Chapter 2
RHETT
(Nineteen years old.)
People say they love you, but what they actually mean is that they love how you make them feel about themselves, or what they can take from you.
That’s the lesson I learned the day my parents died. If it weren’t for Mr. Hayes, Mia and I would’ve had nowhere to go.
Our parents worked hard for the little we had. There wasn’t a lot of money, but there was love. Fuck, we had the best parents. Not a day has gone by where I don’t miss them.
Where I look like Dad, Mia is the spitting image of Mom. We both have black hair, but Mia got Mom’s striking green eyes. My eyes are dark, sometimes brown and sometimes black, depending on my mood. My sister is my opposite. Where I’m big, she’s small, which only brings out my protective side even more. There’s nothing I won’t do for Mia.
We had family who could’ve taken us when our parents died, but Mia and I were nothing more than burdens to them. Our family couldn’t afford to be saddled with us. That was until Mr. Hayes stepped in, and suddenly our so-called family was interested in us again. I’m so thankful for Mr. Hayes. Financially, we had everything our hearts could desire. He was a fantastic father figure to me.
But Mia needed more than that. She needed a mother. I went from struggling through puberty to becoming Mia’s protector overnight. I was no longer someone’s son. Even though Mr. Hayes was the perfect father figure, I still had to become Mia’s mother, father and be her big brother all at the same time. It was easier for me to connect with Mr. Hayes than it was for Mia.
I’ll never forget the day I realized just how badly Mia needed a mother.
∞∞∞
I open my bedroom door and frown when I see Mia sitting on my bed. As she looks up at me, her chin starts to quiver.
“What’s wrong?” I ask while shutting the door behind me.
She shakes her head and looks back down at her hands.
I sit down next to her and duck my head lower, trying to catch her eyes. “I can’t make it better if you don’t tell me.”
“It started today,” she whispers as her tears start to fall.
“What started?”
She mumbles something I can’t make out as sobs shudder through her tiny body.
“I didn’t hear what you just said,” I say as I place my hand on her shoulder, trying to offer her some comfort.
She looks up at me, and there’s a mixture of sadness and awkwardness on her face.
“My period,” she whispers. She covers her face with her hands as she cries harder. It breaks my heart to see her so upset.
Before our parents died, I would’ve freaked out just thinking about having this conversation with Mia. Fuck, it still freaks me out, but I shove it down. I pull her into a hug and press a kiss to the top of her head while slowly rubbing her back.
I have no idea how to help. Do I take her to the drug store and let her get what she needs?
“It’s okay.” I take a deep breath and push her back. I hook my finger under her chin and nudge it up so she’ll look at me. “We’ll figure this out.”
“I took care of it. On the way home from school, I stopped at the store,” she says as she starts to calm down a little.
“It happened at school?” Shit, that must’ve sucked.
She nods. “Rebecca helped me.”
She looks so small and sad, so I wrap my arms around her again and hold her, hoping it will make her feel better.
“It made me realize how much I miss Mom,” she whispers against my chest.
“I miss them too.” It’s all I can say.