Bad Reputation

  Bad Reputation

  Copyright © 2018 by Bruno & Brown Press

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Printed in the United States of America

  First Printing, 2018

  ISBN

  sunshinegbruno.com

  Other books by Sunshine G. Bruno:

  Kill the DJ

  Election Year 2050

  Jennifer Jones: Vampire Hunter series:

  Daughter of Darkness (Coming June 19th, 2018)

  Short stories and novelettes:

  Beauty’s Only Skin Deep

  Killer Heels

  Chapter 1

  I walked down the street, holding Alex’s hand. My friends, Robin, Georgia, and Anne were walking next to us.

  “I had a good time tonight,” I told Alex.

  He had taken my friends and me to play laser tag. I had never been before. I couldn’t afford it.

  Alex stepped in front of me and looked down at me. “You did?”

  I grinned, turning to my friends. “You guys go ahead, I’ll catch up.”

  They giggled and kept walking.

  “You wanna have an even better time?” Alex asked, leaning down to kiss me.

  After we kissed I said, “You know I can’t. I have to get home. My dad’s probably worried about me.”

  Truthfully, I wasn’t ready for a “better time”. Alex was older than me. He was seventeen. I was only fifteen. He usually understood that I wasn’t ready, but sometimes he got kind of pushy.

  Alex sighed. “Alright. Do you want me to walk you home?”

  I shook my head. “It’s an extra three blocks. You don’t have to do that. I’m walking home with the girls anyway.”

  “Alright. I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”

  I kissed him again. “Bye.”

  As I walked to catch up with my friends I thought about how great things were going. Not only did I finally have friends, but I also had a boyfriend!

  It took me a long time to make friends. Not because I’m shy, or anything like that. I’m actually really outgoing. But my brother screwed things up for me. He was constantly getting into trouble and was always doing stints in Juvie. People were really scared of him around here. But he left Los Angeles three years ago. It’s been just my dad and me ever since. Even though my dad is an alcoholic, he and I get along fine. The problem is that everyone thought that I was like my brother. I hope I’m never like him. It took me until this summer to prove to everyone that I was my own person. I made friends with some of the girls in my apartment complex, and I met Alex at the pizza place down the street. So yeah, everything’s going great.

  I sniffed the air. I smelled smoke. Weird.

  “Chrissy!” Georgia called.

  I ran to the corner where they were standing.

  “Oh my god!” I cried.

  Our apartment complex was on fire. The whole thing.

  My friends and I ran down the street. There was a crowd of people standing across the street.

  “Someone call 911!” I shouted.

  “They’re on their way,” Someone told me.

  I looked at the complex. It was blazing. The fire department would never make it on time. I looked at my building, at the window on the second floor, fourth from the right. There was someone standing at the window.

  “Dad!” I yelled. I lunged forward, but someone grabbed my arm.

  “It’s not safe,” They said.

  And then the building collapsed.

  Chapter 2

  The police station was crazy busy. People were running around, shouting things at each other. Apparently, when there was a fire, the cops were called in too.

  I was bouncing my fists on my knees. Police stations made me nervous. Since I had been too young to stay home alone at the time, my dad had always brought me when he picked up my brother after he had gotten in trouble.

  Dad. He was gone. He had to be. They had people searching the rubble of the buildings, but the police said not to get our hopes up.

  “Ma’am?”

  I looked up. There was a cop standing in front of me. “Sorry. What?”

  “Do you have someone you can call? Someone over eighteen?”

  No.

  “What if I don’t?” I asked carefully.

  “Well, you’ll most likely be placed in foster care.”

  “Foster care?” I cried. “No, I can’t go there.”

  “You won’t have a choice,” He didn’t say this harshly.

  I thought for a moment. There was one possibility, but it was a long shot. I pulled out my phone and searched through my contacts. “There might be one person.”

  I sighed shakily as I found the number. I had never called it before and hoped that it was still the right number. I was going to be in huge trouble if this didn’t work.

  I listened to the phone ring as a thousand thoughts raced through my mind.

  “Hello?”

  It wasn’t my brother. Shoot.

  “Who’s this?” I asked after a second.

  “This is Jordan Peribat.”

  I paused before asking, “Is Joshua Scoppio there?”

  “Who’s calling?”

  “His sister, Chrissy.”

  “Sister?”

  I sighed. “Look, is he there or not? It’s kind of important.”

  “Yeah, he’s here. Hold on.”

  It was quiet for a moment before I heard my brother’s voice. “Hello?”

  “Hi, Joshua.”

  “Chrissy, what’s wrong?”

  I tried not to cry as I said, “Dad’s dead. There was a fire and he was trapped inside the building. He’s dead and I don’t know what to do. They’re going to put me in foster care.”

  “That sucks.”

  Really? That’s it?

  I rolled my eyes as I asked, “So, can you help me?”

  “How am I supposed to help?”

  “I need you to come get me. You need to adopt me.”

  “I’m seventeen, how am I supposed to adopt you?”

  That’s right. His birthday wasn’t until July.

  “You have a fake I.D. don’t you?” I asked.

  “What makes you think that?”

  “Joshua, I know you. Are you going to help me?”

  “I don’t know. I want to, but if we get caught I could get in a lot of trouble.”

  I started crying as I said, “Please. I need your help. I don’t want to go into foster care. No one’s going to adopt a teenager. And I’ve heard bad things about foster care. People are creeps. Come on, Joshua. Please.”

  He sighed. “Yeah. Yeah, I’ll come get you.”

  “Thank you so much!” I cried.

  “Yeah, whatever. Where are you staying?”

  I told him the address of the shelter I was staying at.

  “Alright. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow? Are you driving?”

  “Of course. I can’t afford a plane ticket. I’ll see you tomorrow,” And then he hung up.

  I sighed as I put my phone in my purse. This plan better work.

  Chapter 3

  My brother got to Los Angeles a little less than twenty-four hours later. He texted me when he left that afternoon, and I was more than pissed. Couldn’t he have left early in the morning? He must have known I was pissed because he sent me goofy selfies at different places. Even though I wouldn’t admit it to him, they did make me laugh. I spent the day stuck in a homeless shelter. I don’t think I slept at all there. Aside from the fact that I was worrying about my dad, and worrying about what living with Joshua was
going to be like, some of the people in the homeless shelter were just plain crazy. In the sleeping room, the guy whose cot was next to mine kept talking to himself, picking at his skin, and eating it. I couldn’t wait to get out of there.

  The night after the fire, I had barely finished eating dinner when a woman came into the sleeping room looking for me.

  “Is there a Chrysanthemum Scoppio in here?” She called.

  I stood up so fast that I got dizzy. “Right here!” I answered.

  “There’s someone here to see you,” The woman said.

  I rushed to follow her out the doors. As she led me down the hallway I asked, “Is it my brother, Joshua? Am I getting out of here?”

  “I didn’t ask.”

  “Oh,” I didn’t say anything else. The lady didn’t seem like she was one for conversation.

  There was a lobby at the front of the building. Joshua was sitting there, watching an episode of Jeopardy. He looked different than he had when I last saw him, but I still recognized him.

  “Joshua! Boy, am I glad to see you!” I cried, rushing to hug him. I really was glad to see him. It was funny because the only time he had ever made me glad before that was when he left Los Angeles.

  He hugged me back as he said, “Hey, Chrissy. Ready to get out of here?”

  I nodded. “You have no idea.”

  The adoption process went smoothly. Joshua showed the cops his fake I.D. and signed a few papers. Then we were off. It seemed weirdly easy, but I was guessing the state just wanted to get me out of their hair. One less kid in the foster system meant a bit less trouble for them. I had asked if I could go say goodbye to my friends and Alex, but Joshua said that it would take too much time.

  We had been on the road for a while before I asked, “Joshua Tree, you enrolled me as a sophomore, right?”

  Joshua looked at me funny. “What?”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “You called me Joshua Tree.”

  “Right, like when we were kids. You know, because I’m named after a flower, and your name is Joshua, and there’s a Joshua Tree, so that’s what I always called you.”

  “Oh yeah, I remember. By the way, don’t call me Joshua anymore. It’s just Josh.”

  “Just Josh. Alright, Just Josh.”

  Joshua gave me a death glare. “Chrissy, you know what I mean.”

  I sighed. “Fine. But did you enroll me as a sophomore?”

  “No, I enrolled you in ninth grade. I thought that you were only fifteen.”

  “I am, but I skipped kindergarten. Remember? So, I’m in tenth grade, even though I should be in ninth.”

  “I’ll fix that once we get back to Vegas.”

  “Vegas? We’re going to Las Vegas? No, Josh, I can’t go there. It’s the middle of the desert! Ew, it’s going to be so hot there!”

  Josh laughed. “Only for three-fourths of the year.”

  “I can’t live in a place where it’s hot. I need the beach!” I cried.

  “Well, you’re going to live in a place where it’s hot. Don’t worry, we have pools.”

  I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t even asked where my brother lived.

  We stopped at a motel for the night, and the next morning, we were back on the road.

  Somewhere in the middle of the desert, we stopped for lunch.

  “So, do you live in an apartment or a house?” I asked while we were waiting for our food.

  “I don’t really live in either. I live in a room at my friend’s place. His name is Greg, and I want you to stay away from him.”

  “Why?”

  “He’s trouble.”

  “Wait, we’re living in like, one bedroom?”

  “Yeah. Don’t worry, I’ll get you a cot or something.”

  I shook my head. “No way. I just spent the last day sitting on a cot and I never want to touch one again. Besides, I’m a girl. I should get the bed.”

  Joshua stared at me. I stared right back. I’m pretty sure he was trying to intimidate me, but that wasn’t going to work anymore. I wasn’t the same little kid I used to be.

  After a moment, he sighed. “Fine. You get the bed.”

  I grinned. “Great,” Just then, our food came. I grabbed a couple of napkins and put them on my lap, over my white tights. “Don’t want to get these dirty,” I muttered.

  “So why are you dressed like that anyway?” Joshua asked.

  I looked down at my outfit. I was wearing a pink baby doll dress, complete with a Peter Pan collar, white tights, and pink Dr. Martens. I also had my arms covered in plastic bracelets, and was wearing a plastic necklace with hearts that said, ‘Miss World’ on it. “It's what I was wearing the night dad died.”

  “Why haven't you changed?”

  I rolled my eyes. “Why do you think? All of my other clothes were burned in the fire.”

  “Oh yeah, that must suck,” Joshua paused before asking, “So you're sure Dad is dead?”

  I leaned forward, looking my brother in the eye. “I saw him trapped in the apartment right before the building collapsed. He's dead.”

  Joshua didn't say anything. He and Dad had never gotten along. Then he said, “That outfit looks familiar. Where'd you get it?”

  I shrugged. “It’s just a grunge outfit. You know, like Courtney Love would wear? Or Kat Bjelland?”

  “You like Courtney Love?”

  I nodded. My brother was obsessed with Nirvana. Like most Nirvana fans, he hated Courtney Love.

  I looked up from my burger. “Have you ever actually listened to Hole? They’re actually really good,” I grinned as I added, “They might even be better than Nirvana.”

  “Hey, don’t ever say that around me again.”

  I grinned.

  He shook his head. “Anyway, I'm not really into music. Nirvana’s the exception.”

  “How do you not like music?” I asked.

  Joshua shrugged. “I just don’t.”

  I didn't say anything. Like I suspected, my brother and I were worlds apart.

  Chapter 4

  We arrived in Las Vegas around one in the afternoon. As we drove around, I was confused. Where were all the vintage clothing stores? We had more than a few of those in Los Angeles.

  I asked, “Where do you buy clothes? I need clothes, you know.”

  “Oh, yeah,” Joshua laughed.

  “Where do you buy clothes?” I repeated.

  My brother shrugged. “Lots of places, but here’s where you’re buying clothes.”

  I looked at the building we had just pulled up to. “Goodwill?” I cried. “Josh, I can’t buy clothes here!”

  “Where the hell did you buy clothes in Los Angeles? I know Dad couldn’t afford expensive clothes.”

  “I was in charge of the money,” I explained. “I’d give him some money for beer and stuff. Then I’d put like, a fourth of it away for food, then I’d spend the rest on clothes.”

  “Well, now I know why you’re so skinny. You spent all of Dad’s welfare money on clothes for you and beer for him.”

  I rolled my eyes. Joshua never approved of Dad’s drinking. I had learned to get over it. “Does Goodwill at least have vintage clothes?”

  He shot me a look. “Chrissy, I have no idea. All I know is that you are going to go into that store and buy the clothes that they have. And that will be that.”

  “Can’t we just go home first? I’m so tired,” I whined.

  “No. You stink. You need new clothes and then you need to take a shower.”

  “Why?”

  “I want to introduce you to my friends.”

  I didn’t say that I didn’t want to meet any of his low-life friends. Instead, I said, “I’m too depressed to take a shower and meet anyone.”

  “Why?”

  “Because Dad’s dead.”

  “Chrissy, Dad wasn’t a very good dad. You know that.”

  I sighed. “I know. But he was my only friend for years.”

  Josh was quiet for a moment b
efore saying, “Well, hopefully, you can make some new friends here. Now come on,” He got out of the car and walked around to the passenger side, holding the door open for me. He held out his hand.

  I grinned as I took it and got out of the car.

  As we walked into the store Joshua pointed to my right, saying, “Clothes are over there. I’m going to see if they have any cots.”

  I went to look at the clothes. To my great disappointment, they had vintage clothes, but not any that I was looking for. All they had were t-shirts and jeans. Not a single babydoll dress in sight. They had a lot of prom dresses though.

  I wanted to cry. Somehow seeing the lack of clothing selection made me realize how far away from home I was. What was an aspiring fashion designer supposed to do with these boring clothes? Then I grinned. I was an aspiring fashion designer. I had years of sewing experience. I could do whatever I wanted with these clothes. I started grabbing any graphic t-shirts I could find off the racks. There were bonus points involved if it was a band shirt. I also grabbed a bunch of skirts. I had big plans. But first I needed to find sewing supplies.

  After asking a store employee for help, I found out that they did not have sewing supplies. There was, however, a Hobby Lobby down the street. So, we went to Hobby Lobby.

  I was standing in the sewing section, trying to decide which shade of blue thread to get when I noticed a girl down the aisle looking at me. I couldn’t help but notice how beautiful she was, and instantly felt inferior. She had light brown skin, brown hair in corkscrew curls that reached her shoulders, and eyes that were a color I had never seen. They were a yellowish green. They were beautiful. I immediately thought of my plain blue eyes. Everyone had blue eyes.

  And then I noticed that she was looking at me weird.

  “Do you have something to say?” I asked.

  “Yeah. When was the last time you took a shower?”

  “Well, I’m sorry if I smell. But I was stuck in a homeless shelter for a day, and then on the road for another. So, excuse me.”

  “What, they didn’t have showers in the homeless shelter?”

  “They did. But they didn’t have bitches there. So maybe I should go back,” It was a weak comeback, but I had never been good at arguing. I had always been too scared to argue with my brother.