Devil Heir

by Rachel Leigh

The comments were cruel. Some laughed, some said much worse. Lilith, the most popular girl in the freshman class, referred to me as Carrie the Freak. Maybe one day I will snap. Maybe one day I should.

She giggles as he grabs her by the ass and walks behind her, whispering something in her ear over her shoulder. Once he’s done breathing down her neck, he looks back at me and winks. He's a damn sociopath. And I've got to live with him.

He's not family. Family doesn't do what we did. Family doesn't feel what I felt.

Even though, my presence is the only thing that saved her ass from a moment of humiliation and sexual harassment. She'll never acknowledge it, though. She'll assume I’m responsible because I'm still making the world stay an arm’s length away from her. Maybe I am, and I didn't even have to lay down the rules since she'd returned.

Picking up my apple, I roll it in my hand. “They don’t scare me. Not anymore.” I set my apple down and extend my hand to Paxton. “I’m Penelope Briar. Your new friend.”

I once heard that if you give your car a name then it’ll live longer. It’s a bullshit myth, but I named her Cherry just to play it safe.