Page 66 of His White Moonlight
It didn’t hurt.It’d stopped hurting a long time ago.But it didn’t let me know where I stood, either.He watched me, waiting.For my reaction or for a question I would never ask?
Turning away from him, I went to my room.My bed was still missing—no surprise there—so I sat on the floor with my laptop in my lap and checked my bank balance.That reminded me that I hadn’t filled out any paperwork when starting at Wulf Enterprises.Where, then, would my promised wages go?
I grabbed my phone and sent Mom a message.
Me: When is payday, and will it be a check, or do you need my banking info for auto-deposit?
Mom: Auto-deposit.I've already filled out everything for you.
Me: Can you please change it to a check?
Mom: Why?Do you need something?
A little independence, but I didn’t say that.It would just fall on deaf ears.I also couldn’t tell her that I wanted to deposit the check into an account they didn’t have access to.
Me: I don’t need anything.Did you open an account for me?
Mom: Ages ago.Ask Bennett about it.
Me: Okay.So, no chance on the paper check then?
Mom: It would be more work for our finance department.
“Right,” I said to myself.“It would have been more believable if you said you were afraid I’d give myself a paper cut.”
Bored and annoyed, I tried calling Karter.It went right to voicemail, and I got a message a few seconds later saying that he couldn’t answer but could text.So I tried calling Aiden.I just wanted someone to talk to for a little while to pass the time.And it’d been ages since I talked to them on the phone.However, Aiden sent back a message almost identical to Karter's.
I rolled my eyes, wondering if it was revenge for all of the times I’d been unable to answer the phone to talk to them while I was at school.So I sent a group chat.
Me: I was just bored.You’re both lame for not picking up.Guess I’ll need to call my other friends.
Karter: Girl or guy?
Me: Non-binary
Aiden: Not funny.Are you talking to guys?
Me: Yeah.Two of them at the same time.I hope your mates take one look at you and run away screaming.
Karter: That’s mean.What did Bennett do to make you mad?
Me: He said I’ll never be his sister, but I’m not mad about it.His hate is his problem, not mine.
They both replied that Bennett didn’t hate me, that he just didn’t see me like they saw me.They’d said the same thing their whole lives.It’d never taken the sting out of Bennett’s rejection when I was younger.It didn’t make things better now, either.
Not wanting to think about Bennett and how he viewed me, I checked the social feeds I followed, which included a few of the girls from school.It was always good to keep an eye on your enemies.After graduation, they’d returned home, like me, which meant they were scattered across the states.
The one I was most worried about, Lindi, lived in the city.
I studied the pictures she’d uploaded from her welcome home party.It wasn’t the level of renting the museum, but only barely.It looked like one of the five-star hotels downtown that would drain my bank account to rent for the night.Not that it was a problem for her or her family.Her dress screamed money, as did her string diamond earrings and pendant necklace.
“Perfect makeup.Perfect hair.Perfect smile,” I said softly.It all hid the angry, vicious woman she really was.
Thankfully, I would be even farther away from the city once the semester started, and she would probably be off to some Ivy League university somewhere.
Out of curiosity, I flipped to Aiden’s feed and saw recent pictures of sunsets, forests, and clubs.Dancing girl pictures, I could have understood.After all, they were supposed to be out there, finding their mates.But not the pictures of a bunch of guys laughing and partying.I checked Karter’s and saw more club pictures mixed in with food pictures.
I was so mad that I blocked them both and was tempted to do the same to Mom and Dad.What happened to consistent parenting?Why did the boys get one set of rules, which was to do whatever the hell they wanted, apparently, but I got another?The unfairness of it all rankled until I realized why I was different.
