500 Days

by Jessica Miller

  We spent the next two hours catching up with Jack. He told us he did whatever he could to get home for Jacob’s graduation. He wouldn’t talk about his time in Iraq, which was okay. I told him all about this past school year. I left out the part about my new summer job at the bar. I knew they would find out eventually. I heard Jasper mention the place a few times, but I knew that was one place they wouldn’t want me to work and I wasn’t ready to be forced to quit. I needed the money.

  When Jasper was done, he cleaned up, and I told Jack he could stay with Declan and me at the apartment so he could still surprise Jacob and Jaxson. He thanked me for the offer but decided to go surprise Jaxson now. I was surprised Jaxson wasn’t already here. He and Jasper lived together and their house was only two blocks away, but then I remember him saying he got a job for the summer where he worked mostly weekends.

  Forgetting we ran here, I asked the boys for a ride until Declan pulled me out the door saying we would be fine running back. I gave a Jack a quick hug goodbye and whispered, “Help me,” as Declan yanked on my arm. He laughed as I was dragged out the door. Declan ran circles around me as I walked/jogged back to our apartment. I checked the time to see I had a few hours before I had to get ready for tonight. I crashed face first on my bed and took a much needed nap.

  Chapter 3

  Casper

  I made it back to the townhouse sometime around three. Colton and Greyson were on the couch playing video games when I stumbled in. Colton looked at his watch. “She must of have been something. I don’t think I have ever seen you come in this late.”

  “She was something alright,” I mumbled to myself.

  “Details brother,” Greyson demanded as he jerked his thumbs back and forth on the remote controller never taking his eyes off of the TV.

  I fell back on the recliner and ran my hand over my face. “I’m trying to forget.”

  “What? We are talking about the blonde from last night, right?”

  “Yep.”

  “Come on, what, she have like a third nipple or something – oh fuck you!” Greyson yelled, throwing the remote. Colton smiled at his victory and reached over to grab a cigarette. Greyson leaned back on the couch. “So what was so bad about her?”

  “Just not what I expected.” I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees.

  “That’s because you’re in love with a woman who doesn’t exist,” Colton said, flicking ash off his cigarette.

  Greyson leaned forward. “Please don’t tell me you’re still hung up on this mystery chick?” When I didn’t respond he took it as a yes. “Dude, it was six months ago! Let go of the fantasy and move on.”

  As much of a dick as Greyson was, he was right. I needed to let go of the imaginary girl with the ivy tattoo. “I’m gonna hit the shower.” I got up and headed back to my room. The only room that had its own bathroom. I tore off my clothes, dropping each item on the floor as I headed into the shower. I turned the water on hot and stepped in letting the stream hit my face. I washed away the memories of last night and watched it all go down the drain. I grabbed a towel from the rack and wrapped it around my waist. Then I wiped the fog away from the mirror. When I saw the long pieces of my hair flopping over my eyes I knew it was time for a haircut not to mention I was long overdue for a shave. I looked down at the unfinished tattoo on my arm and knew I should call sometime this week to get that finished. I had a lot of shit to do that I was putting off.

  I squeezed the last of the toothpaste onto my toothbrush. Okay, time to get my ass in gear. I got dressed and combed my hair to the side, making it look somewhat presentable. The one thing I loved about this haircut was that it had many looks. It was short on the sides, but not shaved, and long enough on top that I could spike it into a crazy Mohawk when I wanted. And when I needed to look more respectable I could comb it over to the side, but with the length it was at now, it was getting harder to maintain. I made a mental list of things I needed to do and grabbed my keys on the way out. “Where you going?” Colton asked.

  “Running some errands.”

  “You going to dinner at your dad’s?” Fuck, I forgot about that. “He called while you were in the shower.” Colton stood up and slapped me on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. I’ll be there to referee.” I raised my brows at him. “He told me to come.” I nodded once. Of course he would want Colton there. He liked him more than he did his own son. I’ve known Colton since we were little. My dad and his dad were business partners. His parents died in a plane crash when he was little. After the accident my dad brought Colton to live with us and later adopted him. I didn’t mind. Colton and I got along great and he was more like a brother to me than my own stuck up half-brother. He was also the only one who could keep the peace between my dad and me.

  “Is CiCi going to be there?” Greyson asked, wiggling his brows.

  “Fuck off,” Colton and I said at the same time making Greyson laugh. Greyson knew how to push our buttons and loved to get under our skin, but when it came down to it, he was an awesome friend. He knew sisters were off limits but he still loved to be a prick. I threw an empty water bottle at him.

  “Tell her I said hi and looking forward to the next time she comes to one of our shows.” I narrowed my eyes at him and closed the door leaving him laughing to himself. When I sat down on the smooth leather of my restored mustang, my hair fell forward into my eyes, and I knew now the first thing on my list was to get a haircut.

  Two hours later and we were heading to my dad’s for Sunday funday as Colton liked to call it. He always placed a bet to see how long it would take my dad and me to get into an argument. I only usually lasted an hour, but I was going to try my hardest to make it through the whole dinner before I stormed out.

  We were greeted at the door by Charles, my dad’s butler. “What’s up Charles,” I smiled, patting his arm.

  “Good evening Mr. Casper and Mr. Colton. Your father and mother are in the living room.”

  “Stepmother,” I corrected. Charles gave me a sympathetic smile and gestured for us to join the rest of the family.

  Before we even rounded the corner I was attacked by a tiny fairy. “Casper!” she shrieked, gripping her small arms around my legs.

  I untangled her hands and bent down to meet her at eye level. “Katalina, how is my favorite fairy princess?”

  “Look at my wings, they’re purple.” She turned so I could see the bright sparkly wings she had strapped onto her back. Glitter covered the back of her white sundress and long blonde hair.

  “I love them,” I smiled.

  I stood up to greet the rest of my family. “Wait!” Katalina yelled. She took her sparkly wand and waved it over us. “Now you may enter.”

  “Why thank you your majesty.” Colton and I did a small bow before we followed her into the living room. My father was sitting in his chair while Dallas, the atrocious blonde bimbo he called my stepmother refilled his drink. She was younger than my sister who was thirty, and she was his third wife. I don’t blame the first two for leaving. He was a son of a bitch and cared more about money and appearance than he did anything else.

  When he saw me approach his eyes gave a disapproving look. I bit my tongue. I just had to make it through dinner. Two hours and I was free. “Casper, it’s nice to see,” Dallas greeted, giving me a kiss on the cheek. I fought the urge to pull away. “Colton, good to see you as well.”

  “And you as well Mrs. Covington.”

  “How many times have I told you, you can call me Dallas?”

  “My apologies, Dallas.”

  My dad finally stood up and walked over to us. “Colton, glad you could come.” He embraced him in a friendly hug and when he pulled back he gave me a slight nod before he walked away. Two hours, I repeated to myself. “Dinner should be ready if you would like to follow,” Dallas gestured with the wave of her hand like she was on some game show. I stifled a groan and followed Colton in to the dining room.

  “Casper, watch, I can fly!” Katalina yelled. She was s
tanding on the arm of the couch with her arms out at her side.

  I heard a scream as she leaped from the couch. I dove and caught her midflight. My sister Candice came rushing over from the stairs and ripped her from me, putting her down on the ground. “Katalina, how many times have I told you that you cannot fly? You just cannot. It is not possible.”

  “But Tinkerbelle can,” she said softly, her soul, crushing at her mother’s harsh words.

  My sister crumbled when she saw the lip on Katalina’s mouth start to tremble. She brushed the hair out of her eyes. “Honey I know, but we’ve had this discussion. You are not Tinkerbelle and you do not have the ability to fly. Do you understand me?” She nodded her tiny head making her tight blonde curls bounce. My sister sighed and picked her back up, glaring at me.

  “I don’t even get a thank you?” She smacked me on the back of the head. “What was that for?”

  “This is all your fault. You are the one who told her all those bedtime stories of magical fairies and now she’s obsessed with it.” She turned and walked away. I looked over my shoulder at Colton and he just shrugged his shoulders. I let out a deep breath and then joined the rest of my family.

  “Is everything okay?” my father asked, looking at a frightened Candice clutching Katalina.

  “Yes, fine.” She looked up at me and narrowed her eyes. My father cleared his throat and made it a point to let me know I would get a reprimand for something I didn’t even do.

  “Where are CiCi and Cayden?” I asked just as they both joined us at the table.

  “Cas…Colt,” CiCi smiled, giving us both a kiss on the cheek as she made her way to her seat. She wore an off the shoulder sweater with a tank top under and shorts. Her light brown hair was streaked with blonde and hung straight just below her shoulders. Cayden strolled in behind her wearing a polo shirt and khaki shorts, his blonde hair cut shorter than normal. He smiled when he saw us. I pushed my chair back to give him a hug.

  “Casper you crazy son of a bitch, how you been?”

  “Language,” dad growled.

  “Sorry pops,” Cayden laughed and gave Colton a half hug, half hand shake. He took a seat on the other side of CiCi just as Charles began to serve dinner. Cayden was my half-brother. My bastard of a father cheated on my mom when she was three months pregnant with CiCi and ended up knocking up the other chick. When my mom found out she divorced my dad. He married Cayden’s mother and then when she got too old he traded her in for something younger like he always does. That marriage only lasted five years. The sad part was that she wanted nothing to do with Cayden. She just left him, with no rhyme or reason.

  No one talked during dinner and I had a feeling my dad was waiting until the end to tear into me. After the plates were cleared and dessert was served, Katalina was off and running into the back yard. “Kat wait!” Candice called.

  “No need to worry Candy, she’ll be fine.” Dallas waved her off with the flitter of her hand.

  “I told you not to call me that.” Candice excused herself from the table so she could keep an eye on Katalina.

  “I’ll come with,” CiCi volunteered, not in the mood to sit through another one of dad’s boring talks.

  “Both of you sit,” dad directed.

  “Dad, I am not going to let my five year old, who thinks she can fly,” she glared at me. “unattended in the back yard, where there is a pool she can fall into.”

  He gestured for one of the servants. “You,” he pointed.

  “Roberta dad, her name is Roberta,” I said, trying hard to keep my anger in check. She had worked for us for over twenty years and he still hadn’t learnt her name, but of course not, these people meant nothing to him.

  “Roberta,” he corrected, staring at me. “Would you please go keep an eye on young Katalina?”

  “Yes sir.” Roberta dipped her head and made her way out back.

  “Now that’s taken care of.” He looked to his joke of a wife and smiled, cupping her hand on the table. Dallas took her other money grabbing hand and ran it up and down the length of my dad’s arm. I fought the urge to vomit. She was only twenty-five but she was a gold digger. Her store bought breasts sat right at the edge of the table and her latest injection of collagen made her lips look like a blowfish. I hated the day my dad told me he was going to marry her and I have a feeling I’m going to hate today even more.

  “Dallas and I wanted you all together today so we could tell you the good news.” I held my breath and waited for the delivery.

  “I’m pregnant!” Dallas shouted, excited. I scrubbed my hands down my face while the rest of my siblings sat there in silence. My dad cleared his throat when no one said anything.

  “Congrats daddy,” CiCi said, breaking the silence.

  Colton jumped in next. “Congratulations to the both of you.”

  “Thank you Colton.”

  “Yeah dad, way to go. Now she’ll finally have someone her own age to play with.” I stood up from the table and watched as Candice and Cayden tried to hide their smiles.

  “Don’t you speak to her like that. Sit down.”

  “Honey, it’s fine.” The she-witch patted his hand before she placed it on her stomach.

  “No, apologize to your mother.”

  “That thing is not my mother and I’ll be damned if I’m going to apologize for telling the truth.”

  “Everyone out.” They all stood and left, glad to not be the one under fire. Dad and Dallas stayed put.

  “Dad, you can save the bullshit speech.”

  “Dallas, will you excuse us for a minute.” She managed to unhook her claws long enough to leave my dad and me alone. “Sit.”

  “I’d rather stand.”

  “Suit yourself.” He stood and walked over to the bar to make himself a drink. He swirled the brandy around the glass before he dug into me. “When are you going to start taking responsibility for yourself? You sit and pass judgment when you should take a look at yourself in the mirror. You shame the Covington name. Out of respect you could have at least worn a long sleeve shirt to cover those disgusting tattoos and that hair. You couldn’t have gotten a haircut before you came for dinner? Or were you too busy sleeping all day?”

  I crossed my arms letting him know he couldn’t get to me. “Is that all you got? You want to take a stab at my boots or let’s talk about how much you despise the fact that I chose to live elsewhere so I don’t have to be constantly badgered by you. Or hey, what about school?”

  “Now that we’re on the subject, have you signed up for your prerequisite classes?”

  “You never listen to a thing I say, do you? I am not going to law school dad. I dropped those classes two years ago and changed my major.”

  “Why would you do that?”

  “Because I don’t want to go to fucking law school! That’s what you want, and I’m not you.”

  “Clearly.”

  “You know what, I’m done. I’m tired of having the same argument over and over again.” I walked out without another word. My dad didn’t say anything nor did he try to stop me. I headed out back to let Colton know I was ready to leave. He and CiCi were running around the back yard with Katalina. They had their arms spread wide pretending to be airplanes.

  “I’m sorry.” Candice stepped over to my right. “I just panicked and it wasn’t your fault.”

  “It’s alright.” I threw my arm over her shoulder and gave her a small squeeze.

  “How bad was it?”

  “I don’t think I’ll be coming back for anymore Sunday fundays.”

  “Sunday funday?” she arched a brow. I winked. “You’ll crush Kat if she doesn’t get to see you. You do know you’re her favorite uncle.”

  “Look, don’t play the guilt trip on me. I can’t keep doing these weekly beatings.”

  “I know. Do you want me to talk to him?”

  “What’s the point? He won’t change.”

  “But maybe he –”

  “Don’t worry about it.” I pulled her in
for a hug before I said goodbye to Katalina and the rest of my siblings. Then I stormed out with Colton rushing to keep up with me.

  “Where we going?” he asked, knowing I needed to let off some steam.

  “The bar,” I growled. He took the keys knowing I was too angry to drive. I called Greyson on the way and he said he would see us in about twenty with a table of drinks waiting.

  Chapter 4

  Alexis

  The sound of a bullhorn screaming in my ear was what woke me from my nap. I jumped, startled, and fell off the bed in a crumbled heap on the floor. I looked up to see Jaxson, Jasper, and Jack standing in the doorway of my bedroom laughing. “Rise and shine princess,” Jack said with a devious smile. My eyes wandered down to his hands to see he was the culprit.

  “You’re all a bunch of jackasses, you know that?” I lifted my bruised body from the floor. “A simple, ‘hey Alex, wake up,’ would have sufficed.”

  “But that wouldn’t have been any fun,” Jaxson laughed. I flipped them off on my way to the shower. Every day I regretted giving my brothers the spare key to my apartment. I told them it was in case of emergencies, but they have been abusing the privilege and took it as a good opportunity to torture me whenever they felt like it. I contemplated changing the locks.

  I took the quickest shower possible, knowing they would be bitching at me to hurry up. I could just picture Jack tapping his watch and complaining that I was putting them off schedule. Declan had already picked out a nice dress for me. It was dark blue with capped sleeves and hit just above the knee. It was the kind of dress that you saw girls wearing in commercials that pranced around in meadows and spun making the skirt fly out around them. I was hardly a girly girl growing up, but lately I started to appreciate things that most girls did like dresses, makeup, and shoes. I still preferred jeans and a t-shirt, but I also liked to dress up when I could.