Dad stormed into the room and grabbed me by the collar of my shirt. He forced me to stand and didn’t even hesitate before slapping me damn hard. I bit my lip to hold back a yelp of pain as my cheek stung viciously.

                “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to wake you up!” I cried desperately. I didn’t even care if Nina thought I was a pussy. My dad was a tough, scary man.

                “You swore,” he growled. “I told you not to swear!” “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” I cried as he raised his hand to slap me again. He pointed a finger at me and glared. “If I hear you say that word one more time, so help me god Shawn; I’ll make sure you can’t sit for a freaking month!” he snarled threateningly.

                I nodded violently to show I understood. “No more swearing,” I whimpered, my cheek still hurting. Dad let go of me, shoving me a little as he did.

                “Now keep it down! Some of us work hard all day and like to sleep!” he snapped furiously before slapping the bedroom door. I could hear his own bedroom door slamming a second later. I held my breath, expecting him to come back in and beat the shit out of me. But of course, he didn’t.

                “He’s scary,” Nina said quietly after a few moments of silence. Shane and I nodded in agreement and I laughed shakily. “You’re face is so red where he hit you, Shawn,” she said in concern and came over to me.

                “I’m okay,” I said and ran a hand through my hair. My dad had done worse to me before. “That’s so mean,” Nina said with a deep frown. “He didn’t have to hit you like that.”

                I shrugged and hugged her. “He slaps us when we swear. I guess we kind of deserve it. Even though he has a nasty vocabulary himself. Our dad’s really not that bad of a guy. He just has a temper.” I shrugged again.

                “How old are your parents?” she asked curiously. “31,” I said and rolled my eyes. “They were 15 when we were born. Shit went down, but they’re married nice and proper now.” Shane laughed softly despite his face paling a little. He didn’t like seeing me hurt.

                “So, fuck the CDs. What do you guys want to do?” I asked them, wanting to include my twin with whatever we did today. I wanted to make sure he and Nina got along. I would never date someone that he didn’t get along with. If someone was mean to my brother, I’d fuck them up. He was more important to me than being in a relationship was.

                They both shrugged at me. I sighed. “Want to go downstairs and watch Jeepers Creepers 2?” I offered. “Sure,” Nina said and grabbed my hand.

                We went downstairs and sat on the couch together. Mom watched us curiously as I put on Jeepers Creepers 2.

                “You woke him up, didn’t you?” she asked me, raising an eyebrow and glancing at my cheek, which still stung like a bitch.

                “It was an accident,” I said defensively. She sighed and shook her head before going back to typing away at her laptop as the movie started.

                “This movie’s lame. Why are you watching it?” mom asked. “Because we want to,” I snapped. Jesus she annoyed me. My mom and I did not get along.

                She glared at me. “Watch it, Shawn,” she threatened before looking back at her laptop screen. I rolled my eyes in annoyance and Nina squeezed my hand. “Stop,” she whispered in my ear with a deep frown. I shrugged.

                The movie ended and Nina left the house to go eat dinner with her family. Shane and I went upstairs to our bedroom and sat on our bunk beds.

                “You like her, Shawn?” Shane asked and I crawled down to his bunk and nodded. “Yep. I think I’m going to ask her out tomorrow. What did you think of her?” I asked. He shrugged. “She seemed n-nice,” he said and I slung an arm around him and grinned.

                “She is. And she’s massively attractive,” I said and Shane rolled his eyes. “Sh-Shawn, you can’t just d-d-date for l-looks,” he said, shaking his head at me and jokingly shoving me off of him.

                “Well technically, you can,” I pointed out and he sighed. “You shouldn’t,” he corrected himself and I laughed and nodded. “I know, Shane. I really do like her, and not just for her looks. Which are really good. Just saying.”

                He laughed. “Whatever, Shawn. I have my own g-girlfriend to admire. But good l-l-luck with y-yours,” he said and smiled lightly at me. “Thanks little brother. Now, I’m beat. I’m going to bed,” I said and crawled back up to my bunk.

                I laid down as I heard Shane crawl under his covers to sleep. I just really hoped that Nina would agree to be my girlfriend. I shut my eyes, suddenly anxious for her reply tomorrow.