Chapter 27
" Ho Ho Ho Bitch."
Rochelle Quinn's POV:
I believe whole-heartedly that you just need one person to care to save a life.
Don't get me wrong, I've never been at a point where I was willing to end my life.
To die, yes. To end my life deliberately, no.
At times, I feel like I like my life in purgatory; Feeling so many things at once and having so few understandings of this world.
Yet feeling so much pain and emptiness at the same time.
Like a collision between heaven and hell.
But, like always, hell always has the upper hand.
Hell is full of criminals, of liars, thieves, witches.
Hell is full of the fuck ups, the aberrations. The people society deem abnormal.
People like me.
People who sometimes do bad things in order to survive.
It's not always excusable.
But there has to be someone somewhere who can forgive me for all the crimes I have commited.
Do I regret what I did? Of course.
Would I do it again? Without hesitating.
That bastard deserved everything he got.
And I hope he fucking rots in hell for all the things he had done.
My mind went back to the present as I observed the scene before me.
"Jesse, you're such a freak." I looked at him, shock and disgust tattooed onto my face.
The man was dressed in a Santa costume, stood outside Macy's with a sign inviting young children to come inside for free candy.
He was anything but inviting however, a giant scowl was a permanent feature on his small face. A dark glint shined from his eyes, most certainly warning off any child or adult who dared step within 10 feet of Mr Jesse Eaton.
"Ho Ho Ho bitch, it's nearly the time of the year when a big, fat man goes down your chimney with a sack of boxes and eats all your food." He said with the most emotionless expression he could master.
Zach smacked his brother on the side of his head, making him cry out suddenly. "There's an infestation of young gremlins present, don't cuss."
"Did you just refer to a group of children as an ' infestation of young gremlins?" I raised my eyebrows.
"So what if I did, Sugar pop?" He batted his eyelashes at me, a look of innocence appearing mischievously on his features.
"I seriously wonder what goes through your mind, and then I realize that I really don't want to know."
"Shut your mouth, I'm amazing." The brown haired boy defended himself immediately, sounding like a kindergartener.
"Keep thinking that, Baby." I rolled my eyes, yet a small smile etched itself and onto my face without my consent.
"Meet me back here at 11." Jesse requested, pulling his 'beard' until it was on his neck. "And wear something that'll keep you warm."
-&-
I rushed into the house, not bothering to check if any of the boys were home. And judging by the silence that the house was currently experiencing, the brothers were obviously elsewhere.
I ran up to my room, skipping at least half of the stairs on the way up, in desperate search for my favorite hoodie, the one in which I very rarely let out of my site.
But I couldn't find it.
I looked in my closet, all my drawers, under my bed. Literally everywhere in my room.
And I still couldn't find it.
One of the boys must've took it.
They fucking took my hoodie.
And not only was it my hoodie, but it was my favorite out of the collection I had gathered for myself throughout the years of new homes and families.
I checked Keegan's room first, I searched every corner of his room until I gave up looking. I even found his secret stash of condoms in his closet.
Kade's room was next. I literally messed it up by throwing clothes everywhere, searching under the pile of trash for my precious sweater.
The twins room was the same- nothing. Except a porn magazine and a used condom in one of the cupboards.
I need to bleach my eyes now.
Kenzie's was the last room on this list because he was the least likely to have it. So like I did with his brothers, I searched in his closet, cupboards, bedding.
Pillows.
The only reason why I checked the boys gothic bedding was because it smelt difference.
The scent of lime and mint disappeared as soon as I moved closer to the bed, soon being replaced by an almost feminine aroma.
I shoved his bedding away, finding nothing underneath the thick blankets.
And then I moved his pillows to find a scrunched up piece of fabric under them.
A familiar piece of black fabric, to be exact.
Kenzie had my hoodie.
My eyebrows furrowed in complete confusion, why would he of all people have it?
I wasn't sure at first, but I was determined to find out.
*
"So basically, I found my hoodie in his room. As in Kenzie's room, and I was like what the fuck." I complained as we walked up to the rink, holding onto Zach as my balance wavered.
"So let me get this straight." Jesse paused for a second, looking remarkably different without his Santa fat suit on. "In the past weeks, you've declared war on one of the most popular guys in your new school, slept with one of your foster brothers who has severe nightmares and panic attacks despite being an absolute dick, been to a party and did something with a girl, which you don't remember, went to a Halloween party that gave you a hangover worse than that time we got wasted and you were throwing up for the rest of the week, and singly handily ruined Thanksgiving by arguing with your foster parents?"
"Pretty much, yeah." I nodded along with him, appreciating the way his lips tilted upwards as he found humor in my life.
"So what's the deal with the young one who was getting bullied?? Kady? Kane? Kade?" Zach asked, grabbing my hand gently and guiding me until we were stood securely on the ice.
I sent him a smirk, daring him and his brother to try and keep up as I sped off. "It's Kade, and I found out he's got a different dad to the others and he's related to some old friends of mine."
"Oh?" They both seemed intrigued now, pausing when they watched my spin around in a circle on the ice, finding comfort in the cool winter breeze.
My smile faltered slightly, I halted all my movement. "He's related to Alec, Ivi and Sky. He's their younger brother."
A flash of pain shot through Jessie's eyes, he gulped. "You've seen them?"
"Yeah." I nodded my head, frowning as I saw the excitement in his eyes faltered completely. "Sky just got out of Juvie so they've been really busy."
"Oh."
I started skating again, hearing them skate behind me. Jesse looked deep in thought while Zach looked from me to his brother.
"Hey, Rock?" I diverted my eyes directly onto his. "Are you a magician? Because whenever I look at you, everyone else disappears!"
I chuckled slightly, my lips fighting to go up but the reminder that Jesse was hurt prevented them from doing so.
"Did you sit in a pile of sugar?" He tried again. " Cause damn girl, you have a pretty sweet ass."
He took his concentration off staying upright and onto Jess and I, which caused him to slip.
By slip I mean, he did a frontward role and then slid about 10 metres or so away from us, hitting his body against the ice.
He stood up, knee shaking slightly. He gritted his teeth as he saw the rip in his black jeans, revealing an already-forming bruise.
"Do you have a Band-Aid? Because I just scraped my knee falling for you."
-&-
Just an hour later, I was sat in Kenzie's room with the hoodie sprawled across my lap, having gotten changed straight after I got home.
Thanks to my darling friend Zach, I had ended up with holes all across my leggings and bruises all over my leg.
Fun.
I was sat on his bed silently when he finally walked through the door, my trail of thought moving away from Zach and Jesse.He didn't react when he saw me sat there, my lost hoodie in my hand.
But my god did I.
His dark hair was styled in a way that would make any girls swoon.
His eyes were shielded, as usual, and pierced me with a gaze that I knew would end up finding out all the secrets I'd tried desperately to hide.
He was wearing a olive green long-sleeved shirt, which outlined the hidden muscles in his arms perfectly and began to show the forming abs just below his chest. The shirt was joined by combat jeans with a dark army print and his signature black combat boots. A pair of silver dog tags lay idly across his neck.
It's the first time I've seen him wear another color other than black.
Damn does he look good.
But Kenzie Jensen wasn't known for his friendliness or his manners. In fact, he ignored me. After one quick gaze at me, he moved towards his cupboards and took off
"What do you want, Quinn?" His voice was gruff, distant. He sounded like he'd been deprived of water or something, the dehydration in his voice was hauntingly painful. The small smile that he seemed to save for me was gone, nowhere to be seen.
He reminded me of the person I had met all them weeks and months ago. The boy wearing all black, with void eyes and a void personality to match.
He was distancing himself from me.
"Why did you have my hoodie?" I asked bluntly, not finding a need to sweeten the boy up. I was annoyed, to say the very least. But at the fact he took my hoodie or the fact he seemed distant? Cold?
He'd stolen my hoodie and hid it away from me, not even bothering to return it.
The only hoodie that had any significance to my past, the only thing that actually meant something to me.
And then he's acting like a dick again, despite me trying to show I'm not a threat.
Well you are. You're using all of these brothers just so you don't get sent back to a home. What sort of person does that make you?
"Why was you in my room?" He fired back instantly, ignoring my question.
I thought of something to say, a way to shout at him, a way to start arguing with him that under no circumstances was he allowed to steal my clothes.
"Why did you have my hoodie?" I asked again, this time narrowing my eyes in frustration.
He's not going to win this.
You don't get to turn fucking soft.
You're a monster, use it to bring every man to his fucking knees.
"They keep the nightmares away."
*
Thank you for reading!
QOTC: What is your ideal Christmas day?
Lots of Love,
Laska xx