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“I’m on campus,” I muttered. I was very close to campus, technically, so it wasn’t really a lie.

My mother sighed. “And I suppose you aren’t hitting the library at this time. I thought you were going to try hard this year.”

“I could be at the library. Why not? It’ll be easier when I live here.” The wait for my new rich stepdad to sort out my campus housing was taking a million years.

My mother was silent for a long moment, and I knew what she was thinking about me. How I was fucked up, ruined, the daughter who was on a collision course with her end, and had no intentions of stopping.

“Look, me and John have talked long and hard about how to handle your… situation. We’ve decided that living on campus isn’t good for you. It’s too dangerous.”

“It’s Hade Harbor, Mom. What’s dangerous about that?” I asked, bitterness twisting my lips into a manic grin. Luckily, she couldn’t see me. Parroting the phrases that people had said to me over the years, the ones that had proven to be patently untrue, gave me a sick sense of satisfaction.

Hade Harbor, a small town too good and pure to be dangerous… except that was bullshit. It was just as dangerous as anywhere else. Evil people lived everywhere. It was a lesson I’d learned the hard way.

But I wanted to live on campus. I wanted to stay as far away from my mom and her new husband as I could.

“Well, you’re too erratic, in that case. I need you under my roof, so I can keep watch over you. You need routine and order?—”

“No, I don’t need any of that. I need to be left alone.”

My mother was quiet, and when she finally spoke, I knew there’d be no changing her mind.

“Regardless, we are a new family, and we need to spend time together. You’ll live at home for this year, so we can all settle together.”

I stopped on the sidewalk, panic and rage and all sorts of things washing through me. Like she could try and worry about me now, when it was far too late for all of that.

“I don’t even know where your new house is,” I ground out.

After a few years of struggling to get by, my mother had hit the jackpot and snagged herself another rich husband. Being a poor widow wasn’t really her vibe, so she’d made sure to rid herself of my father’s ghost as soon as possible. I hadn’t had to watch, thank God. She’d met John and gone with him to New York, leaving me to lick my wounds and spiraling further into chaos in California.

I’d met the new husband once, and that was after they were married. They’d eloped to Hawaii and gotten married in front of a bunch of strangers. Fine by me. I was over happily-ever-afters for the rest of my days.

“I’ll drop you the location,” my mother said smoothly, like it wasn’t insane that I didn’t even know my mom’s address in town or that she was basically forcing me to live with her and her new family.

“Looking forward to it,” I snapped out, before she hung up.

I sank down on the dirty curb and stared at the shopping cart someone had abandoned in the middle of the street.

So, my mom wanted to play happy family with her new husband and his sons?

Perfect. Just when I’d thought life couldn’t get any worse, she’d found a way to prove me wrong.

Way to go, Mom.

Brody

When the alarmwent off at five a.m., for the first time in years, I seriously considered turning it off and rolling over. After I’d gotten wet last night saving the ungrateful heathen of a woman, my head felt thick.

A late night doesn’t justify being a loser, Brody. Get a grip and man up.

My father’s voice had become my own internal monologue. I didn’t even need him standing over me passing judgment on all my shortcomings. I could do that myself these days.

So, I got up and hit the gym. Luckily, the new house my dad had just bought in Hade Harbor had a fully equipped gym in the basement. An hour of punishing cardio and heavy weights later, I headed to the sauna. Sauna was followed by a dip in the cold plunge pool out the back, with views of the misty Maine coastline. The cold burned, my muscles screamed, but I endured the pain. Mind over matter in all things. It was the only way to live.

My body thrumming with energy, I wrapped myself in a towel and headed to my room for a shower.

Outside, I saw my father’s car sitting in the driveway.

Fantastic. That meant his new wife was probably here, about to press her unwanted attentions on us. She’d better enjoy her position while she could, because it wasn’t going to last long. I wouldn’t allow it.