“Goodnight beautiful,” I said and kissed Nina before she got out of the car. I made sure she got into her house before pulling out of her driveway and making my way back home. I went into my house and headed towards the stairs.

                “How was your date?”

                I sighed and turned to face my parents. My dad raised an eyebrow at me, his arms crossed and leaning against the wall. Mom sat on the couch in the living room, watching me with a neutral expression.

                “It was good. We had fun,” I said, trying to keep casual so that they would let me go out with her this weekend.

                “Well that’s good,” mom said with a nod and a small smile. I wanted to tell her to shut up, but I just didn’t want to get in trouble right now. I was actually in a good mood after that date.

                “Chris was good to you guys?” dad asked and I shrugged and nodded. “Yea. He’s a little pissed you want him to drop by. Says you forget that he has little kids,” I said, wishing they would just let me go upstairs.

                Dad rolled his eyes. “He’ll live,” he said and came over to me. He eyed me carefully and I found myself glaring.

                “I didn’t do anything bad!” I snapped defensively. “I never said you did,” he said calmly. His calm lack of emotion was making me furious. I hated it when he did that. My dad thought he was so fucking cool.

                “Shut up dad! You and mom always think I do bad things!” I snarled. “Calm down Shawn. We were just asking how your date went,” he said, still calm.

                “God, will you stop acting calm? It’s pissing me off!” I snapped before turning to go upstairs. He caught me by the arm and yanked me back.

                “And I don’t like my son telling me what to do. Life sucks. Maybe we weren’t done talking to you,” he said.

                “Well I was done talking to you,” I said angrily. He looked a little amused now. “Shawn, don’t just walk away,” mom said with a frown.

                “Shut up bitch!” I snapped. I hated my mom. I couldn’t stand her. I watched as dad’s amusement quickly turned to fury.

                He slapped me in the face so hard that I almost cried out in pain. He gripped my shirt tightly, a protective look joining the furious one.

                “Shawn Aaron Jarvis, that ‘bitch’ went to hell and back to raise you. If you are EVER that disrespectful to your mother again, so help me god I’ll kick your sorry, ungrateful ass so hard you’ll never sit again,” he boomed.

                I tried to pry his hands off me, but it was no use. My dad was a strong guy, even though he definitely didn’t look like it.

                “Sorry,” I hissed and he slapped me again and literally threw me towards mom. I nearly fell but managed to catch my balance before I did.

                “Apologize to your mother! And you better mean it, Shawn!” he snapped, a threatening look in his eyes. I glared and turned to my mom, disgust in my eyes. I hated the stupid bitch.

                I grit my teeth as she watched me, that neutral expression back on her face. “Sorry,” I said through my teeth, not actually meaning it but trying to seem like I did for the sake of my ass.

                “I know you don’t mean it. You’re an ungrateful bastard, Shawn, but I do love you more than you could ever know,” mom said simply. 

                “Yea right,” I grumbled and dad moved to hit me again. “Don’t you hit him Ben!” mom said, her voice as calm and composed as her face. Dad stopped and glared at me in absolute disgust.

                She turned to me and stood up, barely taller than me. “Shawn, I do love you. I know you don’t believe me, and that’s your problem I guess. I wish you believed me. I would die for you in a heartbeat. It hurts when you call me a bitch. But you can call me every name in the book, and it won’t make me love you any less,” she said honestly.

                She moved to hug me and I backed away with a glare. Dad moved towards me again and mom shook her head at him.

                “Let him go upstairs, Benjamin. He’s a teen boy. He doesn’t have to love his mother,” she said with a sad sigh.

                “Ali, come on! He’s being a spoiled shit right now!” dad said furiously, shooting me a dirty look. “He has no idea what the hell you went through to raise him!”

                I turned and began to walk towards the stairs, not wanting to hear it. I just wanted to talk to my twin about the double date over the weekend.

                “Shawn!” mom called. I stopped, mentally cursing, and turned to face her coldly. “What?” I hissed. She gave me a small smile. “I’m happy that you’re happy with your girlfriend,” she said. I just glared before heading upstairs.