The Garden of Eve 5

...chapter 5...

 

Winter Storms

            “So let’s just run through this again and I promise I won’t bug you about it,” Joan said. She was finishing packing for her anniversary trip and Eve was lying across Joan’s bed next to the open suitcase.

            “Morgana is coming over, we are going to get ready and the guys are going to pick us up for the party. After the party we will all come back here, the boys will sleep in the guest bedroom. Then the rest of the time you’re gone I will most likely stay over at Morgana’s house or she will be over here. I should expect Mrs. Wrecker to maybe pop in at random times to check on me,” she said and Joan laughed.

            “You know we trust you, I just feel bad about leaving you alone for 5 days,” Joan told her.

Before they knew that they’d have a daughter the Ferris’ made plans for a Caribbean cruise. This was their tenth wedding anniversary and they offered to try to take Eve along, but she declined. There was no way she wanted to be a third wheel on a romantic cruise, so she opted to stay home. And there happened to be a party tonight that one of Mario’s friends was throwing, it was a “pimps and hoes” party. Eve and Morgana had been throwing things together all week so they could be the best dressed at the party. The details of the party Eve didn’t share with Joan, she was pretty sure she didn’t want to know. If she was cool enough to let they guys spend the night in a completely unsupervised house, then she didn’t need to know about micro mini skirts and booty shorts. Morgana’s parents knew what was going on and they too were fine with the little slumber party, it probably had something to do with the fact that they had a key to the house. The Wreckers could drop in at anytime, but Morgana said they probably wouldn’t. Ana Wrecker was too much of a free spirit and she trusted her daughter to make good decisions and take responsibility for the bad ones.

“I know and you worry too much. When you come home you will still have a house and a daughter, no parties will be had,” Eve assured her. Joan stopped folding clothes and hugged Eve.

“Can you believe I’ve been married ten years? I suddenly feel old, but I did marry my high school sweet heart,” Joan said while she was closing up her suitcase. “I bet we’ll be planning for a wedding when you’re out of high school. You’ll be just like me marrying your high school sweetheart, there’s nothing wrong with that at all either. Some people think you need to go out and experience things with other people, but Will was my first love and first everything else. Cornelius is your first love and I bet you’re his and that boy worships the ground you walk on. You remind me of me when I was your age, though I was with Will since 7^th grade. I’ve been with him sixteen years, you were a newborn baby when we got together,” she said with a laugh.

“You’re doing pretty good though to not even be 30, you have a teenage daughter who is very well behaved,” Eve said and Joan smiled.

“Remember that tonight and the next few days my well behaved child,” Joan told her. “My life is finally filled you know, I was missing something before you came and now everything is perfect. But are you sure you don’t want to come or something? I told Cathy that we would be away, I just worry about your real mother and sister finding you,” she said. There was this concerned mother type look in Joan’s eyes, there often was. She would pretty much do anything for Eve and she knew it and appreciated it.

“Don’t worry, Sanoe is my mother only by birth, you are my real mother,” Eve said. “I know if either of them comes near me that I have to call Cathy and or the police, though neither can keep them away. They will come if you are here or not and I’m sure one or the other will show before the New Year,” she told her. Of course this didn’t ease Joan’s mind, she wanted to protect Eve. But for once Eve wanted to be the one to protect herself and that was what she was going to do.

 

 

“They are so nasty,” Morgana said laughing. She was sitting on Mario’s lap and they were staring at Eve and Neil. Nobody seemed to notice exactly what they were doing, but she did.

“Your girl turned little brother out,” Mario said shaking his head. “Hope they used protection this time,” he said.

“I don’t think rabbits have this much sex,” Morgana said.

They were all at the party, there were a lot of people and most of them were drunk and all over each other. Eve was sitting on Neil’s lap facing him in a chair and they were having sex. Most people probably couldn’t tell because they were drunk and didn’t care anyway. Morgana could tell what they were doing only because she knew Eve. When they picked their outfits and Eve decided on the red plaid micro mini skirt that only covered a few inches below her butt, Morgana knew she was up to no good. To go with it Eve was wearing a white button up shirt tied in the front and a black lace bra that was coming out the shirt. She was a school girl hoe and for once actually wore heels. Morgana on the other hand wore black booty shorts that were almost smaller than underwear and a black corset top. The only reason they wanted to go to the party was so they could dress up like s***s. Their outfits by far weren’t the most revealing or sluttiest, but it was fun.

“So explain to me how your parents are ok with us spending the night at Eve?” Mario asked, the whole thing seemed to confuse him. While his parents weren’t around so they got to do what they wanted, he didn’t understand how normal parents could let their 16 year old daughter go out and do what she wanted.

“My mom is a free spirit and she trusts me, my dad will do whatever she wants. I’m pretty responsible; my mom was pregnant when she was 16 and figures that it happened because she had to sneak around. Nana is really strict and so far my parents’ approach with freedom has paid off. Besides they do have a key to Eve’s house and can check in whenever they want, they won’t so no worries,” she told him.

“They wouldn’t like me if they knew what I want to do to you right now,” he whispered in her ear. She turned to him and he kissed her.

“What’s the verdict on the apartment hunt?” She asked and his expression told her everything she needed to know.

“My dad had this family meeting yesterday where he basically forbade us from moving out because of Mimi. I don’t really talk to her since she said stuff to you,” he said looking away from her. The whole thing with his mother was causing a lot of problems for him and he was so stressed out.

“So he’s not going to do anything about her?” It was probably wrong to ask, because family was a bad subject for him now.

“Who knows, I don’t stick around the house much anymore,” he said.

“If you stayed with your grandparents they wouldn’t be cool with us sleeping together huh?” She asked and he laughed, it was pretty much a given, they didn’t believe in sex before marriage.

“You’re funny, besides when do we ever sleep when we’re together? I try to just lay there but you hop on me, I can’t control you,” he said laughing and she hit him.

“I’m gonna remember that tonight,” she said.

“Why ain’t you wear a skirt? The shorts are cute, but maybe I wanted some easy access,” he said her response was to glare at him.

“That’s why you ain’t getting none tonight,” she told him and he pouted at her.

“Fine, if you don’t want to take advantage of this golden opportunity its ok. Just remember we ain’t been able to do nothing cause Mimi won’t go away and I’m stuck in that house. She was talking about a family vacation, so this might be it,” he said matter of factly. It was meant to persuade her, even though they both knew she didn’t need to be persuaded. He knew vey well they were going to have sex and that she was just playing hard to get.

Tessa had asked her earlier that day if all she and Mario did was have sex. Big sister was worried that she was being taken advantage of. Little did everybody know that they hadn’t done anything since thanksgiving because of Mimi. There was no way she wanted to go over his house and deal with her drama. Two days ago while everybody was out Mimi had all the locks on the bedroom doors removed. Mario had been mostly studying for his finals lately so they studied together at Starbucks or the library. They both liked sex, but it wasn’t all they did. It was funny that Tessa asked because they had even studied at her house. All the questions only seemed to pop up when nosey Tessa overheard Morgana telling Eve that she was in love with Mario. Then Miss Tessa went through Morgana’s text messages where there were a lot of sexual references from Mario. Some messages were down right pornographic, but it wasn’t anybody else’s business. Tessa said that older guys liked to take advantage of girls like her and lie to them. But that wasn’t who Mario was and of course Tessa wasn’t convinced.

“Shouldn’t you like not let your little brother do that?” Morgana asked and Mario laughed.

“I’m supposed to tell him not to have sex in public at a party where I’m forced to see it?” He asked and she nodded. “How the hell was I supposed to know that the golden boy was that freaky? Before Eve I don’t think I saw him kiss a girl in public, now I don’t know what’s up with him. Why are we even talking about them? I’m trying to get some and you’re just stalling,” he said.

“I love you,” she said and he stared at her a moment.

“I love you too,” he said. Then an awkward silence hung in the air between them. “Thought we weren’t doing all that emotional stuff,” he said watching her closely.

“We aren’t, I just wondered if you still felt that way,” she said. He was staring at her, giving her that ‘Mo you’re insane’ look he liked to give her.

“You are crazy you know that? I told you how I feel, I’m just not like my brothers, I can’t be all emotional. But even if I don’t say it I love you and I’m not only with you because we have a lot of sex. If I just wanted to have sex pretty much that would be easy and I know girls who will come over whenever I want. For some reason I can’t get enough of you Morgana Wrecker and I know you aren’t insecure so stop talking to your sister,” he said. “Tessa called me and asked me about a million questions about my intentions; she said I shouldn’t have a sexual relationship with you. Not only are you way too young for me, I’m a bad influence, I’m using you and I could go to jail for sending you such explicit text messages,” he said. The bemused tone he had while telling her about what her sister said wasn’t one she shared. This wasn’t funny to her; she in fact wanted to strangle Tessa.

“I can’t believe her, are you serious?” she asked and he nodded, this was so Tessa.

“I shouldn’t tell you this but I think she’s jealous, there was this one time-” she cut him off.

“Please don’t tell me you’ve had sex with my sister,” she wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer.

“No, she’s kinda an attention w***e and is annoying. But we did have a class together over the summer and she wanted to go out. I wasn’t interested and I didn’t wanna tell you cause it was stupid and I’m sure she’s still embarrassed. And I really am with you because I love you and like being with you, not because I’m trying to make her jealous. That was another thing she accused me of,” he said.

“I’m going to kill her,” she said. It was one thing for Tessa to say something to her but to actually call Mario?

“Don’t worry about it, she’s just jealous and thinks she’s looking out for you. Tessa should hang out with Chris, they have a lot in common,” he said. “Mo, I’m horny we haven’t had sex in almost two weeks,” he said. No amount of a subject change could ease her anger.

“You and Eve and this ‘Mo’ stuff,” she said. “Which one of you started it anyway?” Sex wasn’t exactly on her mind at the moment, later of course she would do it, but now she felt like yelling at her sister.

“Does it matter? Who wants to say Morgana all the time,” he said. He pulled her closer to him and kissed her, of course he knew she was trying to distract him. Her cell phone start vibrating inside her bra and she flipped it open, there was a message from Eve asking to meet her in the bathroom. When she looked up and saw the Eve and Neil were no longer occupying the chair it was surprising. But it was perfect timing, she needed an excuse to call Tessa and threaten her life.

“Eve needs me and oh looks like your little brother is getting a little drunk,” she said to Mario. On the other side of the room there was Neil looking a little disoriented and throwing back a shot.

“Your girl broke my good boy brother,” he said as they parted ways with a kiss.

“He’s just growing up,” she said as she walked away. The same went for her, she was growing up and she didn’t need Tessa to interfere. It was hard to believe that even though they had their differences that her sister would be jealous enough of her to try to ruin her relationship. She couldn’t remember a time when Tessa had ever been jealous of her, but there was a first time for everything.

 

 

“I feel like a total w***e,” Eve said when she and Morgana were sitting in the bathroom together.

“You are a w***e,” Morgana told her. She was texting on her phone and not looking up at Eve who was sitting on the sink.

“I never expected this from him, but he just kind of slipped it in,” she sighed. In her life she’d done a lot of shameful things but she’d never had sex in a room full of people, it was very sleazy.

“Why are you surprised? You had sex in the boy’s locker room in the shower, in the weight room and in his car all in school and all last week. Neil is just nasty,” Morgana said matter of factly. “Never in my life would I have thought he was capable of even thinking of that stuff, but guess he just needed an outlet.”

“I feel weird about all of this, its great and all but I’m starting to feel used,” she said staring in the mirror. Lately all Neil wanted to do was have sex or do sexual things, it was starting to bother her. It made her think about the past and she really was trying hard to get over her old drama.

“Neil loves you,” Morgana said finally looking up. “Not just loves but worships the ground you walk on, he’s just a guy who hasn’t gotten any in a very long time. You know how he is, he would never have casual sex and the last time I saw him with a girl friend was like a year and a half ago. You dear friend of mine are just being paranoid and you love him so you’re scared. Tell him you’d like to not have to have sex every time you see each other, bet he will feel bad that he’s been treating you like his play thing. Calm down your crazy Evey,” she went on.

“You’re right,” Eve agreed.

Staring at her reflection in the mirror she still felt uneasy. Her hair was a mess of Crimps and curls, the make up Morgana insisted she wear looked out of place on her face. When she’d gotten dressed earlier she loved her outfit, now she felt s****y. She couldn’t remember a time when she felt so insecure and except back when she was with her sister. Maybe that was the problem; she could hear Claira in her head sometimes. Ironically Morgana was telling her about what Tessa had said to Mario. Why did older sisters always think they knew everything? Eve knew that Mario loved Morgana it was pretty obvious, especially after the way Mimi was treating her. None of the Jays were really on speaking terms with their mother; the only one that seemed to hate her more than Mario at the moment was Damien. Despite his father’s wishes he moved out because Juliet refused to stay in the house, they were staying with his grandparents.

“I really could kill her and she writes back that it was ‘for my own good’, I never thought she could be jealous of me. Miss perfect has everything and until a few months ago I didn’t even have friends,” Morgana was saying angrily.

“Forget her, you got the guy she wanted and she can’t deal so what? He loves you and she has no chance. We should have just been sisters,” Eve told her.

“Girl we are sisters, I know you would never try to steal my man,” Morgana sighed she was still texting.

“Let’s see we became friends, got boyfriends and haters all in a few months. That’s gotta be a record, Mimi hates us, Libby and her cronies hate us and your sister, we are hot stuff,” Eve said and they both laughed.

“I’m ready to head home, my man needs pleasing and I can’t let you have all the fun,” Morgana said getting up from where she was perched on the tub. She stood up and stared at herself in the full length mirror; she ran her fingers through her hair and posed. “I am way hotter than my sister,” she said more to herself than Eve.

“I would so do you,” Eve said and she smacked Morgana’s butt.

“Honey if I didn’t love guys, it would so be me and you,” Morgana said and they both laughed. They went out the door and someone else ran in the bathroom and they laughed even harder. “You smell like sex, maybe I should’ve been the school girl cause Mario was straight begging,” she told Eve as they headed back downstairs.

“I still can’t believe I did that, I think he has a thing for public places. Mario is so gonna throw you down and rip your clothes off, I’m surprised he’s lasted this long,” Eve said. “You think Tessa is a hater enough to come over my house?” She asked turning to Morgana suddenly, it was possible for her to get the key.

“If she does I will kill her, you best hide the knives,” Morgana said seriously.

“We need to hook her up so she can mind her business,” Eve said.

“That or I will kill her, I don’t need her I have you as my sister now,” Morgana replied shrugging. Eve laughed, but when she spotted Mario and Neil across the room taking shots suddenly she wasn’t in a joking mood. What was going on with Neil? He didn’t drink yet there he was, and he was supposed to be driving.

Lately Neil’s behavior was getting more and more erratic. He wanted sex all the time and he was becoming really flaky. There were also times when he would just being staring off into space and couldn’t hear her when she called. He’d come by her house late at night and seem confused about the time. Maybe it was the stress from his mother, but it also didn’t seem like he was sleeping. His family was having a lot of problems and the anniversary of Corrina’s death was only a few weeks ago. But she was worried that there was something else. She hated to be paranoid but he often would get calls and look at the phone before ignoring the call. When she asked about the calls and his strange behavior he would avoid the questions and start talking about something else. Something was going on with him and watching him drink made her really worry.

“Mo,” she said turning to her friend who shook her head.

“Make him talk to you,” Morgana said before dragging her over to the boys. “So which of you drunken losers is driving?” She asked them, they looked at each other and laughed.

“We aren’t drunk,” Neil said and both boys laughed.

“Guess that means I will,” Morgana said shaking her head. “Give me the keys Cornelius,” she stuck her hand out he laughed but handed them to her.

“Mommy, you’re so cute,” Mario said kissing Morgana’s forehead.

“Come here,” Neil said pulling Eve to him. He kissed her and she pulled away, he tasted like tequila. She wasn’t a drinker, in fact she hated alcohol. When she’d gotten drunk previously it was for an escape and she’d only done it twice ever.

“Why are you drinking?” She asked Neil he shrugged and picked up another shot glass full of stinky brown tequila.

“Loosen up,” he said pulling her to him, she was disgusted.

“Let’s go, I’m over this party,” Morgana announced. Clearly she’d heard Eve’s silent plea. “You let your way under aged brother get drunk? So irresponsible,” she said to Mario who laughed.

“I’m not his mother, nobody is,” he said and both boys laughed. “But we can go so I can get some a*s,” he said and Morgana stared at him a second.

“You better pick up a girl here then,” she said before walking away.

“Morgana,” Mario called chasing after her.

“So are we gonna play once we get to your house?” Neil asked Eve, she just stared at him. Was he for real? What was wrong with these Jays tonight?

“Let’s just go,” she said heading towards the door. He followed and put his arm around her, there was no way she was having sex with him again. Maybe this whole sleepover thing was a bad idea, but there was no way out of it.

 

 

 

The repeated ringing of the door bell was what woke her up, she was exhausted. After the party they’d gone to an all night diner, it was supposed to be an apology from the boys for being stupid. As far as Eve knew nobody in her house had sex that night once they came home. Eve got up out of bed when she realized that whoever was at the door wasn’t going away. She picked up the first shirt she saw on the floor, it was Neil’s button up shirt he’d worn last night. When they got home last night she was so tired that she’d just slept in her bra and panties. On her way down the hall towards the stairs she noticed that the guest room door was open and Morgana and Mario weren’t in there. Maybe they were at the door? But why wouldn’t they call or just get the key from across the street? It was too early for her to think much into it, she just walked down the stairs and across the living room to the door. Assuming it was her friends she opened without looking to see who it was first, she wished she had.

“You took forever,” Claira said while walking pass her sister and into the house. Eve just stood there frozen; this had to be a bad dream.

“Claira, what are you doing here?” She asked after she came out of shock and closed the door.

“Duh I’m here to take you home, you were hard to find,” Claira replied while looking around the living room. “Guess when they say I’m not supposed to see you they mean it,” she shrugged.

“How did you find me?” Eve asked, her cell phone with Cathy’s number was in her room. Neil didn’t even stir when the door bell rang, so he probably wouldn’t come down. For the moment she was trapped while Claira inspected the house.

“How many Eve De Marcos do you think there are in the world? I have connections, anyway are these people rich? We could sell some of this stuff,” Claira said. She was touching things and moving them around, it bothered Eve. Joan liked to have a tidy house and she didn’t want it a mess when she came home.

“Not rich just average I guess,” Eve said. How much the Ferris’ made never really was a concern for her, but now that she thought of it they were pretty well off. If she wanted something they gave it to her no matter what and her formal dress was expensive.

“Go pack so we can get out of here,” Claira said turning her attention to Eve. “What are you wearing? Is there a guy here?” She asked and Eve refused to meet her eyes, she knew Claira wouldn’t have anything to say.

“My boyfriend is asleep upstairs,” she said. “Clair, I’m not leaving with you,” she told her.

“Didn’t you learn yet? I bet your little boyfriend told you he loves you so he could get in your panties, right? Sweetie, I know you want to be loved but you don’t need these sleazy guys. He’s no reason to throw your life away, you and I have plans,” Claira said.

“Plans change,” Eve said in almost a in a whisper. Her sister stared at her with the same piercing grey eyes that she had. Except for a few differences like Eve’s darker skin and chubby cheeks, they looked like twins.

“They brainwashed you against me?” Claira asked with a desperate look in her eyes, Eve shook her head. “You were so easy to find you know I just looked you up on Myspace. I saw that guy in one of your pictures, the one Jay flipped out about. All I had to do was call up his cousin and get his address and then I called your school and found your foster parents’ names. Really I thought it would be a challenge but not at all,” she said sitting on the arm of a chair.

“Claira, I’m not leaving,” Eve told her and she seemed to not understand.

“I’m not still mad at you, it was best that you listen to them. You wouldn’t have survived where I went,” Claira said. “Is it that boyfriend? Where are your fosters anyway? There isn’t even a car in the driveway, why are they letting you have a guy over? Or oh is he their kid?” She asked, the whole thing was very amusing to her. Eve was just trying to figure out what to do; maybe she could make her sister understand that she was happy here.

“It’s their ten year wedding anniversary and they’re on a cruise and no he’s not their kid,” Eve answered dully.

“Good, that way we can take some stuff and they won’t know. Is there a lot of jewelry or cash in the house? Maybe a credit card or two?” The wheels were turning in Claira’s head as she looked around the room again and got up. “Family pictures?” She asked when she was inspecting the pictures on the mantle above the fireplace. They’d taken a family picture a few weeks ago; there was also a picture of Eve by herself, one with Eve and Morgana and another with Eve and Neil. The Ferris’ were very proud parents and liked to show it.

“Claira, I’m not leaving here and you aren’t taking anything from here. Joan and Will are great parents and they love me, I’m not giving that up to be homeless and a prostitute,” Eve said. It was rare that she stood up to her sister, Claira just stared at her.

“Eve,” Neil was calling from the top of the stairs. “Eve, I’m so sorry about last night,” he was saying as he came down the stairs. When he saw Eve and Claira staring at each other from across the room he just looked back and fourth between the two of them.

“What do you mean they love you? Nobody could love you except me; you’re just a check in the mail. Go pack, I forgave you for betraying me and you act like this?” Claira was pissed, but Eve didn’t care, for once in her life she didn’t want or need her sister’s approval.

“Clair, people don’t love you because you make it impossible. I’m happy and I’m not going back to that life. I have parents that love me and really amazing friends-” Claira cut her off.

“Friends? Sure you boyfriend isn’t screwing your friends? What he loves you too so you can’t leave him? They are lying to you, I knew you would get brainwashed you’re too easy,” Claira was getting madder and madder.

“Eve,” Neil said, he of course didn’t know what to do.

“Oh and you don’t introduce me? Are you ashamed of me?” Claira asked, and then she turned her attention to Neil. He was standing there in just his boxers; he hadn’t bothered to even but a shirt on. “I’m Claira De Marco,” she said extending her hand and he took it.

“Cornelius Jay,” he said. “You’re Eve’s sister right?” He asked his voice was shaking as Claira ran her fingers along his muscled chest, he stepped back.

“I am, you are hot for once she didn’t do too bad,” she said. “I think I should take you out for a spin before we leave,” she said. Eve rolled her eyes; Claira couldn’t stand for her to have anything.

“Claira, I love you but I’m not going anywhere, I’m not brainwashed. I found out that without you around to make everything difficult, people love me and I’m happy. There’s no way in hell I’m giving this up, you need to go back and get help Claira. Do you think it’s normal to do the things we’ve done? And don’t say it’s ok because mom did it, she’s an idiot. I moved on with my life and you should too,” Eve told her sister. Maybe she would just let it go? That was way too much wishful thinking.

They stood there staring at each other for awhile. Claira was no doubt wondering how her submissive little sister had become so defiant. Neil was still standing at the foot of the stairs; he clearly had no idea what to do. Eve was determined to hold to her guns and not to let Claira manipulate her. This was her home, Joan and William were her parents, she was happy here. If she could remember what was important than there was no way she could be tricked into leaving. But she knew that her mother was still out there and Sanoe wasn’t above actual kidnap. She was sure that Sanoe was counting on the fact that Claira could talk her into just leaving and maybe taking a few expensive souvenirs. There was no way she was leaving and she wasn’t letting them take anything. It was time to show them that she was her own person and she had a mind of her own. She felt like she was channeling Morgana, hadn’t she done something similar? Well sort of, but nothing this life altering.

“You need me,” Claira said finally breaking up the silence. “Did you tell your little boyfriend how you almost got yourself killed? More like you almost got us all killed or how you were going after our mother’s boyfriend? Hmmm little sister of mine do you have nothing to say? Does he know you like to have sex with men twice your age or that you use to strip? Did you tell him how one of our foster fathers use to watch you get undressed or in the shower and how he tried to rape you? You are damaged goods, nobody wants you. He doesn’t know where you’ve been or what STDs you might have,” she went on.

Her tone was more hurt than cruel even though she was trying to hurt Eve by saying these things. But Eve wasn’t effected by what her sister said because she’d come to terms with it all and moved on. She’d told Neil most of her secrets and he accepted her. The thing that really annoyed her was that Claira accused her of liking the things they’d done and having diseases. Logically it would seem that Claira liked it because she was the one to drag Eve into it and was always going back to it. But she decided not to say anything about it because there was no point. It was pretty clear that the truth was twisted around in Claira’s mind.

“I don’t need you, especially when you and your mother took money from her boyfriend so that he could have sex with me. Why do you think you aren’t allowed to see me? How could you do that to me? I’m way better off without you and your nonsense. There is nothing for us in Italy, it’s not our home. We left there when we were little and you know we aren’t ever going to be a family. There is no going back, get over it and just let it go. I’m not letting you manipulate and control me anymore, I always just felt bad for you. But I’m loved and I’m happy Claira, so let me be. Go back and get help,” Eve said. She wasn’t sure if she had shouted or if it was just the silence and the look on both Claira’s and Neil’s faces.

“No, we will be happy once we are home,” Claira pleaded rather pathetically. She crossed the room and took her sister’s hands and pulled her towards the door. There were tears coming from her eyes, Eve refused to move.

“Clair, its ok, we can get you some help,” Eve said as her sister fell to the floor.

It was like a nightmare to see Claira curled up on the floor rocking back and fourth. After all these years it appeared that she was having a mental break down. Eve kneeled down beside her sister and silently Neil did so on her other side. She wasn’t sure what to do accept to put her arms around her crying sister. The whole house was silent aside from Claira’s crying. The three of them sat on the floor for what seemed like hours before she was silent. Neil got up and came back with a box of tissues and eve whipped her sister’s face. Claira just stared into space, like she was asleep with her eyes open.

“Let’s take her up to lie down in your room,” Neil said speaking for the first time in a long time.

“Ok,” Eve replied as Neil lifted her sister into his arms. She walked ahead and cleared off the day bed for her sister, who seemed to have fallen asleep.

“Are you ok?” He asked her when they sat down on her bed.

“She’s sick,” was all Eve could say. Neil pulled her into his arms and she cried and she hated crying. When she’d pictured her show down with Claira, none of this had come to mind. It was pretty clear that something was seriously wrong with her.

“Yeah, I know what that’s like,” he muttered. “So what are we going to do?”

“Can you take my phone and call Cathy Newberry, tell her Claira is here and she’ll know what to do. Then can you call Joan?” She asked, he nodded as she handed him her cell phone. He kissed her forehead before leaving the room.

“Evey,” Claira called and Eve went to sit next to her. “Don’t leave me,” she said.

“I won’t,” Eve said. She wasn’t sure what was going to happen now, but she knew that for once in her life Claira needed Eve. And she didn’t intend on letting her down.

 

 

Later that day Eve sat in the waiting room at the psychiatric hospital, Neil sat beside her holding her hand. Cathy had taken charge when she’d arrived at the Ferris home and she had Claira committed to the hospital. As Eve had learned later her sister had been having a lot of trouble over the last few months. So actually it wasn’t surprising that she’d had a break down, it had been a long time coming. Joan and William were on their way home, they wanted to do whatever they could to help. Eve was trying hard to absorb it all, but nothing was making sense to her. Nothing seemed to make sense in general and she didn’t know what to do. For the time being Claira would at least be close by, so Eve could help her. It was weird to want to be near her after all this time of plotting how to keep Claira away. But as the world seemed to keep reminding her everything could change in a matter of minutes and nothing was ever certain.

“Ok so they are going to keep her for awhile,” Cathy said when she was done talking to the doctor.

“When can I see her?” Eve asked, Cathy smiled her annoying and inappropriate smile. Why couldn’t she just be normal?

“Not until tomorrow, they need to talk and to her and get her settled in. You could bring her some things if you would like. Clothes, if you have any that you want to lend her so she can feel a little more normal. Books and pictures maybe, just to help her get adjusted. There’s a good chance your sister will be here for a long while,” Cathy told her with a sympathetic smile.

“She’s gonna be here though, she won’t get sent away?” Eve felt desperate as she asked; it made her think of their hopeless codependency.

“It can be arranged, she will do better with your support. I guess the whole restraining order thing can be fixed, just beware if your mother finds out no judge would let her back around you,” Cathy said still smiling.

“Good, we’ll come back tomorrow,” Eve said. She got up and Neil did the same, he didn’t say much most of the time they were there.

“I’ll go bring the car around the front,” Neil said to her in a distracted sort of way.

“Ok,” she said, he kissed her cheek and walked away.

“Don’t worry Eve, you sister is going to be ok,” Cathy told her. In a surprising move Cathy hugged her and this time Eve smiled. “She has been on such a self-destructive path all this years, you recovered just fine so in time so will she,” Cathy said and Eve nodded.

            “I have to go call Joan, she wants to be updated,” Eve said.

            “If anything changes or if there’s anything going on, I will call you,” Cathy said and Eve nodded. “Bye,” she said waving as she bounced away down the hall.

            “Excuse me,” someone said and Eve turned to see a doctor. “Would your name happen to be Eve?” He asked and she nodded unsure of what was going on. “My name is Dr. Caleb Cyrus, I’m treating your boyfriend,” he explained.

            “Oh, um you just missed Neil actually,” Eve told him.

            “He’s avoiding me and I suspect he’s no longer taking his medication. Normally I would never speak about a patient but I believe Cornelius is in danger of a serious relapse. I tried to speak with his parents about his situation, but if you know them then you understand why I was unsuccessful,” Dr. Cyrus paused a second. “Just keep an eye on him and if you could suggest he come back to see me and especially take his medication. Really keep an eye on him, I’m sure his behavior is already a lot different and it can get worse. I shouldn’t tell you all this but I am concerned for both his well being and yours,” he said giving her an uneasy smile.

            “I’ll talk to him,” Eve told him. He smiled nodded and walked away with a wave.

            As she walked towards the exit she realized just how complicated her simple life was becoming. Her sister was in a mental hospital because she had a nervous breakdown. The bright side was that she didn’t have to worry about what to do if Claira showed up and she could maybe have her sister’s saner self back. Then there was Neil, his recent behavior was now explained. But what could she do about him? He had a lot going on in his life right now and her drama was of course not helping. So she had to try to help Claira and Neil since they were both having a hard time. There was the fact that she felt guilty for ruining Joan and William’s anniversary trip. And her mom would no doubt be popping up soon. All this insanity the week before her first formal dance, maybe it was a sign that she didn’t need to go. But as she slipped into the passenger seat of Neil’s car, she realized that if she didn’t do that one thing for herself then she might never have another moment to herself.

 

 

            “Hurry up,” Morgana said looking back down the empty hall.

            “I’m coming,” Mario said. They were packing some clothes and didn’t want anybody to see them.

At the moment they were in Neil’s room, he was going to stay over Eve’s house until her parents returned. They all had decided to stay but Neil wasn’t leaving her alone just in case anyone else showed up unannounced. Morgana had vowed not to go back inside the Jay house until Mimi left, yet here she was being a look out. Mario and Neil were both making themselves scares and avoiding parental interaction. Nobody was home as far as they could tell, that was why they’d come in. The house was eerily quiet and she was thankful for that, another run-in with Mimi and blood was going to be shed.

“So do you wanna grab some food to take over?” Morgana asked turning to look into the room where Mario was closing the suitcase.

“Yeah, text Eve and see what they want,” he told her.

“What are you doing?” Morgana turned a realized she was face to face with Molly. Officially she was a very bad look out because she hadn’t heard her coming at all.

            “Eve needs us to stay with her,” Mario told her.

            “Mimi is gonna flip out,” she informed them. “Chris just packed her bags and is staying at Aiden’s condo,” she said.

            “What happened?” Morgana asked, Mario was just shaking his head.

            “It was unbelievable, Mimi tried to seduce Aiden,” Molly said and Morgana’s jaw dropped. Was this woman that crazy?

            “Since when do you call her Mimi?” Mario asked, but it was pretty clear that Molly had given up hope for her mother.

            “I’m done with her, Chris was so upset,” she said. “She was the one that saw Mimi go into her room and drop her robe and try to do stuff with him. Aiden was in shock but managed to get her away and try to cover her up. After that Chris packed her bags and left,” she told them shaking her head.

            “And I thought I couldn’t stand her,” Morgana said still in shock.

            “What is dad doing about her?” Mario asked, he didn’t seem surprised at all.

            “As far as I can tell nothing, I’m heading out before she does something to make me actually hate her. Morgana I don’t know how you could stand coming in this house after the things she’s said to you,” Molly said shaking her head.

            “I’m being a supportive girlfriend,” she told her. “But I really hope I don’t see her,” now she wanted to get back at Mimi even more.

            “Maybe I should pack a few more things,” Mario said thoughtfully.

            “A few or you could buy some stuff, but yeah coming back here is risky,” Molly told her brother.

            “We’ll just buy stuff, cause I don’t wanna be in this house much longer,” he said.

            “Good idea, I’m out too I’m just staying with a friend for a few days but I will be in touch,” Molly told them as she turned pulling a pink suitcase behind her. “Good luck,” she called out.

            “I’ll grab Neil’s book bag for school,” Mario said disappearing back into the room.

            Morgana stood there for a second and forgot about Mimi, she looked towards the door to the next room. She peeked back in the room and Mario was on the phone, so she walked down. Her eyes were closed as she turned the knob to Corrina’s room and stepped inside. It was the exact way she remembered it, when it was clean. Corrina tended to throw things around and neglect to clean them up. But there were times when it was perfect with nothing out of place. Of course Corrina would have cleaned up before she’d left on that vacation; she liked to come home to a clean room. Morgana jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder and she turned to see Mario. Slowly and silently she backed out of the room that looked like it was still waiting for Corrina to make a mess again.

            “Let’s just get out of here before your mother shows up,” she said. She didn’t want to talk about Corrina so she grabbed Neil’s book bag from Mario and walked down the hall ahead of him. When she reached the bottom of the stairs she looked up to see the door opening and Mimi appeared. This weekend was not what it was supposed to be.

            “Why are you in my house? You are stealing?” Mimi asked, it seemed like her accent was heavier today. So Morgana was starting to wonder if it was even real.

            “I don’t steal,” Morgana replied trying to avoid a fight for Mario’s sake.
            “Mario, where are you going?” Mimi asked him in a clear attempt to ignore Morgana until she could insult her again.

            “Don’t act so surprised,” Mario said to his mother. “You’ve succeeded in ruining this family and breaking us up, so as far as I’m concerned you don’t exist,” he said. Morgana walked pass Mimi and out the door and Mario followed.

            “That trashy girl is doing this to us! It’s these outsiders, they are trying to rip us off and tear us apart,” Mimi yelled out the door. But they were already packing the stuff in the car.

            Neither of them said a word as they drove away from his house. Their relationship was becoming strained because of his mother and her sister. Other people thought they knew what was best, but they were wrong. And Morgana was actually almost starting to feel bad for Mimi. Something was wrong with that woman and somebody needed to do something about it. Mimi had pushed away her children and did everything she could to hurt them and her husband did nothing. The whole thing seemed like a cry for attention that Gordon Jay wasn’t going to give his wife. It seemed like maybe Mimi was sad and hurting and maybe even sick mentally. Even so none of that changed the way Morgana felt about her, she was pretty evil. But maybe there was more to it because it was one thing to insult people but to try to seduce your daughter’s fiancée was another thing entirely. Maybe now Mr. Jay would do something and help her so that they wouldn’t lose their children forever. Because that was the road they were headed down, it was time for them to start being parents. The whole mess with the Jays really made Morgana appreciate her family a lot more. Even Tessa because at least she knew that they would never purposely try to hurt her. She was still mad at Tessa but she knew her sister would never try to make a move on Mario, no matter how jealous she was. This weekend was supposed to be about fun, instead the drama just kept building and she was afraid that there was more to come.

 

 

            Eve was curled up on the couch with a cup of hot chocolate Neil had just made her when the door bell rang. Neil got up and went to the door to see who it was. It had been such a crazy day and all she wanted was to go to bed. Morgana and Mario were on their way with dinner. She closed her eyes and pulled her blanket around her, she wanted to be alone to process. But at the same time she was happy that she had such great people in her life that they would support her like this. A simple life was a dream that she felt would never come true at this point. And she had yet to discuss her run in with Dr. Cyrus with Neil. When they’d gotten home she’d taken a shower and put on her jammies and they were snuggling on the couch waiting for dinner to arrive.

            “Eve, my baby,” came a familiar voice that caused her to open her eyes. There in the middle of the living room stood Sanoe De Marco, her mother. Even with her dyed blonde hair and spray tan, Eve knew her mother. “Where is your sister? I was supposed to meet you two and she’s not answering her phone, so I thought I’d drop by,” she said smiling. Neil came back to the couch where Eve was sitting staring at her mother.

            “Why are you here?” Eve asked, Sanoe just laughed and took a seat in an arm chair next to her.

            “Clair bear and I were coming to pick you up and take you home,” she replied. “Why aren’t you packed? You were supposed to meet up with me hours ago,” she said.

            “Mrs. De Marco I think you’re confused,” Neil said and they both looked at him. “This is Eve’s home and you aren’t allowed to be here,” he told her. Eve was grateful because she was so emotionally drained that she wasn’t sure she could fight her mother off. Joan and William wouldn’t even be in until the next night, so it was time to call Cathy again.

            “What kind of responsible parents leaves you alone with your boyfriend?” Sanoe said ignoring Neil’s comment completely. “I think allowing under aged sex and who knows what else is grounds for removal,” she said with a mischievous smile on her face.

            “Go away Sanoe, you don’t belong here,” Eve said and her mother stared at her.

            “Claira was worried they would brainwash you and I see they have,” she said shaking her head.

            “Because of you Claira is in a mental hospital, just go away I don’t ever want to see you again,” Eve yelled. Of course Sanoe the great actress she was looked shocked and concerned, but Eve didn’t have the energy for her dramatics.

            “She’s where?” She asked tearfully and Eve wanted to laugh.

            “Neil, can you please escort this woman out before I have to call the police?” Eve was finally seeing her mother clearly and she hated the fake person she saw. If her and Claira went off with their mother they could end up homeless, prostitutes or dead and most likely all three and worse.

            “Don’t worry Eve I will get you back, but I will go for now,” Sanoe said getting up and following Neil back to the door.

            “She walked in before I knew who she was, I’m sorry,” Neil said when he came back. He sat down and pulled her into his arm, she just wanted to sit there forever like this. Just sitting there in silence was simple and she didn’t have to think or worry.

            “It’s not your fault, she’s a con artist she could get in anywhere,” Eve said dismissively. It was bad that Sanoe knew where she lived, because of course she would be back to ‘rescue’ Eve.

            “You know I’ll always protect you right?” He whispered in her ear and she smiled. Of course he would say that, Neil was her protector and she loved him for it.

            “I know,” she said snuggling closer to him. The safer she felt with him, the more it worried her that something would happen to ruin everything. But if they could survive family drama on both sides, what else could there be?

 

 

            “Do you want to go upstairs?” Morgana whispered in his ear, he knew they probably should it would be more respective of Eve’s parents.

            “No, I don’t wanna wait,” he replied. It had been a stressful few weeks and he needed to relieve some of his pent up stress. She happened to be half naked and on top of him so getting up and going to the guest room was going to take too much time. “They’re sleep or whatever and besides we’ve had to see a little too much from them anyway,” he said and she laughed.

            Last night Mario had done an out of character thing and got kind of drunk. He still wasn’t sure why he’d taken so many shots with his brother. It was irresponsible to drink with his 16 year old brother, but he usually didn’t consider Neil’s age. If it wasn’t for the fact that Morgana had a license they would have all been screwed. How stupid was he to drink when he was supposed to drive? Everything about that party seemed to be wrong and he had managed to piss Morgana off last night too. Maybe he needed to go back into therapy like Neil; lately he was having serious issues. All of it seemed to start when Mimi came home, there were things the others didn’t know about their mother that he did. Tonight would have been a better night than last night to drink, after what he’d found out about Mimi today.

            “Focus on me,” Morgana said giving him a dirty look. “Don’t even tell me that you were cause I know when you’re all in your head. I’m here in front of you in um my bra so pretty much I should be what’s on your mind,” she said and he laughed. That was what he loved about her, she always spoke her mind.

            “I’m stressed Mo,” he told her and she pouted at him.

            “You think I’m not? I’ve spent all day trying not to go home and kill my sister. If you aren’t into this it’s cool,” she said looked away.

            “Morgana,” he whispered slowly in her ear. “I’m always into you,” he said and she looked him in the eyes. She was always easy to read, he knew she was more insecure than she would ever admit. “I love you and I really want you,” he told her and she smiled a shy smile. He hadn’t wanted to be all lovey like his brothers, he wanted to be the type that could control his emotions like Christianna and their father.

            “I love you too,” she said kissing him. “Would it be horrible to say that love stuff more often, just so I remember? If you don’t want to its fine who wants to be so disgusting,” she said looking away again. Her eyes always betrayed her, she wanted to be loved and he knew it.

            “Girls and their emotions,” he said lifting her chin. “I’ll be gross and tell you every second of the day if it will keep a smile on your face,” he told her and she smiled.

            “I’m not that girly,” she said and he kissed her.

            “I know,” he replied. It was time for the talking to end; he didn’t want to think so he kissed her again.

            As he eased himself into her he tried to really focus on her, but the things in his mind were taking over. There had to be something wrong with him if he couldn’t focus on having sex with his girlfriend. This was what he’d wanted to do the past two weeks that they hadn’t done anything. Before Morgana he never really did the whole relationship thing it was all about casual sex and hooking up. Now he liked the whole one girl thing, at least he always knew who he would be having sex with. Before it could have been any girl he met at a party or in class. He liked to be able to have sex when he wanted with whomever; he really just liked to have sex. What guy didn’t? Morgana wasn’t like the other girls maybe it was the whole sex thing that made him want to hang on to her.

            After the first time they’d kissed he knew he wanted more from her and then when she’d come to hang out at his house he made a move on her. At the time he wasn’t sure if it surprised him more that he’d had sex with a girl his brother’s age or because he’d actually done it at his house. He didn’t bring girls back to his house as a policy, but he had her over and now here he was. Besides she’d been over there only a million time before anyway. There was just something about her, so he could see why he’d she was a heartbreaker. A few guys he knew said that she dated them, refused to do pretty much anything with them and then broke up with them for no reason. Her sister had also told him that, it was all amusing but he never saw a point in asking her about it. The whole being in love thing was new for him and he knew it was the same for her. It was weird the amount of things they had in common, and he wasn’t going to let her go.

            Maybe it had something to do with the way she moved her hips, because he thought a lot about the things she could do with those hips. He ran his hands over her body, he loved her body. There wasn’t much he didn’t love about her. She had her own mind and wasn’t shy about voicing her opinion, he loved a confident girl. But he knew under her hard surface she was a little insecure and he understood why, especially when it came to their relationship. He wasn’t going to cheat on her though and he had no reason to, she was all he needed. The reason he loved her wasn’t because they had great sex, it was because he loved her as a person. But he really did like having sex with her on a regular basis.

            “Morgana Ana Lynn Wrecker,” someone yelled from the now open from door. It slammed shut before he could make out who it was, and then the light clicked on. There stood Tessa Wrecker, arms folded tapping her foot.

            “The universe is against me getting some,” Mario said shaking his head. Morgana had her face buried into his shoulder, he knew she wasn’t happy.

            “What the hell are you doing here?” Morgana asked her sister, she sat up and didn’t bother to cover her lace bra. It was a good thing that there was a blanket around her waist covering their lower parts up.

            “Oh I don’t know my 16year old sister is staying in a house with her friends and her way too old boyfriend,” Tessa said angrily. “I told you Mario to stay away from my little sister, but you will regret what you’re doing to her,” she said to him.

            “You could’ve waited till I was done f*****g him before you brought your hater a*s over here,” Morgana said. She was pissed and Tessa looked pretty shocked.

            “Morgana! How can you talk to me like that? We use to be close before he started using you as his play thing,” Tessa said.

            “It’s because you’re jealous, sorry he doesn’t want you. Sorry every guy in the world has to want Tessa for Tessa to feel good about herself,” she replied.

            “Mo, I think I ought to go upstairs,” Mario said. It was getting a little awkward because he was still inside her.

            “Oh baby I’m sorry,” she said turning her attention back to him.

Slowly she started to get down off of him in full view of her sister. Mario was a little more modest than she was but didn’t have much of a choice as to what Tessa saw. Morgana got up and picked up her panties off the floor and a t-shirt. While Mario tried to discretely slip on his boxers even though he still had an erection and the condom was still on. He wasn’t exactly sure what to do; he hadn’t ever been in this type of situation. Nobody usually cared who he had sex with and he’d in fact done it with Morgana in his room at home quite a few times. Before his parents came home nobody was there to tell him what he should or shouldn’t do. His siblings wouldn’t interfere like this; they respected his privacy a lot more. Then again there was no way Tessa could have known they were having sex on the couch, right?

“I’m gonna let you two talk,” he said getting up and picking up his clothes off the floor. Morgana turned and kissed him, it was pretty clear that it was more for Tessa than him. But who was he to complain?

“I’ll be up in a little bit,” she told him and he just nodded. He went upstairs without another word, he didn’t need anymore drama.

 

 

“Tessa Mary Lynn Wrecker, why are you such a hater?” Morgana asked her sister when they were alone. She was disgusted that Tessa would just show up, especially since she’d been having sex with Mario at the time.

“I didn’t know you would be doing him in the living room. Do you not respect Eve’s parents or yourself? Why do you let him use you like this?” Tessa asked, Morgana just felt like screaming.

“He’s not using me, we haven’t had sex since thanksgiving,” she said sitting back on the couch. The spot where Mario had been sitting was still warm from his body, thinking about him made her even madder at her sister.

“Somebody told me that he was dunk at the party you went to last night and said was telling people he was getting a*s when ya’ll came home,” Tessa said. That got her attention; he’d said that to her but did he say it to other people?

“You’re lying; he told me what you said to him and how he turned you down. Is it so wrong for me to be happy? For once in my life a guy likes me more than my sister and you can’t handle it. I love him,” she said. Tessa came over and sat next to her and was silent for a minute.

“Morgana, you are my sister and one of my best friends, I’m trying to look out for you. There are things you don’t know about him and I don’t want you to get hurt,” Tessa said. She kept looking down like she had something else to say but didn’t know if she should. Morgana knew her sister and she was hiding something.

“What do you know that I don’t?” Morgana asked, even though she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

“He got this girl pregnant last year,” Tessa said looking without making eye contact.

“You’re lying,” she said. When Tessa’s eyes met hers, she knew it wasn’t a lie.

“I didn’t want to tell you, but he really does use girls. I did go to school with him and he’ll lie to them just to have sex with them when he wants. I know you love him because you wouldn’t say it unless you mean it, but he’s just saying it to get you to do whatever he wants. There are all these girls I know that he cheated on. It’s true that I liked him, but that was before I really knew who he was,” Tessa told her.

“Tes, I don’t care about the past, he’s with me now and he loves me,” Morgana said. Right now she felt like her head was going to explode, but she had to play cool in front of her sister.

“Just be careful,” Tessa said and she nodded. They hugged and then it was time for Tessa to go back across the street.

Once Tessa was gone Morgana sat down on the couch a minute, could this be true? If Mario got some girl pregnant he would tell her right? Even if the girl didn’t have the kid that was something he’d have to tell her. Maybe Tessa had heard wrong, she had to, there was just no way. If it was true, Morgana didn’t know what she would do. She had opened her heart and bared her soul to him and she never did that. Here was this paranoia thing again and it was all her sister’s fault. He wouldn’t cheat on her, there was no reason she kept him satisfied. Though he could be doing anything while she was trapped in school all day. Girls could be inviting him up to their rooms for a quickie in between classes. A million possibilities popped in her head and she tried to ignore them as she headed up stairs.

Mario was lying in bed when she got up to the guest room. She’d almost gone down the hall and woke up Eve so she could get her opinion. But she knew Eve needed to rest after the day she’d had. And she knew Eve would tell her to just talk to him. Talking to him would be fine except he could lie or worse he could tell the truth. Ignorance would be so blissful for her at the moment. She didn’t want to have to think of any of the things Tessa had told her. He sat up when she closed the door behind her. Why couldn’t she just be going for a second round of hot sex? Instead of wondering if Mario had a kid out there somewhere or if he had another girl. Hadn’t he just told her he loves her? Was that a lie?

“That’s definitely a first for me,” he said when she sat down next to him. He pulled her close to him and she tried not to think.

“Same here,” she replied and she could see him studying her face.

“What’s wrong? Is it what she said? I’m not using you Mo, I hope you know that. I love you and I’m not cheating on you or whatever else she told you. There were times in the past where I did stuff with different girls but I wasn’t in a relationship with any of them. You know me and you know I wouldn’t hurt you,” he said making her look him in the eyes.

“I know,” she said in a voice barely above a whisper.

“What did she say? There’s something bothering you, either you can tell me or I’ll go to your house right now,” he said angrily.

“Did you get a girl pregnant?” Morgana asked and he stared at her, she wasn’t sure if the shock was because it was true or because it wasn’t.

“I’m going to your house,” he said getting up and picking up his jeans.

“Don’t, my parents are sleep,” she said but he was already putting a shirt on.

“No, I wanna know why she would tell you,” he said.

“Is it true?” Morgana asked cause he never did deny it and his tone suggested something that she didn’t think she could handle.

“No, there was a girl who said she was pregnant, but she wanted me to be with her. She was faking and Tessa knows that’s not true, so I don’t know why she told you that,” he said sitting back down next to her. “Don’t you think I wouldn’t tell you if I had a baby? Or what you believe everything people say right?” He was pissed and up pacing the room.

“Mario can you come here?” She asked feeling stupid as he stopped pacing and sat down beside her again. “Tessa knows how to get in my head and I knew it couldn’t be true but I hard to ask or I was gonna go crazy,” she told him.

“Mo do you believe me when I tell you I love you?” He asked and she nodded and he took her hands in his. “I would never tell you that if I didn’t mean it and I do tell you everything, ok? Don’t believe what other people say,” he told her.

“Sorry,” she whispered pouting at him. “Do you forgive me for being stupid?”

“Of course but don’t be surprised if I have some words for your sister,” he said. There wasn’t much she could do to keep him from confronting Tessa and she wasn’t sure she would want to.

“Let’s just go to bed,” she said, he got up and took his clothes back off.

They laid together in silence and Morgana felt like a fool, but she didn’t get why Tessa would lie like that. Was it really that she was jealous? Guys always loved Tessa and they were always after her, it was funny because Morgana had wanted to be like her. The one exact time that a guy wanted her and not Tessa it was an issue, she’d dated guys older than Mario. Nothing was making sense right now and she didn’t want to think about it. So she did the only thing she knew that would clear her mind, she rolled over and start pulled down Mario’s boxers.

“Thought we were sleeping?” He asked, he didn’t stop her from pulling his boxers down and in fact he helped her take them off.

“I said bed, not sleep,” she told him. “I feel like making it up to you since all that mess happened,” she said.

“You’re still wearing panties,” he replied before kissing her. Of course there was no way he would turn her down, she’d already proven on several occasions that she could get him to do whatever she wanted.

“Take them off,” she whispered. There was to be no more thinking of anything that didn’t have to do with sex for the rest of the night, she just didn’t want to deal with anything else.

 

 

When she opened her eyes and remembered the day before, she was happy to be in his arms. He was her big strong protector and she felt safe with him. But she couldn’t put the doctor’s words out of her mind and she was afraid to feel so safe with him. Again the past was here to drive her crazy, but she didn’t want to think about it. There was absolutely no reason to dwell on the past. Today she had to go stare her sister in the face and see everything that she’d tried so hard to stay away from. All night she’d thought about what it would mean to have Claira in life again, the possibilities were endless. Maybe this time would be different? Just thinking that made her feel like someone who was in an abusive relationship, hoping that things would change. Would they really?

It was no surprise that Claira had serious mental issues, Eve herself had problems. The whole breakdown thing was a shock, Claira was always so strong. Everybody had their weaknesses and weak moments, but it was still very odd to see. Maybe something had happened in the time Eve was away from her sister. While she was becoming a better and happier person, maybe Claira was becoming more bitter and getting lost deeper in the darkness. There had to be some reason for her to just break like that and Eve wanted to know why. Could it be that Claira had been counting on her to leave with her and for them to be together again? That had to be apart of what broke her, but there was more. Eve wanted to know what it was and she wanted to support her sister, she just wasn’t sure what would happen because of this. Especially since Sanoe knew where she lived and she made it clear that she wasn’t going away that easily. Even though she’d known her past and family would eventually catch up with her, it was still a little too overwhelming now that it had actually happened. And the fact that there would be more bad times before things go back to normal, maybe it harder.

“If Mario can get dad to let us move out, you’re gonna be spending the night a lot,” Neil whispered in her ear. “I love to wake up to you,” he said.

“I love it too,” she said. There he went being all sweet and loving again, she loved it but hated it too.

“What’s on your mind?” He asked, she wanted to laugh how could he not know?

The past 48 hours had been so strange she was surprised it had happened to her. Not only did her sister have a nervous breakdown, but her absentee mother appeared at her door. To top it off her boyfriend was a little crazy and off his meds and got grossly drunk. Then there was the very public sex she’d had at that party. She still couldn’t figure out why that had been such a good idea. Thinking about that incident made her remember that she was supposed to talk to Neil about his sudden sex addiction. But was it necessary if she sort of understood after talking to Dr. Cyrus? That was another thing, she was supposed to encourage him to go back to therapy and take his meds before he got sick.

“I met your doctor yesterday,” she said and he was silent.

“What did he say to you?” Neil asked solemnly, he didn’t seem angry but on the verge of it.

“That you aren’t taking your medication and you’ve been avoiding him,” she said.

“Don’t worry, ok? I just need to feel normal again, I’m sick of being stuck in a fog. My recent behavior has been a little erratic I know, but I’m getting it under control,” he told her. The desperation in his voice made it hard to believe him, but the look in his eyes made her want to. There was no stopping him from what he was doing now; he would just have to learn for himself. And when the time came she would be there to help him when he needed it.

“It’s your life, you deserve to live it the way you want,” she said and he kissed her forehead. “Today promises to be an interesting day,” she said and he nodded.

“Yeah, I got about half a million calls from home last night before I had to turn it off,” he said. After what Morgana had told them about what Molly had said it was pretty clear why Mimi was obsessively calling. Her children had declared war and all moved out and she wanted them back.

“Cathy sent me a message that the hospital wants Claira to have 48 hours alone before I can see her,” Eve said then tossed her phone back on the floor.

“So we can spend the day together and it can be normal,” Neil said pulling her into his arms.

“We could go to lunch, I’m starving,” she said.

“Great idea, I’ll call down the hall to the love birds,” he said and she laughed.

“Aren’t they so cute? We are so a great influence on them,” she said rolling onto her stomach while Neil turned his phone on. Almost immediately the voicemail alert sounded.

“Yeah I don’t think Mario has ever been in love,” he said as he dialed his voicemail and put it on speakerphone. There were 25 messages in his voicemail.

“Cornelius, this is your mother, you are under aged and I will call the police if I have to,” Mimi’s voice rang out. The rest of the messages were similar, Mimi yelling and complaining, after 5 messages Neil gave up.

“Oh right I was calling Mario,” he said then turned to Eve. “I bet his phone is off,” he said and she nodded.

“Makes sense I’m sure she was harassing him and your other siblings. Not to be rude but what is wrong with your mother?” Eve asked and to her surprise he actually laughed.

“She’s just crazy; she wasn’t always like this she just went off to Paris one day when I was 4 and that came back and it just keeps getting worse. But she has never been this bad before, something must have happened on her last trip,” he said staring at the ceiling thoughtfully.

“Maybe your dad should get her help or do something,” Eve suggested.

“Yeah he should but he’s acting strangely too, usually he has her under control. I’m starting to think they’re splitting up and she probably threatened to kill herself. Dad would never let her act like this before and he wouldn’t ignore her behavior. I’m just gonna stay out of their drama,” he said.

“Let’s run away,” Eve said suddenly. “We can just leave and start a new life together,” she told him.

“That would be great, I can us the money I have credit cards and a trust fund,” he said. There was a look in his eyes that suggested he was serious, but Eve wasn’t.

“I wish,” she whispered laying her head on his chest. “But if we run away from our problems then they will only come find us again later,” she said.

“So I was going to surprise you, but I guess I’ll give you time to persuade your parents,” he said and she gave him her full attention. “Mario and I were thinking of going to Cancun for Spring break and we want to take our lovely ladies,” he told her.

“Seriously? No adult supervision or anything?” She asked and he nodded, she never expected that.

“Well Molly might go but let’s face it she’s no supervision at all. James will probably go too and I guess Patrick if Molly goes and some of her friends. We could get a house for a week and party and do whatever,” he said.

“I don’t know if even Joan is that open to letting 16 year old me go away for a week to Mexico. But that would be amazing, even though I don’t have any money for that,” she sighed and he laughed.

“I said I was going to take you, who said you have to pay for anything? My treat, besides it’s the week of my birthday and I couldn’t go without you. Joan will let you go but I don’t think Will would like the idea,” he said and they both laughed.

“You have me all excited now, I really wanna do it,” she said.

“Do it? Really? Ok I’m game,” he said kissing her.

“You know what I meant,” she said rolling her eyes. “Go make me breakfast,” she told him.

“Fine, I’ll toast you a bagel,” he said getting up and heading out the door making faces at her.

Eve laid in bed smiling to herself, she loved Neil so much. Just the idea of going on a real vacation made her happy. It wasn’t much of a surprise that she’d never really vacationed, there were a lot of things she’d never done. But she did live in a lot of different places and back in the days when the De Marcos were a family and they traveled it was fun. When she and Claira moved around from foster family to foster family, there was no fun. There was no reason to think about it though, the past was over and she needed to quit thinking about it. Why was that so hard? Instead she tried to think of how amazing it would be to go to Cancun. The sun and the beach, it would definitely be an adventure. She was fairly certain she could make a case for why she should be allowed to go and there pretty much wasn’t any trouble she could get into that she hadn’t already been in. For a moment she got to forget about everything else going on and think towards something exciting in the future, it would be nice to have something to look forward to that was positive for once.

 

 

As he walked down the hall he knew he heard a noise coming from downstairs, so he peeked inside the guest room. Mario and Morgana were in bed making out and looked up when he opened the door, but he gestured for them to not say anything. He crept down the stairs slowly so that he didn’t make any noise. The front door was open, and clearly somebody was searching around in the living room, and there was no way it could be the Ferris’ returning from their trip. He went the rest of the way down the stairs and got a glimpse of somebody dressed in dark clothes disappearing into the kitchen. Someone had broken in and he was pretty sure that it couldn’t be a random thing. He looked around the room for a weapon and saw that the only thing would be something by the fire place. Before he could get across the room, he turned to see he wasn’t alone. A man just a bit taller than him stood there, he wasn’t friendly looking.

“What are you doing here?” Neil asked he wasn’t scared he was just trying to figure out a way out of this.

“None of your business little boy,” the guy said laughing.

“Get out of here,” Neil told him and again the guy laughed.

            While the guy, who didn’t look too smart was standing there laughing Mario was coming down the stairs that he had his back to. Neil was trying to do some very quick thinking, his brother was coming down and he had found a bat. But another noise made him realize that someone must be in the den down the hall. What was going on? He hadn’t thought after hearing his mother tried to seduce his sister’s fiancé that the weekend couldn’t get any weirder. It just had and this wasn’t a good situation. Though he didn’t know why anyone would break in to the Ferris’ house. They didn’t really seem like the type of people that had enemies and these people appeared to be looking for something. And what really didn’t make sense was that both his and Mario’s cars were parked in the driveway, so it was clear someone was home. Something was seriously not right here, these weren’t just common thieves and this was anything but random.

            “What’s going on here?” The other guy appeared coming up the hall towards them, it was time to act.

            Mario swung the bat and hit the guy at the bottom of the stairs in the back and Neil reached for the fire poker. The first guy fell to the floor groaning and the other looked at the boys and laughed. He pulled out a gun and pointed it at Mario who was closest to him. His friend on the ground got up and grabbed for the bat in Mario’s hand. Neil started to move forward but the guy with the gun shook his head and he stopped.

            “Leave the kid, we don’t need to kill them today,” gun guy said to his friend and he backed off. “Good day children,” he said as they walked out the front door. For a moment they stood there frozen and could hear the men drive away.

            “Did they take anything?” Mario said, and then he sat down on the stairs.

            “The one with the gun, he had papers in his back pocket,” Neil said absently dropping the poker. The clatter as it fell seemed to echo through the whole house, which was eerily silent.

“What’s going on?” Eve asked when she came down the stairs, she crossed the room and hugged him. The Morgana came down with her cell phone in her hand.

“Some guys broke in,” Mario said.

“Is everybody ok?” Mr. Wrecker asked, him and Patrick came running in from the door that was still wide open.

“Yeah,” Morgana answered her father. Next there was Mrs. Wrecker coming in looking around the room wildly.

Neil just sat there on the floor near the fireplace; Eve had her arms around him. The Wreckers were asking questions and Mario answered them, Neil was lost in his own head. He could have died and not only him but his brother and the girls too. What was going on? By the time the police entered the house he still hadn’t said a word. Morgana had called them right after Neil had gone down the stairs. Maybe he shouldn’t have gone off his meds, because they might help him to be able to accept this. His family was in ruins, his girlfriend had family drama that should be a Lifetime movie and he’d almost died. If he wasn’t sure that this wasn’t a dream, he wouldn’t believe it at all. The police questioned all of them and they said he would have to sit down with a sketch artist later. But nobody seemed to know why those guys had broken in. He felt helpless, like when he found Corrina’s lifeless body floating in the water. After pulling her out and desperately trying to perform CPR that they’d learned in school, she was still gone. Never had he thought he’d be in another situation where he could lose someone else he loved. Why was the world so cruel? If he lost someone else, he pretty sure he couldn’t handle it.

Author's Note

...i will admit that i have editing problems as i have warned previously... i'm working on it.. sorry if its hard to read.. do eventually go back and fix it.. but please tell me what you think!