The Day I Kissed An Older Man

Nevertheless, Joey missed the days when he was an only child. That was a time when he had Jeremy, as well as Corinne's full attention. They were so happy back then.

That was the first time Joey experienced what it felt like to have a loving home. Unfortunately, it was a short-lived experience for him because Corinne who was pregnant at that time-ran away from home no long after. Although he did not understand why she had to run away, he knew deep down inside that he was not as important as Corinne's children.

'The balloon seller is right. How can I ever compete with Bryan and Christine?' thought Joey. He told himself he should not think too highly of himself or think he was just as important as Bryan and Christine to Corinne.

The fact that he would be the one to go without when there were not enough potato chips to go around made him realize that. It was not the potato chips he really wanted; he was just disappointed he was left out.

Joey felt miserable, conflicted, and insecure. He wanted attention, but it seemed he did not deserve any of it. He flipped through the comic book Jeremy had bought for him absent-mindedly; his mind was such a mess that he felt like it was about to explode!

Later, he put down the comic book and went back to his own room. Jeremy was the one who decorated that room for him, but he rarely slept there after Corinne came back. Instead, he would sleep with Bryan and Christine in Corinne's room.

He thought it would be better for everyone if he slept back in his own room. That way, he would not take any attention away from Bryan and Christine. He was an adopted child, after all.

somewhere to go, but he did not. This was the only home he had ever known, so as much as he knew how much of

long before he fell asleep

the servants to carry the things she bought out of the car while she went upstairs to find Joey with two bags of potato chips in her

sad Joey was when he did not get any. At the same time, she also bought some

was not there. She thus turned and asked the servants whether they

busy cleaning, so none of them had noticed Joey had

Joey in her room, but she could not bring along the potato chips with her as Christine and Bryan would

with his food. He'd probably give most of his potato chips, if not all, to his

before she walked into her room. However, the second she stepped into her room, she was

"Give it to me!"