Precarious

Chapter 17

Warning: This chapter contains upsetting scenes consisting of rape, please read with caution

During dinner, everyone except Stefano was seated at the table. Jett made lasagna and distributed the plates. As soon as everyone had a plate, Cole started eating as if he hadn't seen food for a month. Jett scolded him on having manners and Cole only rolled his eyes.

"What does Stefano do for work?" I asked, trying to not sound nervous. Jett looked at me strangely and Adrian gulped.

"And why are you asking this, Sierra?" Jett responded.

"I was just curious. He always seems busy."

"Well that's expected since he's in charge of multiple businesses."

"Is he ever here?"

"Typically on the weekend. But since Ashley is moving in a few days, he'll probably spend more time at home."

"I don't like her," Gavin interrupted, not seeming to care what everyone else thought. "That lady gives me a bad feeling."

"You don't like anyone, Gavin and shut your trap."

For the rest of dinner, Gavin and Jett bickered about whether or not Gavin actually had friends, Cole left to play video games at his friend's house, I put the dishes in the dishwasher, and Adrian left to go to the store. As usual, I was alone. Even though I've been in New York for over a week, I still hadn't adjusted to the place. For some reason, it was easier to get friends than to warm up to my new family. Stefano was rarely here, Jett seemed to have anger issues plus he scared the shit out of me, Adrian always acted like he was trying to get Jett's approval to do things, Cole didn't like me at least from what I've seen, and Gavin, well... I didn't really know what to think of him. But even with my current thoughts on my brothers, I tried my best to push them to the back of my head. I'm sure they somewhat cared about me, right?

For the rest of the night, I was bored. There wasn't anything fun I could do. I enjoyed reading but it did get boring at times. Exploring the house was out of the question completely - there could be restricted rooms for all I knew. I didn't want to give my brothers - half brothers that was, a bad impression although I rarely communicated with any of them. Still, I wanted to do something to relieve myself of boredom. Then, an idea came into my head.

Perhaps I could keep a pamphlet of each of them. I didn't know any of them that much but I thought it would be a good idea to keep a small booklet of tabs on them. That way at least I had some sort of knowledge on them. The only issue would be that I had no way of knowing where to find information of them. Maybe I could ask one of the girls at school but none of them seemed to know the Rossi family too well. Adding on, Layla seemed to have an issue with Cole and I didn't want to pressure her for information that she might not even have. I never had friends before and I didn't want to seem invasive. Layla was already kind by inviting me to her house and letting me eat lunch there, I would seem like an awful person if I made it seem like I was just using her for information that I could easily find with asking. It was an issue on my part if I couldn't just ask the Rossi brothers for small bits of information.

The only information I had on them was there were five of them, their parents were alive, Stefano had a girlfriend named Ashley (I made a small note on that tab that neither Gavin nor I liked her), Adrian was on the soccer team, Cole was on the basketball team, and Gavin was on the football team. It wasn't a lot, but it was a good start... I guess?

For the rest of the night, I tried to fall asleep but failed. I think that I had to accept the fact that I had an issue with sleeping but I was too nervous to ask my brothers about getting a diagnosis from a doctor. Going to the doctor meant that I had to get a checkup and the bruises on my ribs didn't heal yet. If only they would heal faster, then none of my brothers would find out about how my mother treated me.