CADEN

"Everything has an expiration date," she says.

Yes, I know that better than anyone, even better than whoever established the phrase. For instance, CARA for one, MY MOTHER for two, LIFE for three, LOVE for four, MARRIAGE for five, FAMILY for six. Should I keep going? I bet those are enough examples.

"One day I will live far away from you, and there will be no me for you to torture. And when that day comes, it will be the best day of my life," she says.

Does she really believe that day would come? Oh, so naive.

Waiting for the Disney fairytale to rescue her is like waiting for my mother to come back for me. And that chance is no more because the woman had forgotten she has one child left behind.

Yes, she can bite me.

That woman is no good; she has her own evil, or maybe she's the devil herself.

All I can say about her is she had hidden it well for ten years until Cara died. That is when she exposed the real shade of how vicious she is, and even more despicable of me; I had hoped for her return for weeks and years, even when I know she's no good for me.

Okay, I don't mean to harshly criticize Mad. Let's be serious and a little bit honest. All I wanted to do is be nice and tell her how good she was that night, but every time I encountered her, it's like she's coming with those attacks I'm anxious about. Everything starts to make sense if I defend myself before she could attack, and somehow, I find criticizing her easier than facing the reality of the situation.

Earlier today, I talked with my father. He didn't directly tell me how lame my choices are, like he'd throw in my face on other days, but he talked about the children of his friends who are doing well in aviation school. He said he was proud of them, and it left me wondering if he called just to let me know how much of a disappointment I've brought to him.

You see, aviation was my first love. If Cara and Mom were around, they'd testify to that. I've always loved planes and the sky. I was dreaming of different adventures flying up there; I was imagining what and how I would explain to my family after every flight as a pilot. And when those two ladies left my life, I was desperate to fulfill my aviation dreams, and the plan of staying up there became crucial.

I didn't want to come back anymore; I didn't want anything to do with the surface of the earth; it had stained me to an unacceptable scale of unfairness, until Mad. In some weird way, she managed to draw me to her charm, and I ended up following her everywhere. Sometimes letting her know of my presence. Sometimes I creep around, watching every move she makes.

I don't know why, but I make myself believe it had something to do with Cara. Maybe I don't want to lose another sister on the street.

But until what happened between us the other night, I realized there's something more that I don't know how to deal with.

Enough of overthinking and back to reality. I bite half the fry between my fingers and chuck the half piece into the plate.

Paxton is sitting opposite me with a phone in his hand and a girl on his lap, palming his crotch shamelessly in the cafeteria.

She whispered something to him, and he chuckled while focusing on his phone.

That's mostly how every lunch goes with the two of us-either we focus on our phones and say nothing or have girls around.

Paxton and I have a less close relationship compared to other friendships in SU. For instance, Mr. generous face, who's occupying a table with all the assholes in school gathering around him because his dad won the elections.

From here, I watched him talk with Malik and the rest of the guys. His attention was more on his phone than on his friends.

Is he planning to get troops to protect the egg he's hiding in his building? I heard security is protecting her from me all day.

After a short while, he rose from the booth and grabbed his jacket before fleeing out of the door.

For days, I've been weighing the option of getting in my car and driving to Center Yorker; one of the luxurious buildings in Palo Alto. The Chandler family owns the building. My family might be rich, but not crazy. The type of properties the Chandlers own in the country is what earned them the title 'Wealthy People.'

Well, push that back. In that building is the girl who changed departments, thinking that's enough to escape my wrath. No! It's manifesting even more.

"You seem off today," Paxton kicked my leg and I shot him a glare.

Yeah, we needed to talk. I lean in and cross my arms on the table.

"Can I trust you?"

"What?" his face goes blank and he said something to the girl, which makes her stood and leave. "What is your problem?" he started, looking around as he leaned over too.

"My stepsister is. She said you give her eyes... see I—"

He cuts me off, his face twisted with confusion, "Whoa whoa. Hold up. I would never disrespect you like that. We've got codes."

My eyes observed him, but I couldn't shake the replaying thoughts of what Mad planted in my head. "I don't trust you." I seethed. "You will not touch her. I will kill you. I am not even joking."

"For fuck sake, man." He exasperatedly slam the table. It rattled, attracting some attention I don't give a fuck about. "I said I will not disrespect you like that."

Maybe his eyes spoke the same truth his words claimed.

With a swallow, I sit back. "You better don't. Because I don't think I want to go to jail right now."

"Asshole." he laughed, sinking back in his seat too. "You need to loosen up, and it happens I have something just for that in the car. You want some?" He suggested it, cautiously.

I know what he means, and just looking at him, hearing the proposal, what flashed before my eyes is the memories of my terrified ten-year-old self walking into my mother's quiet closet, and when the motion light came up, I saw her laying her. Pale and unmoving, with pills everywhere. She'd ODed, it was later concluded she attempted suicide.

"Do I look like a junkie to you?" I snap at him and he surrender his palms.

"It's not drugs, it's weed." he defended.

"I don't need shit to lose focus. I like being awake on my grounds." I brush it off and grab my Diet Coke, rolling my eyes at him.

After lunch, I attended my last class for the day, which is a general class, but there wasn't a sign of Daisy Esteban, only my stepsister who wouldn't stop staring.

Sometimes I wonder if the whole school notices the distance we've created between us.

To stay off her route, I've obtained copies of all the classwork we did and left those we shared from the beginning of the semester on the coffee table. Yet she's so stubborn to use the notes. Instead, she left them there on the same spot. Just like she left her spot next to me. And everyone in the class knows better than to inhabit it.

She'd win the other time. She got to me, but now that I have it all worked out. I know for sure Paxton won't want to cross me. I feel much better.

She won't be touched by anyone. If following her to Stanford wasn't enough to keep her safe, I would shadow her everywhere, and I will see the jerk who has a dead wish to dare.

By the time I got home, I had picked up a few things we're running out of in the kitchen from the supermarket.

But what I can push myself to make is cereal, even though yesterday Martha said in her fake sweet voice, "Please eat healthily; you're looking so skinny."

The woman and her pretense, all in favor of pleasing and turning my father against me. And she succeeded gracefully because he takes her more as family than I am.

With the quiet around, I started to feel sleepy, since Mad must be at her new job. The ridiculous therapy home for the residents in Palo Alto.

For a moment, I thought it would help, that's why I spent some weeks earlier this semester listening to some woman named Reagan claim to work miracles. Which never happened.

It was at the organization where I met the governor's son. But now, I just realized he must be messed up if he actually goes there and even believes in taking private sessions.

Unlike me, I've dropped the sessions; I'm not sure sitting in a circle and admitting my fear to a bunch of people would fix me.

No, through the therapy, my nightmares continue. Nothing changed. It's just a waste of money and time. Call it a scam, I agree.

I'm not willing to have people stare at me with pitiful eyes and use soft words like I'm a baby.

Oh, in case you're wondering, I screamed through my nightmares like a scared person the other night when I stayed out all night after getting a ticket for speeding.

I remember how pissed Mad was when I returned home the next day with some Juliet.

But I must confess, I felt a little emotion knowing she was worried about me. I worry about her too all the time, even though I don't go confessing it or taking advantage of her when she's drunk.

You know what? I'll just sleep.

***

I woke up in the late evening when the sun had set and the stars had appeared in the sky.

But Mad wasn't home yet, and it terrified the hell out of me.

What kind of job keeps you out this late? I can't handle another déjà vu. What if something happens to her? Some bad guy or a nasty accident? She better not be doing anything to spite me.

The fear of the thought had my heart thumping wildly. Her eyes held a thirty of retaliation when she said she'd be with someone, or Paxton. What if?

No, she won't. I can't bear the thought.

I know her. She's just too... prefect to get herself in that dirt.

I grabbed my shirt and pulled it over my head, rushing out the door to the elevator where my foot eagerly tapped on the floor.

As I emerged from the building, with my car key in hand and my mobile phone, there was a furious vehicle parked on the lawn of my building. Kaiser Chandler.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I questioned the governor's son as he emerged from his car.

"You're after her for a reason," he yelled.

Oh, this dude is a bull, coming at me like some Mr. Green Hulk, just like the color of his eyes when he's trying to appear decent. Although right now, he's not, so those pretty eyes are no longer filled with light but are replaced with darkness even deeper than the night sky.

"It took you long enough to figure that out." I mocked.
Honestly, I thought he would solve the mystery much earlier. I mean, with the way he stares at her and follows her around, it's not hard to tell he's falling hard for his girlfriend's best friend.

So fucked up of him.

"Stay away from her," his voice was deep and commanding.

Is he some kind of high court judge?

"Nah, blood must have blood, didn't you watch The 100?" I grinned, being my usual self; I like to provoke others with plain sarcasm.

"What do you want?" he asked in a furious tone. "Name your price, anything to keep you away from her," he growled.

Huh, now he's offering money? Is that what his father used in the election to defeat the other parties?
So I laughed, a laughter that I could hardly control.

"You know, I didn't picture you as the first one to back down from a fight. It's pathetic how hard you're trying to protect her, changing her department, or is it the entire university? I heard she has security and a driver twenty-four-seven now. What will your girlfriend say about that?" I smirked.

"Just tell me what you want and, let. her. be." He emphasized boldly right in front of me.

Kaiser and I are the same height and build. So yes, he might be a spoiled child, but he sure does put in some great workouts.

"Her father took away my sister, the partner I shared the same womb with. He shattered her skull against the concrete and left her bleeding in the middle of the street. No one was there to say goodbye, I couldn't assure her it would be okay. She died alone, cold, and scared, in the middle of the road." Saying it out loud, it stirred up waves of emotion inside me. By the time I finished, my jaw was clenched as tightly as his.

"And the one who did that is serving their punishment in jail. Daisy was just as young as your sister at the time; she had no idea what her dad did."

No, that's not how it works. I don't care if the damn law has made it legal. I want revenge.

The Esteban family has stolen from me. My life and happiness were taken away eight years ago.

"That's the problem. When I was going through the worst days of my life, she was oblivious to the boy who lost his twin. Her parents shielded her from fear while I was consumed by it." I couldn't contain the resentment within me. I was on the brink of exploding.

"Your family took everything away from her. You have no idea of the struggles she had to endure to survive. You are in no position to judge her. Her father committed the crime. Daisy has nothing to do with it; she's pure and innocent. Do not make her the target of your selfish anger."

Money? Whoa, whoa, whoa. My family didn't need anything from the Estebans, but the law granted us some of their properties, while they sold the rest to hire a good lawyer who would cover up the case and make Cara's death seem like a typical accident.

I exhaled a small laugh and stepped closer, slowly emphasizing each word to his face: "I will harm her. I will tear her limb from limb and watch her bleed the way Cara did. I will do worse because I will laugh while she chokes on her blood."

He looked visibly on edge. What would he do about it?

"I'll give you time to take back your words. Under any circumstances, if something were to happen to Daisy, I promise you would prefer being the deceased twin, because I would ensure you experience every nightmare you've ever had, my friend."

He didn't...

Regulating my breathing became incredibly difficult. The burning fire in my veins was about to erupt.

Damn it! My fists itched to punch his handsome face.

"Do not speak about my sister like that," I warned him, my eyes never blinking.

However, the bastard remains nonchalant, his lips curving into a smirk as he shrugs. "I'm the elected Governor's child of this state, I'll speak as I please."

Oh, what an asshole.

"Then maybe I'll have to teach you how to keep your mouth shut."

I've had enough, so I let my fist do the talking, and it lands solidly on his hard jaw.

He stumbles from the unexpected attack, his eyes widening, and before I can process his actions, Mr. Governor's son retaliates with a blow to my nose. I feel liquid descending from my lips, followed by searing pain.

He damn well broke my nose.

I wipe the substance away with the back of my hand, confirming it's blood, now staining my hand.

Oh, he's going to pay for this.

I lunge at him, and soon we're rolling on the lawn, exchanging blows like we're in an MMA fight.

The struggle goes on for a considerable duration, neither of us willing to give up.

I must admit, I'm impressed; the guy has earned my respect. I used to think he was a lazy ass, but endurance isn't just my thing. He's got it too.

Honestly, it's getting almost comical. Look at us - covered in blood. We have quite a few things in common: therapy, fighting over girls, seeking fame, and now exchanging blows.

Finally, a group of people finds us, and by "people," I mean Big Mitch - the dude assigned to keep an eye on Mad and me. Accompanying him is Mad's male friend, with whom I've had a brawl before.

The two of them manage to pull us apart. Mitch grabs me, while the other guy restrains Mr. Governor's son, ensuring all signs of the fight are cleared before the son's car disappears into the distance.

Yes, I've been in my fair share of fights, thrown insults, even dared people, but Mitch surprises me with his strength as he breaks free from my grip.

I spit out blood and nonchalantly shrug after Mitch releases me. My keys and phone are strewn across the grass, and I pick them up as I step back.

"Your parents would be disappointed," Mitch says as I start to walk away.

"They already are. This is just the cherry on top," I mutter, moving toward my car. I open the door, reach into the glove compartment, and pull out a wad of cash. I turn back to face the jerk standing behind me, the one who sees my sister as some object to be possessed.

Maybe to him, she is. But to me, Mad means so much more.

I stand in front of him, shoving the envelope of money into his chest, and without saying a word, I turn away.

No, that's not enough.

A punch would do it. So, I pivot and aim for his temple.

It provides a small measure of satisfaction before I slide into my car and drive off in search of my sister.