Everything I Shouldn't / Everything I Need Read Online Free Page B
Author: Stacey Mosteller
Slapping Jeremy's arm away from my shoulders, I stomp off toward where everyone is discussing me like I'm a problem no one wants to deal with. As I get closer to the door, I can hear bits of the conversation.
"David, you can't take care of a teenage girl. We can take her home with us. She'll be closer to you in Asheville than she is here," my Granny, mom's mother says.
Before David can respond, my MawMaw, dad's mom, huffs, "If he wants to be close to her, she should come stay with us, Winston Salem is closer to Charlotte than Asheville."
Both sets of grandparents start to argue over who should take me, each throwing insults at the other and I just want to put my hands over my ears so I don't have to listen to all the bickering. Jeremy walks up beside me like he's scared I'm going to run away, and tries to cajole me back to the den. With a shake of my head, I start to open the office door when my brother's voice booms above my grandparents.
"Enough!" he shouts. "I love you all, but Sarah Beth is my sister, and she's my responsibility. If she's going to be with anyone, it will be me ." The entire room is silent after he speaks, and I push the door open to walk in. Five heads turn to me, all of them differing variations of upset. David's arms are crossed over his chest and he looks ready to fight anyone who goes against him. Both of my grandmothers have tears running down their faces and are being comforted by my grandfathers who look like they've aged ten years since they got here earlier this week. I can feel Jeremy at my back even though he isn't touching me, and squaring my shoulders I look at each person in turn.
"Please stop arguing over me. I'll do whatever you guys decide." My voice is small and I sound defeated, but right now, I just want the arguing to end. This week has been awful, and I'm so tired.
David's face softens before he walks over to take my hands in his, "Sarah, you don't really want to move away do you? You don't have to leave this house, or your friends. You can finish school here. I'll move back home to take care of you, we'll be together." He's pleading with me to say yes as I look around the room at all the people who want me to choose them.
Turning back to my brother, I try to explain what's going through my head. "I don't want to leave here, but you can't give up your life. You have a job, friends, a girlfriend. I'll be fine."
With a shake of his head David bends so that he's eye level with me. "SB, I won't be giving up anything to move back here. I don't care about a job, or a couple of friends. Not even a girlfriend would stop me from wanting to take care of you. This is what I want to do. I want you to stay here, in the house we grew up in, with the friends you've known your whole life." He pleads with me, "Please, let me do this. Let me take care of you." Tears I didn't know were there waiting begin to course down my cheeks as I try to comprehend the fact that he is being completely honest. He wants to come home to be with me.
Jeremy clears his throat, "You won't be coming back alone D. If you're moving home to be with her, I'm coming with you."
" No !" Granny says forcefully. "Absolutely not! Sarah is almost sixteen years old, and the last thing she needs is to see how twenty-six year old men act." Leveling a glare at my brother, she points at him and continues, "You will not raise your sister alone in a house with a grown man who isn't related to her."
David rolls his eyes, "Gran, Jeremy has been around SB her whole life. She's as much his little sister as she is mine. We both love her, and isn't being surrounded by people who love her what you want for her?" He knows he's won at this point. How can she argue with that?
"I don't why you call her that god-awful nickname. Your parents gave her a beautiful name and you refer to her by her initials," Granny grumbles. David smiles at her, knowing he's won now. She hasn't got an argument that can go up against the love he and Jeremy have
"David, you can't take care of a teenage girl. We can take her home with us. She'll be closer to you in Asheville than she is here," my Granny, mom's mother says.
Before David can respond, my MawMaw, dad's mom, huffs, "If he wants to be close to her, she should come stay with us, Winston Salem is closer to Charlotte than Asheville."
Both sets of grandparents start to argue over who should take me, each throwing insults at the other and I just want to put my hands over my ears so I don't have to listen to all the bickering. Jeremy walks up beside me like he's scared I'm going to run away, and tries to cajole me back to the den. With a shake of my head, I start to open the office door when my brother's voice booms above my grandparents.
"Enough!" he shouts. "I love you all, but Sarah Beth is my sister, and she's my responsibility. If she's going to be with anyone, it will be me ." The entire room is silent after he speaks, and I push the door open to walk in. Five heads turn to me, all of them differing variations of upset. David's arms are crossed over his chest and he looks ready to fight anyone who goes against him. Both of my grandmothers have tears running down their faces and are being comforted by my grandfathers who look like they've aged ten years since they got here earlier this week. I can feel Jeremy at my back even though he isn't touching me, and squaring my shoulders I look at each person in turn.
"Please stop arguing over me. I'll do whatever you guys decide." My voice is small and I sound defeated, but right now, I just want the arguing to end. This week has been awful, and I'm so tired.
David's face softens before he walks over to take my hands in his, "Sarah, you don't really want to move away do you? You don't have to leave this house, or your friends. You can finish school here. I'll move back home to take care of you, we'll be together." He's pleading with me to say yes as I look around the room at all the people who want me to choose them.
Turning back to my brother, I try to explain what's going through my head. "I don't want to leave here, but you can't give up your life. You have a job, friends, a girlfriend. I'll be fine."
With a shake of his head David bends so that he's eye level with me. "SB, I won't be giving up anything to move back here. I don't care about a job, or a couple of friends. Not even a girlfriend would stop me from wanting to take care of you. This is what I want to do. I want you to stay here, in the house we grew up in, with the friends you've known your whole life." He pleads with me, "Please, let me do this. Let me take care of you." Tears I didn't know were there waiting begin to course down my cheeks as I try to comprehend the fact that he is being completely honest. He wants to come home to be with me.
Jeremy clears his throat, "You won't be coming back alone D. If you're moving home to be with her, I'm coming with you."
" No !" Granny says forcefully. "Absolutely not! Sarah is almost sixteen years old, and the last thing she needs is to see how twenty-six year old men act." Leveling a glare at my brother, she points at him and continues, "You will not raise your sister alone in a house with a grown man who isn't related to her."
David rolls his eyes, "Gran, Jeremy has been around SB her whole life. She's as much his little sister as she is mine. We both love her, and isn't being surrounded by people who love her what you want for her?" He knows he's won at this point. How can she argue with that?
"I don't why you call her that god-awful nickname. Your parents gave her a beautiful name and you refer to her by her initials," Granny grumbles. David smiles at her, knowing he's won now. She hasn't got an argument that can go up against the love he and Jeremy have
Readers choose
Walter Scott
Steve 'Nipper' Ellis; Bernard O'Mahoney
Diane Stanley
Lee Weeks
C. G. Cooper
Ginny Gilder
Ursula Whistler
Michael Z. Williamson
Mary Relindes Ellis
Hilary Norman