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Be better.
Not only did my stomach hurt, but my chest did, too. I started breathing heavily, rocking faster and faster as I rubbed my hands up and down my arms. My nails scratched into my skin as things became blurry.
It felt like my heart was going to burst out of my chest as tears fell down my cheeks. What was wrong with me? Why did I feel like this?
Do better. Be normal. Be what Denise wants.
My hands became sweaty, and I rubbed them against my pants legs. My hands were shaky, but I shot up to my feet when I heard my name.
“Stella!” Denise screamed from inside the house.
My chest still hurt, my stomach still felt gross, but I ran as fast as I could to get back inside the house. I had to be fast. Otherwise, Denise would yell at me for being slow. The moment I made it into the kitchen, she was staring at me with stern eyes. In front of her was her smoothie lying in a mess across the floor.
“Look what you made me do, Stella!” Denise remarked.
“I…I…I…” I stuttered, feeling shaky.
“You what?”
“I wasn’t i-in h-here,” I spat out. It couldn’t have been my fault. I wasn’t around. Was it my fault? How did I do that? What did I do wrong?
Do better.
Be better…
“Yes, you did. Everything is always a mess when you’re around. Everything is your fault. Now get down there and clean it up,” she ordered, throwing a rag at me.
I did as she said, and she watched me with a smirk on her face.
“This is why you need to go to boarding school, like I told Kevin. You are a complete headache to everyone you encounter. I mean, truly, how could you be such a mess?” Denise scolded me.
“Who the hell do you think you’re talking to?” a voice said, breaking in on Denise’s words.
I looked up to see Kevin standing there looking our way. My hands were covered in Denise’s red smoothie. Kevin hurried over to me and helped me off the floor. “What are you doing, Stella? You don’t have to clean this up.”
Denise’s whole persona shifted into the nice lady she pretended to be. “Sweetheart, what are you doing here? I thought you were working late.”
“I figured it would be nice to have dinner with the family tonight,” he said to her.
Denise kept smiling. “Of course. I can make us reservations and—”
“Denise,” Kevin cut in.
“Yes?”
“You need to pack your bags and leave this place right now.”
“Excuse me?” she remarked, looking stunned.
“You heard me. I heard how you were shouting at her. I would never allow something like that to happen, and for you to think it’s okay to speak to my daughter like that, then you are out of your mind,” Kevin said.
“Your daughter? Please. Kevin, she’s not even your kid.”
I moved behind Kevin’s leg, still shaking like I did outside.
“Stella is more mine than you will ever be,” he remarked. “Now, get your things and leave.”
They argued back and forth for a while, but by the end of the conversation, Denise did pack her things and leave. Kevin told me to go take a shower to get the smoothie off me, and I did as he said. When I came out, he was waiting in my room to talk to me.
