite and wanted to be as far away from her as possible.
But, lets get back on track. There will be plenty of time to talk about Maya. Right now I want to talk about school. So, where was I? College? Yes thats right. My advisor, Mrs. Provo, talked to me today. She told me that I needed to get my act together. She said I was a smart girl, but I wasn't trying. She was right, I wasn't trying, yet I had a valuable excuse. I had lost my mother! Without her I just felt lost.
Nevertheless, I told Mrs. Provo that I would try to improve my grades. On the way out, she told me that I should begin looking at colleges. In a few months time, when I saw her again, I should have picked out a few majors and schools I may be interested in. I also had to prepare for the SAT's they were going to be held in the spring. She told me that the test was weighted heavily on a college's decision. So, if I did well, I may be able to bounce back from my previous mistakes. But, if I did bad, I would be digging a bigger hole.
I took her advise seriously and left the office determined to change my life around. For the longest time I didn't know what I was fighting for. I had no motivation to excel at school. It seemed like there was no point. That I would always be unhappy, that I would never see life the way I did before my mother passed.
Nevertheless, today I found out what I was fighting for. It came to me during class. I was reaching in to my back pack for a notebook. As I reached in the bag, I found a note. Lifting it out, I read it. The note was from Maya.
DearAlexis,
I know we haven't always been on the same page. I know that I can't replace your mother, and I wouldn't ever want to. From what your father has told me, she was a great women. That being said, I want to get to know you better. It seems like you don't want to open up to your father and I. Again, I understand why you wouldn't want to talk to me, but I ask you to please cut your father some slack. He loves you and it hurts him to see you like this. I know it will take time for you to become used to me around the house. Yet, your father and I have become very close. We see bright things for our future, for your future. So with that in mind, I really wish we could hangout some time. Have a great day at school! I will see you later.
Maya
After I read that note, everything became clear. Maya was going to try to marry my father. What I was fighting for, was to keep my mother alive. I needed to honor her by getting good grades, loving my father, and getting rid of Maya.
Now I just had to figure out how to do all three. It would be hard to get close to my father again. After all, Maya was always by his side. But how would I get them to break up without hurting my father? I needed to show him that Maya wasn't the person he thought she was. I needed to show him the side of Maya that I had seen. The one that had abused me.
Maya Greenwood was a child molester. Something I could never let her forget.
Chapter 3
One month has passed since the first day of school. My grades right now are as follows, 98 in math, 97 in science, 99 in English, 98 in social, and 94 in gym. If it wasn't for stupid gym, my lowest grade would be a ninety-seven. I don't even understand why gym is a class? All we do is play childish games for thirty minutes. Somehow they think that exercising two or three times a week is going to make childhood obesity vanish?
Whatever the reasoning for gym, it was stupid. The least they could do was make the class mandatory, but there be no grade. It wasn't fair for people like me. I was ashamed of my body. Therefore, I never changed for class. The penalty was six point off my average. So, if I would have changed for class, I would have gotten a perfect score. Yet, due to my insecurities, I was punished.
If only they knew my reasoning. What I had been through. The things I had experienced in the last few months. If they knew, I am sure they would have let me wear whatever I wanted. I needed to feel safe, I needed to protect myself.
Besides grades, I have begun to speak to my father. He has decided to start work an hour later than usual. This way, he can eat breakfast with me. I only agreed to eat breakfast with him if Maya didn't join us. My dad respected my wish, and so we ate together. Just me and my father. Like the old times. The times in which we were there for each other.
While I am on the subject of wishes being granted, I also have noticed that Maya never walks around in her underwear anymore. I told my father that it bothered me, and that I didn't feel comfortable around her. He must have relayed the message, because ever since I told him, Maya always wore clothes around the house.
It was the least she could do. She could pretend to be a decent human being, when she was the scum of the earth. She could pretend that she still had innocence and that she wasn’t a predator. She could put on a fake identity for my father. It would shield him from the truth. However, I didn't want him to get hurt, so I kept our secret. No matter how much it hurt me, I couldn't let my father know. It would ruin him.
I would tell him when the time was right. Right now, my focus needed to be on school, and getting Maya to slip up. I needed to show my father that she wasn't loyal. I needed to get help from one of my class mates.
Taking one thousand dollars from my bank account, I paid a senior at my school to be my boyfriend. He was a tall, dark, handsome young man. The type of man Maya would drool over. The plan was for Maya to see him. From there, my “boyfriend” would slowly make advances on her. After awhile, he would arrive to my house without me. He would tell Maya that I would be home in an hour, that I had a meeting at school, and I told him he could wait at the apartment.
If all went well, one of the days, Maya would take the bait. She would try to hook up with Michael and he would gather the evidence via a hidden camera. I would present the footage to my father and so long Maya.
Life would go back to normal. Well nothing could ever be normal again. Not after my innocence was ripped from me. Still, justice would be served and I could move foreword with my life. My father could find another women to fall in love with. Someone who was closer to his age. An elegant women who would never dare lay a finger on my dad's money. Maybe he could marry someone with money. That way there would
be no doubt, that they weren't with him for his money.
A smile creeped up my face as the plan began to form. Like a puzzle piece scattered about on the floor, I gazed at the picture of the final product. Now all I had to do was put it together. It wouldn't be easy, but I would be able to do it.
Chapter 4
Its been a few months and operation take down hasn't been a success. Michael has been busy with basketball, so he hasn't had time to come over. Jeez even my fake boyfriend doesn't have time for me. Maybe thats the reason we aren't dating in the first place!
All jokes aside the last few months have been really looking up. My grades are excellent. Lowest grade last quarter was English. I start changing for gym and my average rises to a ninety nine, yet my English drops. Go figure! I guess my grades are on balance, when one goes up the other must go down.
My dad has told me that for Christmas break we are going to Florida. He wants to take a nice vacation, spending time with me and Maya. I hope he doesn't expect me to change my mind about Maya. We aren't a family. We never will be, and one trip isn't going to change that. Besides, the only reason I want to go is to get out New York for a while.
It has been difficult adjusting to the big city. There is just so many people and everything is moving so fast. Sometimes I feel like I am being squeezed. The air is being ripped out of my lungs for another hungry person to feed on. I feel claustrophobic, like everything is boxing me in.
I miss Stamford, but I know that I can't return home. There no longer is anything there for me. In fact, the only time we have returned was to visit my moms grave stone. We went on the anniversary of her funeral. Now to some, it may seem weird to call it an anniversary. It makes it seem like we are celebrating my mother's death. But, that is far from the truth.
The reason we visited was to celebrate my mom's life. It was a day where my father and I could tell stories about my mother. We could eat lunch with her, talk to her, and tell her about our life. It was a day where we reunited with my mom. Not physical, but spiritually.
Careful Wishing (Alexis Sherman's Tell All Book 1) Page 1