“Seriously?” I exclaimed. “Could sh

“Seriously?” I exclaimed. “Could she move any slower?” I asked Jared as I sat in the backseat of his girlfriend’s G8 with my hands locked on top of my head.
Tate twisted around in the driver’s seat, her eyes sharp like she wanted to drive a knife right through my skull. “I’m heading around a sharp turn at nearly fifty miles an hour on an unstable dirt road!” she yelled. “This isn’t even a real race. It’s practice. I told you that already!” Every muscle in her face was tight as she chewed me out.
I dropped my head back and let out a sigh. Jared sat in front of me with his elbow on the door and his head in his hand.
It was Saturday afternoon, a week before Tate’s first real race at our local, makeshift track—the Loop—and we’d been on Route Five for the last three hours. Every time the little twerp downshifted too soon or didn’t hit the gas fast enough, Jared kept quiet—but not me.
He didn’t want to hurt his girlfriend’s feelings, but I didn’t care. Why tiptoe around her? I wasn’t trying to get in her pants.
Not anymore, anyway.
Tate and Jared had spent most of high school hating each other. Battling with words and antics in the longest-running game of foreplay I’d ever seen. Now they were all up in each other’s shit like Romeo and Juliet. The porno version.
Jared turned his head but not enough to meet my eyes. “Get out,” he ordered.
“What?” I blurted, my eyes widening. “But . . . but . . .” I stuttered, catching sight of Tate’s triumphant smile in the rearview mirror.
“But nothing,” Jared barked. “Go get your car. She can race you.”
The zing of adrenaline shot through me at the prospect of some real excitement. Tate could definitely race a chick who had no idea what she was doing, but she still had a lot to learn and some balls to grow.
Enter me. I wanted to smile, but I didn’t. Instead, I just rolled my eyes. “Well, that’ll be boring.”
“Oh, you’re so funny,” she mocked, gripping the steering wheel even tighter. “You make a great twelve-year-old girl when you whine.”
I opened the back door. “Speaking of whining . . . want to make a bet on who’ll be crying by the end of the day?”
“You will,” she answered.
“Not.”
She grabbed a package of travel tissues and threw them at me. “Here. Just in case.”
“Oh, I see you keep a ready stock,” I retorted. “Because you cry so much, right?”
She jerked around. “Tais-toi! Je te détes—”
“What?” I interrupted her. “What was that? I’m hot, and you love me? Jared, did you know she had feelings—”
“Stop it!” he bellowed, shutting the both of us up. “Goddamn it, you two.” He threw his hands up in the air, looking between us like we were misbehaving children.
Tate and I were both silent for a moment. Then when she snorted, I couldn’t help but let out a laugh, too.
“Madoc?” Jared’s teeth were practically glued together. I could hear the tension in his voice. “Out. Now.”
I grabbed my cell off the seat and did as I was told, only because I knew my best friend had had enough.
I’d been trying to bait Tate all day by making jokes and distracting Jared. She was finally racing a real opponent, and even though Jared and I had been working with her, we knew things went wrong out there on the track. All the time. But Tate insisted that she could handle it.
And what Tate wants, Tate gets. Jared was whipped worse than cream when it came to that girl.
I walked back down the track to the driveway leading in to it. My silver GTO sat along the side of the road, and I dug in my jeans for my keys with one hand while I ran the back of my hand across my forehead with the other.
It was early June, and everything was already so miserable. The heat wasn’t bad, but the damn humidity made it worse. My mom had wanted me to come to New Orleans for the summer, and I gave her a big, fat hell-to-the-no.
Yeah, I love sweating my balls off while her new husband tries to teach me shrimping in the Gulf.
Nope.
I loved my mom, but the idea of having the house to myself all summer while my dad stayed at his apartment in Chicago was, no doubt, a much better prospect.
My hand tingled with a vibration, and I looked down at my phone.
Speak of the devil.
“Hey, what’s up?” I asked my dad as I came up on the side of my car.
“Madoc. Glad you answered. Are you home?” He sounded unusually concerned.
“No. I was about to head there soon, though. Why?”
My dad was hardly ever around. He kept an apartment in Chicago. since his big legal cases kept him working long hours. While often absent, he was easy to get along with.
I liked him. Didn’t love him, though.
My stepmom had been AWOL for a year. Traveling, visiting friends. I hated her.
And I had a stepsister . . . somewhere.
The only person I loved at home was Addie, our housekeeper. She made sure I ate my vegetables, and she signed my permission slips for school. She was my family.
“Addie called this morning,” he explained. “Fallon showed up today.” My breath lodged in my throat, and I nearly dropped my phone.
Fallon?
Putting my palm down on the hood of my car, I put my head down and tried to stop grinding my teeth.
My stepsister was home. Why? Why now?
“So?” I spat out. “What does that have to do with me?”
“Addie packed you a bag.” He ignored my question. “I talked to Jared’s mom, and you’re going to stay with them for a few weeks until my schedule frees up. I’ll come home then and get this sorted out.”
Excuse me? It felt like the phone would crack under my fingers as I clenched it.
“What? Why?” I yelled, breathing hard. “Why can’t I stay at my own house?”
Since when did she get the run of things? So she was home. Big deal! Send her on her way then. Why did I have to be sent away?
“You know why,” my dad answered, his deep tone threatening. “Don’t go home, Madoc.”
And he hung up.
I stayed planted where I stood, studying the reflection of the trees on the hood of my car. I had been told to go to Jared’s house, where Addie would bring me clothes, and not to go home until further notice.
And why?
I shut my eyes and shook my head. I knew why.
My stepsister was home, and our parents knew everything. Everything that happened two years ago.
But it wasn’t her home. It never was. It’s been my home for eighteen years. She lived there for a while after our parents got married and then disappeared a couple of years ago.
I’d woken up one morning, and she was gone. No good-bye, no note, and no communication since then. The parents knew where she was but not me. I wasn’t allowed to know her whereabouts.
Not that I fucking cared anyway.
But I damn well wanted to be in my own house for the summer.
•   •   •

Two hours later I was sitting in Jared’s living room with his half brother, Jax, biding my time until their mom stopped watching us like a hawk. The more I sat, the more anxious I got to go find some distractions. Jared had a ton of liquor up in his room that I’d brought over from my house, and it was time to start my Saturday night warm-up. Jax was slouched on the couch playing video games, and Jared had left to get tattooed.
“This is not how you handle it, Jason,” I heard Katherine Trent whisper-yell from the kitchen.
My eyebrows shot up. Jason? That was my father’s name.
She crossed the doorway as she paced, talking on the phone.
She calls my dad Jason? Not weird, I guess. That’s his name. It just seemed weird. Not many people got away with calling my father by his first name. It was usually “Mr. Caruthers” or “sir.”
Getting up, I inched into the dining room, which sat right off the kitchen.
“This is your son,” I heard her say. “You need to come home and deal with this.” I stuck my hands in my pockets and leaned back against the wall right by the door leading to the kitchen. She was quiet for a while except for the sounds of dishes clattering. She must’ve been unloading the dishwasher.
“No,” she answered. “One week. Tops. I love Madoc, but this is your family, and they need you. You’re not getting off the hook. I already have two teenage boys. You know what they do when I try to impose a curfew? They laugh at me.” I fought between smiling out of amusement and clenching my fists in irritation.
“I’m here,” she continued. “I want to help, but he needs you!” Her whispers were futile. It was impossible to try to order my father around and be quiet about it.
I shot a look to Jax and noticed that he’d stopped his video game and was watching me with a quirked eyebrow.
Shaking his head, he joked, “I haven’t obeyed a curfew in my entire life. She’s cute about it, though. I love that woman.”
Jax was Jared’s half-brother. They had the same father but different mothers, and Jax had spent most of his life either with their sadistic dad or in foster homes. Late last fall, my father had helped Katherine get Jax out of foster care and into her home. Jared and Jax’s father was in jail, and everyone wanted the brothers together.
Especially the brothers.
And now that Jared, who’d been my best friend all through high school, had found his soul mate and love of his life, he wasn’t around as much as he used to be. So Jax and I had grown closer.
“Come on.” I jerked my chin at him. “I’m grabbing a bottle from Jared’s room, and then we’re going out.”

Hasil (Bahasa Indonesia) 1:

"Serius?" Aku berseru. "Bisa dia bergerak lebih lambat?" Saya meminta Jared saat aku duduk di kursi belakang pacarnya G8 dengan tangan saya terkunci di atas kepalaku.Tate berputar-putar di kursi pengemudi, matanya tajam seperti dia ingin berkendara pisau tepat melalui tengkorak saya. "Aku menuju di sekitar gilirannya tajam di hampir lima puluh mil per jam pada jalan tanah yang tidak stabil!" dia berteriak. "Ini bukan bahkan balapan yang sesungguhnya. Praktek itu. Saya mengatakan kepada Anda bahwa sudah!" Setiap otot di wajahnya sangat ketat seperti dia dikunyah saya.Aku menjatuhkan kepala saya kembali dan mendesah. Jared duduk di depan saya dengan siku pada pintu dan kepalanya di tangannya.Itu adalah hari Sabtu sore, seminggu sebelum balapan nyata pertama Tate's di trek lokal, darurat kami — Loop — dan kita sudah pada lima rute selama tiga jam terakhir. Setiap kali kecil orang kecil yg picik downshifted terlalu cepat atau tidak menekan gas cukup cepat, Jared tetap diam-tapi bukan aku.Ia tidak ingin melukai perasaan pacarnya, tapi aku tidak peduli. Mengapa berjinjit sekelilingnya? Saya tidak mencoba untuk mendapatkan di celana.Tidak lagi, anyway.Tate dan Jared telah menghabiskan sebagian besar sekolah tinggi yang membenci satu sama lain. Berjuang dengan kata-kata dan kejenakaan dalam permainan terlama pemanasan yang pernah kulihat. Sekarang semuanya dalam satu sama lain adalah kotoran seperti Romeo dan Juliet. Versi porno.Jared berubah kepala tapi tidak cukup untuk memenuhi mata saya. "Keluar," ia memerintahkan."Apa?" Aku berkata, mataku pelebaran. "Tapi... tapi...." I tergagap, penangkapan melihat senyum kemenangan Tate's di kaca spion."Tapi tidak ada," menyalak Jared. "Pergi mendapatkan mobil Anda. Dia dapat ras Anda."Semangat adrenalin menembak melalui saya pada prospek beberapa kegembiraan yang nyata. Tate pasti bisa ras cewek yang tidak tahu apa yang ia lakukan, tapi ia masih memiliki banyak belajar dan beberapa bola untuk tumbuh.Masukkan saya. Aku ingin untuk tersenyum, tapi aku tidak. Sebaliknya, saya hanya memutar bola mataku. "Yah, itu akan membosankan.""Oh, kau begitu lucu," dia mengejek, mencengkeram kemudi lebih erat. "Anda membuat seorang gadis berusia dua belas tahun yang besar ketika Anda merengek."Aku membuka pintu belakang. "Berbicara tentang merengek... ingin membuat bertaruh pada yang akan menangis pada akhir hari?""Anda akan," jawabnya."Tidak."Dia meraih paket perjalanan jaringan dan melemparkan mereka pada saya. "Di sini. Hanya dalam kasus.""Oh, aku melihat Anda menjaga stok siap," saya menukas. "Karena Anda menangis begitu banyak, benar?"Ia tersentak di sekitar. "Tais-toi! JE te détes — ""Apa?" Aku terganggu padanya. "Apa itu? Aku sedang panas, dan kau mencintaiku? Jared, Apakah Anda tahu dia punya perasaan — ""Hentikan!" dia berteriak, menutup kedua kami. "Goddamn itu, kalian berdua." Dia melemparkan tangannya di udara, mencari antara kami seperti kami yang nakal anak-anak.Tate dan aku sama-sama diam sejenak. Kemudian, ketika dia mendengus, aku tidak bisa menahan mengeluarkan tertawa, terlalu."Utica?" Jared's gigi praktis terpaku bersama-sama. Aku bisa mendengar ketegangan dalam suaranya. "Keluar. Sekarang."Aku menyambar sel dari kursi dan melakukan seperti yang saya diberitahu, hanya karena aku tahu sahabat saya sudah cukup.Aku telah mencoba untuk umpan Tate sepanjang hari dengan membuat lelucon dan mengganggu Jared. Dia akhirnya berkecamuk lawan nyata, dan meskipun Jared dan saya telah bekerja dengan dia, kita tahu hal-hal yang tidak beres luar sana pada jalur. Setiap saat. Tapi Tate bersikeras bahwa dia bisa menangani hal itu.Dan apa Tate ingin, Tate mendapat. Jared adalah lebih buruk daripada krim kocok ketika datang ke gadis itu.Aku berjalan kembali menuruni jalan ke jalan masuk menuju itu. GTO perak saya duduk di sepanjang sisi jalan, dan aku menggali dalam celana jins saya untuk kunci saya dengan satu tangan sementara aku berlari punggung tangan saya di dahi saya dengan yang lain.Itu awal Juni, dan semuanya sudah begitu sengsara. Panas tidak buruk, tapi sialan kelembaban membuatnya lebih buruk. Ibu saya yang ingin saya untuk datang ke New Orleans selama musim panas, dan aku memberinya besar, gemuk neraka-ke-the-no.Yeah, aku cinta berkeringat bola saya sementara suaminya baru mencoba untuk mengajar saya shrimping di Teluk.Nope.Aku mencintai ibu saya, tapi gagasan memiliki rumah sendiri sepanjang musim panas sementara ayah saya tinggal di apartemennya di Chicago adalah, tidak syak, prospek yang jauh lebih baik.Tangan saya tergelitik dengan getaran, dan aku melihat ke ponsel saya.Berbicara tentang Iblis."Hei, what's up?" Aku bertanya ayah saya ketika saya datang di mobil saya."Utica. Senang Anda menjawab. Apakah Anda rumah?" Dia terdengar sangat prihatin."No. saya adalah tentang untuk kepala di sana segera, meskipun. Kenapa?"Ayah saya adalah hampir tidak pernah di sekitar. Dia memelihara sebuah apartemen di Chicago. sejak kasus hukum Nya besar terus dia bekerja berjam-jam. Sementara sering absen, dia adalah mudah bergaul dengan.Aku menyukainya. Tidak mengasihi dia, meskipun.Stepmom saya telah AWOL selama setahun. Bepergian, mengunjungi teman. Aku benci dia.Dan aku punya tiriku... di suatu tempat.Satu-satunya orang yang saya cintai di rumah adalah Addie, pembantu kami. Dia membuat yakin saya makan sayuran saya, dan ia menandatangani slip izin saya untuk sekolah. Dia adalah keluarga saya."Addie disebut pagi ini," jelasnya. "Fallon menunjukkan hari ini." Napas bersarang di tenggorokan saya, dan saya hampir jatuh telepon saya.Fallon?Meletakkan genggaman saya di kap mobil saya, saya meletakkan kepala saya dan mencoba untuk berhenti grinding gigi.Saudara tiriku adalah rumah. Mengapa? Mengapa sekarang?"Jadi?" Aku meludah. "Apa Apakah yang harus dilakukan dengan saya?""Addie makan Anda tas." Ia mengabaikan pertanyaan saya. "Saya berbicara dengan Jared's ibu, dan Anda akan tinggal bersama mereka selama beberapa minggu sampai jadwal saya membebaskan. Aku akan datang rumah kemudian dan mendapatkan ini disortir keluar."Permisi? Rasanya seperti telepon akan retak di bawah jari-jari saya saat aku mengepalkan itu."Apa? Kenapa?" Aku berteriak, bernapas keras. "Mengapa tidak saya tinggal di rumah saya sendiri?"Sejak Kapan dia bisa menjalankan hal? Jadi dia pulang. Masalah besar! Kirim dia dalam perjalanan kemudian. Mengapa saya harus dikirim pergi?"Kau tahu mengapa," ayah saya menjawab, mengancam dalam nada nya. "Jangan pergi rumah, Utica."Dan ia menutup.Aku tinggal ditanam mana saya berdiri, belajar refleksi dari pohon-pohon di kap mobil saya. Saya telah diberitahu untuk pergi ke rumah Jared's, mana Addie akan membawa saya pakaian, dan tidak pulang sampai pemberitahuan lebih lanjut.Dan mengapa?Saya menutup mata saya dan menggelengkan kepala. Aku tahu mengapa.Saudara tiriku adalah rumah, dan orang tua kita tahu segala sesuatu. Segala sesuatu yang terjadi dua tahun yang lalu.Tapi itu bukan rumahnya. Tidak pernah ada. Sudah rumah saya selama delapan belas tahun. Ia tinggal di situ untuk sementara setelah orang tua kita menikah dan kemudian menghilang beberapa tahun yang lalu.Saya telah terbangun suatu pagi, dan dia sudah pergi. Tidak ada selamat tinggal, tidak ada catatan, dan tidak ada komunikasi sejak itu. Orangtua tahu mana dia tapi bukan aku. Aku tidak diizinkan untuk mengetahui keberadaan Sang.Bukan berarti aku fucking peduli pula.Tapi aku betul ingin berada di rumahku sendiri untuk musim panas.• • •Dua jam kemudian aku duduk di ruang tamu Jared's dengan saudaranya setengah, Jax, andal waktu saya sampai ibu mereka berhenti menonton kita seperti elang. Semakin aku duduk, lebih cemas aku harus pergi menemukan beberapa gangguan. Jared telah ton minuman keras di kamarnya bahwa saya telah dibawa dari rumah saya, dan sudah waktunya untuk memulai pemanasan Sabtu malam saya. JAX slouched di sofa bermain video game, dan Jared telah meninggalkan untuk mendapatkan tato."Ini adalah tidak bagaimana Anda menangani itu, Jason," Aku mendengar Katherine Trent whisper-berteriak dari dapur.Alisku terangkat. Jason? Itu adalah nama Bapaku.Ia menyeberang pintu seperti dia mondar-mandir, berbicara di telepon.Dia memanggil ayah saya Jason? Tidak aneh, kurasa. Itulah namanya. Itu hanya tampak aneh. Tidak banyak orang berhasil lolos dengan memanggil ayah saya dengan nama pertamanya. Itu biasanya "Mr Caruthers" atau "sir."Bangun, saya inchi ke ruang makan, yang duduk langsung dari dapur."Ini adalah anak Anda," Aku mendengar dia berkata. "Anda harus pulang dan kesepakatan dengan hal ini." Aku terjebak tangan di saku dan bersandar kembali ke dinding dengan pintu untuk dapur. Dia adalah tenang untuk sementara kecuali suara derap hidangan. Dia harus sudah telah muat mesin cuci piring."Tidak," jawabnya. "Satu minggu. Puncak. Saya suka Utica, tapi ini adalah keluarga Anda, dan mereka membutuhkan Anda. Anda tidak mendapatkan dari hook. Saya sudah punya dua remaja laki-laki. Anda tahu apa yang mereka lakukan ketika saya mencoba untuk memaksakan jam malam? Mereka tertawa pada saya." Aku berjuang antara tersenyum dari hiburan dan mengepalkan tinju saya di iritasi."Saya berada disini," lanjutnya. "Saya ingin membantu, tapi ia membutuhkan Anda!" Bisikan yang sia-sia. Ianya mustahil untuk mencoba untuk memesan ayahku di sekitar dan diam tentang hal itu.Aku melayangkan pandangan ke Jax dan melihat bahwa ia telah berhenti permainan video dan sedang mengawasi saya dengan alis quirked.Menggelengkan kepala, dia berkelakar, "saya tidak mentaati jam malam sepanjang hidup saya. Dia lucu tentang hal itu, meskipun. Aku mencintai perempuan itu."Jax was Jared’s half-brother. They had the same father but different mothers, and Jax had spent most of his life either with their sadistic dad or in foster homes. Late last fall, my father had helped Katherine get Jax out of foster care and into her home. Jared and Jax’s father was in jail, and everyone wanted the brothers together.Especially the brothers.And now that Jared, who’d been my best friend all through high school, had found his soul mate and love of his life, he wasn’t around as much as he used to be. So Jax and I had grown closer.“Come on.” I jerked my chin at him. “I’m grabbing a bottle from Jared’s room, and then we’re going out.”