Chapter Five

River

"Hey dad, how's your trip going?"

"Don't 'hey dad' me, River. Why on earth did you think it was a good idea to throw a party? You've never done anything like this before. Is this your way of rebelling because Gab and the kids moved in?"

"I didn't throw the party, dad. I was at work."

"Oh, don't you dare try to blame Rock... River?"

Of course, he doesn't believe a word I'm saying. I give up. "What do you want my punishment to be while you're gone for two weeks?"

"Don't you dare talk back to me. Put Rock on the phone."

"Why, dad?"

"Do it, River, or this will be even more difficult for you."

"Is this some kind of joke?"

"Never mind, River, I will call his cell phone myself."

"Oh, look, River, your dad's calling me," Rock says from the door. He must have followed me to my room. "Good evening, Mr. Darby, how's your trip going? I'm terribly sorry about the party. I was assured it would be okay."

Rock listens to dad for a few minutes. "Yes, sir, we both can do that. We both deserve to be punished for our stunt."

I bite down hard on my tongue to keep from saying something I shouldn't. Rock talks to my father a little longer, then hands his phone to me.

"You and Rock are to clean the entire inside and outside of the house. Then you are to paint the fence. It needs a fresh coat of paint. And River, you need to thank your stepbrother for taking some of the blame for your mistake. Next time, I won't be so lenient with my punishment."

"Yes, sir," I grit out. "Goodnight, sir. I have school tomorrow."

"Get out of my room, Rock." I point to the door, and when he finally walks through the door, I shut and lock it. At least I still have some privacy. A few minutes later, I hear a knock on my door.

"Yes," I answer. Jessica and Brody enter my bedroom, the only two people I trust besides Sydney. Brody apologizes for not being able to keep everything under control, but I interrupt him because it's not his fault and he shouldn't feel the need to apologize or fix anything.

"Thank you for trying to help, Brody, but this isn't your responsibility," I tell him.

"And it's not yours either, River. It's my idiotic brother's fault, and I will tell my mother what he did and how he got you in trouble with your dad," Jessica says.

"Oh, Jessica, that's very kind of you, but it will only make things worse with my dad. He enjoys punishing me whenever he can because I'm not the son he wanted. He will always take Rock's side over mine. I wouldn't be surprised if the only reason he's marrying your mother is so he can have the son he always wanted. Anyway, we all have school tomorrow, so we should go to bed. I'll clean the house in the morning before heading to school," I explain.

"It's already been taken care of," Brody informs me.

"Thank you, Brody."

"Anytime," he tells me, then leans down and kisses me on the cheek. "I'll see you at school tomorrow."

"See ya." Once Brody leaves the room, I inform Jessica that I'm going to take a shower. "Feel free to watch some TV while I'm gone."

I gather my clothes and head to the bathroom. I knock on the door to make sure nobody is inside since we only have one bathroom besides my dad's bedroom and the half bath downstairs. There is no response. The door is unlocked, so I open it and find Rock in there, naked and about to get into the shower. "Oh crap, I'm sorry I knocked, but there was no answer."

"It's okay, water girl. You know you like what you see. Want to join me? I can show you what a real man feels like."

"In your dreams, Rock. Besides, if that's what a real man is packing," I say, pointing to his private area, "then I think I can do better on my own."

"Fuck you, water girl," I hear Rock yell as I shut the door on him. I head to my dad's room to take a shower. He's not here, so he'll never know.

I'm in the shower, but all I can think about is Rock and his package. I wasn't lying when I said I could do better on my own if that's what he's working with. But I wasn't referring to it being small because that cocky jerk is definitely not lacking in that department. I would never tell him that though.

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The following day at school was brutal. It felt like I had committed a crime instead of just breaking up a party. It wasn't even me who called the cops, but they always find a way to pick on me.

As I was picking up my books from the floor, where one of the boys from the team had knocked me down, Sydney and Brody approached me. They asked if I was okay.

I sarcastically replied, "Yes, I'm just peachy. Let's just go to lunch and hope it's better."

Sydney suggested that she and I go sit at our table while Brody gets us lunch. I hesitated, not wanting to let them think they have won every time they do something to me. But I couldn't show weakness, so I agreed.

Once I made it to my table without any hiccups, I thought I would be fine. But as soon as I sat down, the kids at the surrounding tables started throwing their food at me. And of course, it had to be spaghetti and meatball day. By the time I left the lunchroom, I was soaked from head to toe with spaghetti sauce.

Rock noticed my state and asked, "Shit, River, what the hell happened to you?"

I replied, "Like you had nothing to do with this."

"River, this time I didn't do it. Let me take you somewhere and help you clean up," Rock says.

"Get your hands off me, Rock!" I yell, running off to the bathroom. A few minutes later, Rock enters the bathroom. "Damnit, River, let me help you with this."

"Why would you want to help me, Rock? Any other time, you would be laughing at my expense," I retort.

"I admit I'm an asshole to you most of the time, but even this is too much for me," Rock confesses.

Sydney walks into the bathroom, holding clean clothes. "What the hell are you doing here, Rock? Haven't you caused enough damage today?"

"Contrary to what you believe, Sydney, I had nothing to do with this," Rock defends himself.

Sydney looks at me, and I shrug my shoulders, unsure of what to believe. "Just leave, Rock. We can handle it from here," Sydney tells him.

After Rock leaves, Sydney asks, "What was that about?"

"I don't know. He says he had nothing to do with this. That it even goes too far for him," I reply.

"Do you believe him?"

"I think I do."

"Okay, let's start with your hair. Get it cleaned up, and then we'll change your clothes."

It takes us thirty minutes to clean the mess out of my hair, causing me to miss my entire lunch and half of my fourth period.

"Ms. Darby, is there a reason you're fifteen minutes late to my class?" the teacher asks.

"I spilled something on my clothes, so I had to go home and get new ones. It took longer than I expected," I explain, and the whole classroom bursts into laughter.

"Freak," someone mutters as I walk past them.

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I'm hanging out with Brody after school, discussing our plans to grab pizza at our favorite pizza parlor. Just then, Sydney and Jessica come out of the building.

"Hey Sydney, Jessica, do you guys want to join us for pizza?" I ask.

"Heck yeah, I'm always up for pizza," Sydney replies.

"Jess, what about you?" I ask Jessica.

"Sure," she says.

"Hey, where are you going, Jessica?" Rock asks his sister.

"I'm going to eat pizza with River and them," Jessica answers.

"Not without me, you're not," Rock insists.

Jessica looks at me, and I just shrug my shoulders. It seems like we'll have to get along at some point in this situation.

"I'm taking my Jeep to the pizza place. Jessica, Sydney, do you want to ride with me?" I offer.

"Of course," they both agree.

We all meet up at the restaurant, and to our surprise, there are more people than just Brody and Rock in Rock's truck.

"What the hell is this?" Sydney growls.

"I told her, 'Another way for Rock to torture me.' We girls make our way to our table. Brody comes over a minute later. 'I'm sorry River, I didn't know he was going to invite the entire team with us.'

'It's fine. You guys just sit at a different table, so the temptation to make fun of me won't be so strong for the jerks.'

'They can sit over there, but I came here with you, not them. I just got stuck riding with them,' Brody protests.

I smiled at him. 'Well, sit down then,' I tell him.

We order our pizza and drinks. Then we sit at our booth and tell jocks. It's really nice hanging around Brody. He's such a breath of fresh air. I even think I might be falling for him. Who knew I would ever like a football player.

'So, Jessica, any guys getting your attention at school these days?' Sydney asks her.

'One or two,' Jessica says with a twinkle in her eyes. Jessica followed in her brother's footsteps. She made the cheerleading squad and we've noticed she's been looking at some of the juniors. It's actually kinda cute. I just hope she doesn't turn as shallow as the others.

'So, Jess, how's the squad treating you?' I ask her, and she gives me a look. 'Uh oh, that's bad?' I ask her.

'It wasn't too bad at first. Then my brother dumped the head cheerleader, and now she's making my life hell,' Jessica shrugs her shoulders like it's no big deal.

One more thing Rock gets to screw up without consequences.