Chapter 3 Stay Away from my Family

Chapters 2

Jasmine:

"You're back?" asked my cousin, she had a blackened face, I knew something was up. she moved from the bed to rest her back on the dresser.

"Is there a problem Lily?" I asked, trying to inhale calm air, I knew there was one,

"Mother is calling you." she sneered, she unfold her arms, swinging them while walking out the room.

I dropped my bag in my room quickly, making my way to my father's room. his wife was seated there, legs crossed on a large-sized bed.

"You forgot to greet, girl," she complained. she was already giving me a look of disgust.

"Sorry," I said nervously, bowing my head.

"About the laundry, what punishment should I give you?" she asked me, she was eating the fruits in the messiest way. I honestly wondered why my father would marry my mother's younger sister after her death...!!! he could have gone a bit farther to search for a new wife...

and about the laundry, I purposely skipped them, my lateness at work was becoming a problem and another reason to get sacked by Scott. he has always wanted to send me away, saying the shop doesn't have so much money to keep on paying more than two workers and considering the past beef we've had, I was definitely on his list.

"Sorry... I'm sorry." I bowed my head again, trying to not meet her eyes, and then I remembered I had some things to tell. my eyes boom with excitement while I released the word.

"Mother... I just wanted to tell you-" I started slowly, taking in every expression of hers so I know when to discontinue. she's always mad at me, always looking for something to blame on me, if that would get her a ticket to finally throw me out of the house.

"I've made inquires about the university at the beacon, I even paid the fees for the entrance exams which would commence in the next three weeks." I checked my pocket quickly, bringing out the list of admission papers, "Here it is! not to forget, you and dad promised me once Lily enters her third year in the uni, I will be able to attend a university too."

she licked her hand quickly and collected the admission list from me, looking at it quickly before passing it back to me. "About that," she pitifully twitched her lips and then I knew something was wrong, "You're not going. your father has so many projects at hand, and I'm not sure he would be able to waste money on unimportant things now."

She called my education unimportant! Lily is! not me.

"So-"

"So, you could try again next year, rewrite the entrance exams. I honestly don't see why you need to attend college, we've done a lot for you by letting you attend high school, feeding and clothing you all these years, isn't that enough for a girl without a mother?"

"It's not." I bit my tongue when I realized I let that out, "What did you say... girl? are you been ungrateful? you Ingrate!"

"I'm sorry, I did not mean it, mother. I am grateful for the life you have given me until now... I was just saying, Lily entered college 4 and a half years ago and she's-"

"Shut up! don't ever call my daughter's name like she's of the same status as you! your mother died of a disease, leaving you with nothing! nothing more than this!" she raised a small locket piece in her hand, jiggling it.

The sapphire locket belonged to my mother. that was the only thing I could boast she left me but it was out of my hands, she made me sell it to her for a meal.

The thing was that, Ever since they were little children, lily's mom always had something against my mother, she wanted whatever she had and she made sure to get it. her mother stole my Grandpa away, and so did she, stealing my father. She was not a good person at all, including that daughter of hers.

"Aunt I-" She didn't let me finish, "Why are you still here?!" she barked, "Go out of my room!" I turned around, running away while holding the tears about to burst from my eyes, I looked around the house for a quiet place, there was none, the twins were in their rooms, I and Lily share a room and she would laugh at me if she saw me crying in the room, all the other spare rooms in the house were locked and the keys, with lily's mom.

I picked my jacket, knapsack, and shoe, Leaving the house for a while.

There was a lake at the back of our home, my favorite place to go.

I took miniature steps, going to stand in front of the lake, it was quiet as usual. I watched how the water moved softly, it had no worries, at all and my life was the opposite of it. I inhaled the fresh air, taking off my shoes carefully and folding my pants to knee-length, and then I walked barefooted to the water. just as I expected, the water had a warm temperature. I stayed by the side for a While, praying for my mother's spirit.

she would usually take me here while she was alive, she told me this was the best place to connect with her when she finally goes beyond this world.

I suddenly feel her inspire me, lifting the burden from my heart. I needed to sketch out something. I jumped out of the water, going to pick my knapsack and searching for my phone.

My phone was cracked and it malfunctioned occasionally, I hit the side on my lap, shutting one eye and praying it works this time. I just got a flash of something I needed to draw out, my mother's wedding dress, I wanted to remodel the design, and save it for my marriage, if I'd have one,

She made me promise to wear the same dress on my wedding day.

it worked!

I smiled at the half blanked screen, I started to sketch out the dress, from the bodice to the lower part, the ball, and then the hand. perfect! I exclaimed.

I suddenly heard the loud chirping of birds and the shaky bushes at the other end of the river, it almost felt as if I saw someone's figure there

"Who's there?" I yelled, my voice was thrown back to me in an echo. "come out, I'm not scared of you..." I sound weird. no one came out nor answer, and so did the noise, it went vanished.

I looked at the pale tint of orange patches in the sky, it was already getting late and I should be back home at this time, preparing dinner.

still lifting my face up to the sky, a droplet of rain fell on my face, it was starting to shower, although it didn't looked like it would rain at first.

I dust my butt of dries leaves, touching my cheek, the tears magically disappear, and my cheek as moist as ever. I picked out my best smile, they would never see me in pain. I jogged back to our house. the night lights were automatically on, the night was fast approaching.

I knocked on the door once, I didn't feel too good, the air was cold, "Open up Luna! Luke?" I called the twins, they didn't hate me as much as lily and her mother, but they still disliked me.

when I heard no answer and the air still as quiet as ever, I put my knuckles on the door to knock again, it got opened from the inside. Janet, my stepmom, had a sinister look on her face, "Oh, you Finally came back?" her voice wasn't soft, but it wasn't the usual harsh tone either.

Lily was behind her with her arms crossed, twirled her body around, twisting her braid with her index finger while chewing something. they were both up to something, I can perceive that.

"We made a final decision, my whole family and now, we've decided that we don't want you around our house, Jas," she called my name. Lily was giving an expression for every word her mother said, making me a puppy dog eye.

"Huh? I-" I tried to push past them, I wanted to see it father, it was the first time I needed his help, even though he never cared for me, he did promise he would never throw me out of the house!

"Where do you think you're going?" She asked, acting clueless. Lily pulled me out of the house, pushing me to my feet.

"Ow..." I circled my fingers around my sprained ankles.

"Didn't you hear what mom said? are you deaf? we no longer want you here." I think the noise called my father's attention, with the way he appeared at the door, he looked clueless.

"Clark, she's disrespecting me again, this is why she must leave." Said Janet. he looked from her to me, helplessly, "Jasmine, you should respect your mother, it's best for you."

"But I didn't-"

"Oh, she's challenging you now, see!" she cut in.

"Janet, let her be." he tried to touch her for her to calm down, she turned fleetingly, elbowing his chin, "I don't want to hear anything Clark! this is the height of it, she disrespected me by walking away from me while I was still talking to her! every day, I report this imp to you, but you do nothing, today I'm finally taking action, no one will stop me."

He looked brainwashed by her stories, hell, she report to me every day. and at the same time, guilty, perhaps the fact that he could not do anything to save me. I saw the twins struggling with more of my things, dragging them out, including my mother's teenage dresses which I wore occasionally, "Luna, Luke, fling those trash away!" They used all their mights, pushing the broken luggage bag, it flew open in mid-air, and so did my stuff inside. Blueprints of my dream store and a collage book for interior designs for my dream store got wet in the drizzling rain, the muddy puddles swallowed some of my sketches, blanking the pages with their color.

She pushed my father behind her, holding the door with a sound warning, "Now read my lips, Jasmine, STAY AWAY FROM ME AND MY FAMILY." she read it out loud, claiming the house my mother soiled to build, including the man she married and he was speechless.

She pulled the door vigorously, closing it on my face. it was over, I lost to the both of them.

I picked as many papers as I could from the ground, evaluating them with the current stained look they all had, some were still useful, stained only at the end.. I gathered the useful ones, fixing them In my file book to dry later before picking my clothes, they all need a thorough cleaning. if they weren't muddy before now, the rain which was getting heavy, splashing water from the puddles successfully ruined them.

I sighed, pressing the water from my hair and pushing it backward so I could see clearly and concentrate. once I was done arranging all the stuff I wished to take with me, then I remembered I hide some cash recently. I quickly opened the zipper, surfed through the clothes, and then found my money, hopefully, Lily and no one else saw them.

I pressed my lips on the wet notes, kissing them. they were my lifesaver, not much of that though, but enough to save me for the rest of the week.

I Exhaled heavily, picking my luggage before walking out of the gate, I could not help but look back once more, I had some good memories with my torn-out Family, my Mother, Father...

Lily was peering at me through the

large windows with a smile on her lip and a facial expression of, 'You lost, I won.' she did promise me that I would be out of the house before I even knew it.

Seeing her smile, irked me more, but I was out of the house and she was still in there with her mother finally gaining hierarchy over everything which naturally belonged to my parents. she waved me one last time with a smirk on her face before leaving.

Now I had more pressing matters, Number one, where would I stay???