Free Devils Roses 01 - Cursed by Tara Brown Page B

sick for myself and Shane, who was no doubt heartbroken.
    After a momentary struggle, I felt my natural instinct kick in and the bad feelings were pushed down. It was like swallowing acid.
    I felt a bitterness fill me. “Well, you have everything else, Alise. You have looks, friends and everyone loves you. Every boy in school is in love with you, or her.” I pointed at the sleeping Giselle. “So I guess, why not take the one boy I thought I had.”
    Dad sighed disappointed. “I will leave you to apologize to your sister properly. Aimes, I love you kiddo and I’m really glad you’re going to be coming home tomorrow. We will bring you something tonight to eat later. Try not to worry about boys, Aimee; your health is what's important right now.” He kissed my forehead and left the room.
    My sister’s eyes shimmered with the tears.
    She grabbed my hand desperately. “I am sorry. I have never been this sorry in my whole life. It just happened and it will never happen again. I didn’t know he had been in love with me all these years.” The words came spilling out before she could dam up her mouth. I watched the regret cover her face.
    "He said that?" My heart was breaking. No wonder he was always at my house. No wonder he was always making excuses to be around us. I had thought it was me. The foolishness and pain was bubbling around inside of me.
    "I'm so sorry. I won't ever see him again. It was a mistake."
    I pulled my hand away from my sister and nodded. “It’s not your fault. You can’t even help yourself. You ooze sex and punishment, which is something boys seem to want. I don’t care what you do.”
    Alise nodded along, not comprehending what I said. Then something happened, something I never expected.
    Alise snapped and lost it. "I'm, like, so jealous of you. You’re so smart, you’re still a virgin, and you are funny in a way only... like, smart people get.”
    “ Witty, and I don’t think the entire hospital needs to know I'm a virgin.”
    “ Whatever, you know what I mean. Aimee, you are the kind of girl that every MAN dreams of and I am the kind of girl that every boy dreams of. This is my time to shine and it's going to be nothing compared to yours when you finally stop being, well what you are.”
    It was the kindest and most loving thing my sister had ever said to me. I knew she was trying to be nice.
    I should have responded back lovingly and we could have had a moment, but I was still too angry. I couldn’t help myself, I was so furious, defeated, and embarrassed. “You have Shane. How could you do this to him, Alise? You've already cheated on him with every popular guy.”
    She waved her hand. “I only dated him because it seemed like the right move, like we should be together. I honestly don’t think he even likes me. He doesn’t even kiss me. It's been like nine months and nothing, I get it though. His parents have a lot going on, but come on—nine months and no sex. We hold hands like we're ten-years-old.”
    I blocked out her ramblings. I felt tears escape my eyes. I was trying so hard to rein them in, but they were rebelling and streaming down my cheeks.
    “ I love you, Aimee, and when I find out who did this to you, I will make them pay.” Her stare became malicious and sinister and she sounded like Batman. It was a weird moment for me.
    As quickly as it had all started, it was over. Alise stood up and left my room, waving goodbye to me. I understood her less it seemed, than I had thought. Oddly enough, I felt better from the weird moment. She truly did have a magic about her, being angry with her was near impossible.
    I didn’t know what to do about Blake. I felt betrayed, but for some reason, it felt like I knew this would happen.
    I looked at Giselle, who smiled from her fake sleep. “Okay, that was like, weird."
    "I know right, what was the whole 'I will make them pay.' Who does she think she is? What will she do, whack them with a stiletto?"
    Giselle laughed. "She is so