Page 3 of Torn
“I was only on it for like six miles to get home from school. Stop yelling at me. You’re not my father,” I throw back.
“I’m close enough. I mean it, stay off that bike.”
“Fine, Uncle Tor. Don’t get all rabid.”
“I’m not even close to rabid. Yet.” He rushes ahead as we approach the house and climbs the stairs of the back deck to open the French doors that lead into the kitchen for me. Inside, bags ofgroceries are lined up on the granite-topped center island. Twice a month, my father likes to have his friends and the members of his band over to hang out in the backyard, eat, have a few drinks, take a dip in the pool, and jam a little. Toren usually brings over the food and alcohol and sets everything up.
I should help him put the food away, but I’m not in the best of moods. I just want to be alone, so I disappear down the hall and up the stairs to my bedroom, closing the door behind me. After kicking off my shoes, I collapse onto the bed and stare up at the vaulted ceiling. Just one more month till my high school graduation and then I can get away from the drama, fake friends, drunken parties, and groping boys who don’t know how to kiss.
What will I do then? Not a freakin’ clue. I just know I want to get away from school and the people in it.
I don’t fit in with them. I never have. My parents were only fifteen years old when they had me. Still in high school themselves, attending the very school I’m graduating from, in fact. Some of my teachers were also their teachers, and of course, the entire faculty knows this. It’s a bit bizarre to think that my mother was pregnant with me, sitting in the same classrooms I sit in now. Maybe that’s why I’m so smart—I was in high school in utero.
I was born into a family of rather famous people. My grandfather is a popular singer and songwriter, and my grandmother is a best-selling romance author who has written over one hundred books, twenty of them turned into television movies. My parents started a rock band when they were seventeen, and both went on to become well-known musicians. My father’s band, Ashes & Embers, now consists of his three brothers and two cousins. I grew up right in the middle of all of this. By the time I was ten years old, I was certainly no stranger to tour buses, loud concerts, drugs, and drama. But despite all that, I was loved and adored. Iwas everyone’s baby, really. Everyone took care of me. I wasn’t hidden from much that went on, and that wasn’t because my parents were negligent or irresponsible. They just wanted me to be a part of everything they were doing. They exposed me to things in life way before I could truly understand them, but in time it all caught up and sank in. I think that made me older and wiser than I should be, which has made me feel out of step with everyone else my age.
It didn’t take me long to figure out there were people who only wanted to be around me because of who I was related to. Kids pretended to be my friend to get concert tickets, T-shirts, an autograph, or to try to see the inside of our house—which might be big and have a small recording studio downstairs, but there’s nothing overly exciting going on here. Boys pretended to like me to get me to slip demo tapes to my father or to meet the sexy women of my mom’s band, Sugar Kiss. And the high school girls hoped they could meet my hot rock star uncles or, even worse, my dad. I never know who I can trust or who wants to be friends with me just forme. So other than spending time with my best friend, Chloe, and my dad’s younger sister, Rayne, I mostly stay home and hang out with my family, the band, and their friends. They’re the only ones I feel comfortable with.
My pocket vibrates and I pull out my phone to read a text message.
Chloe
Jason said you’re not coming tonight?
No, I’m not in the mood for a party.
Chloe
Come on! It’s Friday night! :) Jason really likes you.
Eh…
Chloe
Don’t mess this up! You can totally lose your V-card with him! He’s hot as fark!
I don’t know what the heck fark is and why Chloe can’t just text the wordfuck. But whatever. I accept her because I love her. We initially attached ourselves to each other in third grade, when she was dropped off on the first day of school by her two moms and I was dropped off by my father who was already covered in tattoos and had hair almost to his waist.And he still does.Chloe and I bonded over our mutual outsiderness while the other kids avoided us like we were circus freaks.
Stop with the V-card. You’re obsessed.
Chloe
Fine. Come to the party. I’ll be there. It will be fun. You can’t sit home all the time.
I’m really not into it tonight.
Chloe
Every single girl at the party is going to try to hook up with Jason.
We’ve only been seeing each other for two weeks. I don’t care what or who he does.
Chloe
You should and you will! I’ll text you later. Love ya, girl!
Love ya too
I have zero interest in joining the race to lose my virginity before graduation and I definitely don’t want to be a notch on some guy’s belt before he goes off to college, either. So far, Jason’s kisses haven’t made me feel any feels. For now, I’m happy enoughliving through the romance books my grandmother sends to my e-reader. It’s pretty sad that the kisses in the books are way more exciting than the ones in real life. At least for me.