Chapter 1

"You've gotta be kidding me!"

I had just received what had to be the worst news in my life; My father, Abe Mazur, wanted me and my brother, Mason to spend the entire summer with him and his wife, my aunt Meredith.

Mason was currently in Paris on his last week in high school after spending 5 years there.

"Rose, why would I kid about this?" My mom, Janine questioned.

"Well, maybe you're just paying me back for selling your computer to get my new Louboutins. Or that time I swapped the toothpaste with tobasco. Or that time-"

"Rose! Just think about this; If you spend the summer with your father, we will have a clean slate. All of your bad antics forgotten." Janine reasoned.

"Ermm..."

"And we'll all go Sicily to visit Nonna Renata like we planned!" Janine promised.

"But mom...he betrayed you mom, with your sister!" I exclaimed.

Janine looked at me with tears in her eyes.

"I know but I'm over it now." Janine lied.

"Okay mom, I'll go." I said already regretting it.

1 week later

6am

BRIING! BRIING! BRIING! BRIING!

My phone rang.

Mind still fogged with sleep, I blindly reached over to my bedside table and rummaged until I felt the familiar texture of my phone case.

"Yello?"

"Rosemarie, this is your father speaking. I just wanted to-"

I hung up.

How the hell did he get my number?

I curled up underneath the covers, drifting off to sleep and temporarily forgetting about the bastard that is my father.

It took a while for me to find something to wear. All my stuff were in my suitcases. Plus, I was really picky. I ended up picking out a red plaid shirt, grey skinny jeans and black high tops. I left the plaid shirt unbuttoned with a black crop top underneath. I left my auburn hair down and wavy. Black eyeliner made my hazel eyes stand out.

I never used any other make-up than that and the occasional eye shadow. Luckily, I hardly ever broke out.

As I went downstairs, I couldn't help but stare at my mom. It was like she was trying to using me as an excuse to see my dad.

I cleared my throat. "I'm ready." I wished she would stop shutting me out. It pissed me off.

Janine nodded and I finally noticed how beautiful she really looked. Her skin was lightly tanned and her eyes were a beautiful emerald green. She had high cheekbones, red brown hair and she looked a lot younger than her 41 years.

I rolled my eyes and started to walk to the car. A light blue Nissan Qashqai. I really hoped Mason's flight from Paris arrived soon.

It didn't take long for us to get to the JFK Airport. As soon as the car stopped, I hopped out the car.

I grabbed my inhaler and stuffed it into my purse. As I got out of the car, the smell of garbage and pee was strong and it smelled awful.

As Janine and I walked into the airport, I suddenly felt anxious. What does Mason look like now? How does he feel about having to stay with Dad for the whole summer?

Janine's face lit up as Mason's face appeared.

"There's my big boy! Come here and give your old mama a hug!"

Mason smiled,ran over to my mom and hugged her.

Then he turned to me. It was like staring at a block of ice. His formerly warm hazel eyes were now cold with resentment and loathing.

"Rose." Was all he said and he turned away and headed for the car. Guess all my questions were answered. I just rolled my eyes and followed, a scowl forming on my face.

The scowl on my face kept getting worse the closer we got to L.A. I still couldn't believe mom was making me do this.

I started to glare at the road as I thought about Abe Mazur, my mom's ex-husband and my father. How could he do this? Not fucking fair. I should have had some say in this!

"Rose, stop making that face." My mom commanded as she drove. There was no doubt she was gorgeous. Mason looked at me through his rear view mirror.

I noticed how much like my mom he really looked. His skin was a lightly tanned like mine and his eyes were almost completly green. He had high cheekbones, short red hair and he looked muscular.

Unlike my mom,I wasn't really skinny. I had curves and I constantly worked out to stay fit. It got me a lot of unwanted attention. Boys always stared, even a few girls did too. My hair wasn't straight like my moms either. It was curly and was hard to straighten. But, we had the same skin tone.

"I can't believe you're making me go to Abe! I've been in this car since seven AM!" I was exhausted and I didn't want to deal with him. I had to get on two flights to get to L.A from Mexico. Then I had to get into the car with my mom and drive the rest of the way. I quickly fell asleep on the first flight but, the second was really loud and annoying.

"And there you have it! The Rose Hathaway Show everybody. When are you going to start thinking about people other than yourself? I've just come from Paris and now I have to take two more flights on top of that but you don't see me complaining, do you?" Mason spoke with hate.

"Ermm, was I talking to you?" I asked.

"No,but someone has to tell you the truth about your selfishness. Mom clearly won't and Adrian isn't here but I know that if he was here, he wouldn't hesitate to tell you." Mason responded, every word echoing in my head.

"Mason, Rose, stop right now. I don't know what happened between you kids, but I know that it has to stop now. If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it at all, got it?" Janine scolded.

"Yes mom." Mason and I said in unison.

"Oh! Abe had some of the L.A residents throw you a bonfire. Its at six pm."

I groaned in annoyance. "Why? So I can feel like more of an outsider?" I was one. That's all there was to it.

Mason rolled his eyes.

"Rosemarie Hathaway!" I was in trouble now. "They are just trying to be welcoming! Stop with the damn attitude!" She sighed. "You were never like this before."

I ignored her and leaned my head against the window. The sun was now setting. It was so beautiful.