BRITNEY ASTON My dad and I had always shared a rather peculiar relationship. From what I could remember, he and my mum had gotten their divorce years ago. I was twelve when it happened and the memory was still vivid in my mind- how they had endless fights for weeks and how my mum was always a wreck after every fight. How my dad resorted to drinking after every fight before eventually leaving the house, leaving me to a barely attentive mum. How it went on for months before they both realized a divorce was what they both needed. Being thirteen, I wasn’t sure on what exactly I was expecting from their divorce but i definitely wasn’t expecting to feel so alone after it happened. As life would have it, my dad moved out and my mum, became even worse than she already was. She was sad, always drunk and when she eventually got over it, became a completely different person. I got used to it rather quickly though. Got used to being myself while my mum roamed the country and eventually, the wo
BRITNEY ASTON Silence immediately fell between us, giving me more than enough time to realize the words I’d just uttered. Immediately, my hands flew to my mouth in a useless attempt to stop the words from coming out but the deed had been carried out already. I’d spilled the beans in the worst possible way ever. With slow breaths, I moved my hands from my mouth, my eyes slowly meeting my mum’s to see her reaction. In contrast to me, she remained frozen in her spot, her blinking eyelids doing all the movements. “What?” She finally spoke up, taking a staggered step backwards. “What did you just say?” There was no point denying it so with renewed confidence, I spoke up again. “Dad and I have been keeping in contact.” “What?” The denial must have finally left her body as her expression now changed into one of complete confusion. “What do you mean by that? You’ve been talking to- what?” “Yes mum,” I nodded. “He came over on my sixteenth birthday and said he wanted to talk. Then he ap
TRAVIS LEWIS Something was definitely up with Britney. Not like I was paying much attention to her anyways but she made it hard for me not to. Especially when she was seated on the couch in the living room, looking so glum and completely unlike herself. I’d spotted her the second I walked through the front door and much to my surprise, all I met was her furrowed brows and distant gaze. She seemed lost in thoughts but regardless, I was confident my presence would pull her out of whatever trance she was stuck in. But I was wrong. I stood right in front of her yet she felt so distant. It was as if she had built a wall around herself. Like I didn't even exist to her despite my attempts at getting her attention. She seemed totally lost in thoughts. Thoughts definitely not featuring me. A huff escaped my lips as I folded my arms, my gaze fixed on the slammed door to my room. Slamming the door was intentional- another attempt to get her attention and pull her out of her own little world
BRITNEY ASTON. 9:36pm. Friday, May 13th, 2022. An electric night at the club. You might be surprised I still remember the exact date and time. How could I not? It was the first time I felt that strong attraction towards someone in ages. Tall, fair skin, dirty blonde air, icy blue eyes that shone in the multicolored disco lights the club had to offer and well built body well decorated with tattoos- his body was no joke. The type to make you lust and immediately lose your senses. The type to make you do things you never imagined doing. The type that made a 19 year old innocent girl like me lose every last bit of innocence left in her. Clubs weren’t my favorite places to be. But when you received a request, okay not a request, an order, from your mum asking you to move out of your apartment in New York simply because she had gotten remarried and now wanted to live as a happy family, it definitely became a must go place. My mum and I never got along well resulting in me living the m
BRITNEY ASTON. “Ladies and gentlemen, we’re about to begin our descent. Please fasten your seatbelts and seatbaack as we prepare to land.” If there was one word to perfectly describe how I felt, it was going to be “Jet lagged”. The after effect of long flights with your whole body feeling pretty much fucked up. But rather unfortunately for me, I couldn’t completely put the blame on the plane. The several hours flight I’d just embarked on was barely enough to birth such strong nausea and jet lagged feeling in me- my new life was. Standing at the Heathrow international airport, my phone in one hand, barely tidied luggage in another, I wanted to throw up. For a second, i impatiently couldn’t wait for my mother to finally show up and drag me to her new house and my new life but few minutes later, I hoped she’d just take her time and show up several minutes later. At least, late enough for me to have pulled myself together. “Britney! Oh my goodness, Britney!” I could have cried as
BRITNEY ASTON Within the span of barely 24 hours, I’d gone through a series of emotions. It had been a roller coaster, ranging from happiness, sadness, lust, despair, anger, frustration, hope, intrigue- the list could go on. But not even a single one of them could match up to the emotions that suddenly overwhelmed me as I stared at the good looking stranger from the club introduce himself as my step brother. “Why are you two silent?” My mum asked, effortlessly clueless. “Britney, say something. Aw, are you shy? Travis, say hi to your new sister.” She kept on talking to us like we were kids who were incapable of making up words ourselves. We probably were because at that moment, I couldn’t come up with a single word even if I tried. I was horrified, to say the least, memories I’d uselessly tried to get rid of resurfacing in the worst possible manner. I couldn’t get it out of my head. Especially not when the main character of all my dirty thoughts was only a few inches away from me.
BRITNEY ASTON “What?!” I could have sworn I yelled, my already flushed cheeks getting even more colour. Red as a tomato, I immediately pushed him away from me, bewildered and flustered to the core. “What the hell are you talking about?!” I almost couldn’t believe him, my entire body reaction serving as more than enough proof. What was he thinking? How could he even manage to birth such thoughts? In contrast to me, he simply let out a chuckle, taking a step backwards to regain composure after I abruptly shoved him away. I could tell he was amused, the corner of his lips curling into a smirk as he made his way back to his bed. How did I not notice how annoying he was the night we first met?! “Nothing like that would happen between us again!” I had to say, watching him begin to focus on his phone once again. “Do you get it? I didn’t come here to ask you to- No. I only came here to tell you what happened between us was nothing but a mistake. A one night mistake. One that’s never g
BRITNEY ASTON Though I hated to admit it, my mum was right. Remaining locked up in my room simply because I didn’t want to run into Travis was becoming very suffocating. Especially when I knew well enough I was going to eventually run into him whether I wanted to or not. So after spending a couple more hours in my room without doing anything, I eventually pulled myself out of bed, got freshened up and decided to head out. My mum was nice enough to spam my messages with nearby places I could visit. Malls, restaurants, the bus route to take- it was all she flooded my phone with and honestly, I was glad. Dressed in a casual jeans and crop top, I stepped out of the house and in no time, found myself not as lost as I was on my first day. My mum’s direction proved to be really helpful in navigating the city and helping me get familiar with the popular landmarks and destinations she had in mind. Truly, London was a beautiful place to be. There were tons of places to explore and tons