Chapter 27
It’s finally time. The night I’ll get to show everyone at school that Declan is mine.
I’ve just gotten out of the shower, closing the door to my room with my towel wrapped around my waist, when I hear a text come in on my phone.
I walk over to where my phone sits on my nightstand and open my messages.
Declan
Sorry. This dinner is taking forever.
Today is what Nancy calls Declan’s “adoptiversary.” The day that they officially signed the documents adopting Declan into their family. So Nancy had planned a dinner at a nice restaurant where all three of them could go out and celebrate.
Me
lol. Nancy loves her family time. Sorry she loves you so much!
Declan
Ha ha. Very funny. And I know all that. I’m not complaining. Just really excited to go out with you tonight.
Me
Who are you??? Declan hates parties and all the people in them.
Declan
Oh, I still do. But maybe going with you won’t make it so bad.
I can’t help it. A smile stretches across my face while warmth fills my chest.
Declan
You should probably just go. We only just got the appetizer. I’ll meet you there.
Me
No. I want to walk in with you.
Declan
Stop trying to be cute! I’m serious. I don’t know how long this is going to take. I’ll have them drop me off at the party after.
Me
Okay, fine. But I’m kissing you in front of everyone the moment you walk in.
Declan
Deal.
My smile somehow gets wider as I lock my phone and toss it onto the bed, then turn to my closet.
I have no idea what to wear. I want to look nice next to Declan. And he always looks nice. Suave. Effortless. Cool.
Even though probably a lot of my friends and teammates might not agree. But they just don’t understand him. He’s different. He’s his own person.
One day they’ll see how much cooler Declan was than all of us. Or maybe they never will. Either way, if anyone has some negative shit to say then I’ll just have to start getting into fights at school.
Declan is worth all of that.
I decide on something basic. Jeans and a soft green T-shirt. I’m just pulling my shirt over my head when my door opens.
Scott eyes me from the doorway. He’s got that mean look in his gaze as he grips the doorknob—a can of beer dangling from the other.
My stomach drops and a little tendril of panic sparks to life in my body.
This is not good.
It’s never good when he looks like this, but some gut feeling is telling me that this is going to be worse.
I try to play it cool—being nice and agreeable so he’ll leave me alone. “Hey, Scott,” I say, adjusting my T-shirt in the mirror. “What’s up?”
“Not much,” he mutters back.
The words themselves are fine, but his face continues to glare at me.
I grab my wallet and stuff it in my back pocket, before picking up my phone and keys in one hand. “Okay. Well… I’m gonna go.”
He doesn’t move or answer me in any way, so I step to the side, trying to maneuver around him. At the last second, he shifts, blocking any exit to the door. “Where the fuck are you going?”
Shit.
I’d like to let out a huge fucking sigh right now, but that will be an attitude to him, and it’ll make whatever the outcome is of this so much worse. So I hold it in and look at him calmly.
“It’s my friend Richardson’s birthday. I told you and mom about it last night. He’s having some people over at his house. You said it was cool.”
His eyebrows pull down. “I wouldn’t have said yes to that.”
“Okay,” I say carefully. “But you did.”
“Do you think I don’t know what I’m talking about?”
“I didn’t say that—”
“You don’t have to. You’re calling me a liar. I know what the fuck I said.” His voice rises with each sentence out of his mouth.
“I’m not calling you that. I just—”
He slices a hand through the air, cutting me off. “This isn’t a discussion. You’re not going!”
Despite not wanting to make it worse, and trying so hard to stay calm, I lose it. The anger takes over my brain. I can feel my voice rising with his. “What? Why? You said I could. That’s not fair.”
I don’t know why I even mention the fairness of it all. Scott certainly doesn’t care about that.
“Life’s not fair, Javier! Get used to it.”
I snap my mouth shut. That’s fine. I’ll just do what I usually do. Wait until he passes out and sneak away.
He lectures me some more. I do the usual there too, looking through him while tuning out whatever bullshit he’s trying to say.
The speech is pretty short, because soon he’s turning away and heading for the door.
I set my keys and phone down on the nightstand then plop down on the bed, trying to breathe through all the shitty stuff I’m feeling. Still, a quietly mumbled cabrón escapes my mouth.
But apparently not quietly enough.
Scott freezes halfway through the door, slowly turning back toward me. “What did you just say?”
“Nothing.”
He looks at me. His eyes growing deader by the second. “Natalia!” he yells over his shoulder.
A moment later, my mom comes walking around the corner, looking between the two of us. “Yes?”
“What does kah-brone mean?”
He absolutely butchers it. But it doesn’t really matter. My mom’s face tells him everything he needs to know. She widens her eyes and looks at me, then it’s off to the races.
“I fucking knew it,” he bellows as he sets the beer can on my dresser. “Fucking ungrateful. Disrespectful. All the shit I do for this fucking family.”
He charges over to me, pivoting at the last second and scooping up my phone and keys from my nightstand.
“Hey!” I yell.
“You’re not fucking going anywhere tonight. You can get your shit back when you learn some goddamn respect.”
I grind my teeth together, barely able to get the next words out of my mouth through them. “Fine. But give me my phone back so I can let my friends know I’m not coming.”
He does a weird manic smile at me and then chucks my phone straight at the wall.
“What the hell!?” I yell as my mom shrieks, “Scott!”
My phone splinters in two and lays on the floor of my bedroom.
He spins around and starts stomping toward the door. “They’ll figure it out,” he shouts over his shoulder, right before he disappears through the doorway.
It’s quiet for a few moments. Neither my mom or I moving a muscle, until she lets out a great, tired breath, running her hands down her face before looking sadly at me. “Papi, why?” She walks toward me, taking my hands in hers. “Why would you say that?”
“?En serio, Ma?”
“Sí, papi. You know how he gets. You knew it was going to be bad.” She crosses her arms.
“He was being unfair! I told you guys last night that I was going, and he acted like I was crazy. Like I never said any of that.”
“Lo sé.”
“Well, then what the hell, Ma?!” I drop her hands and spring off the bed, walking to the other side of the room before facing her again.
I can’t help raising my voice. I don’t like to do that with my mom. She gets enough of that from Scott. But what am I supposed to do here? It feels like I’m talking to a brick wall.
“This is how he is, Javier. You know that.” Her voice hardens, a look of irritation creeping onto her face.
“Just leave him, Ma. You don’t deserve this. And neither do I.”
The sadness comes back, drawing her brows down. “We can’t.”
I rush back toward her, grabbing her delicate shoulders and giving a slight shake. “We can. It’ll be hard at first but we can do it.”
She stares blankly. “Stay here tonight. He’ll be over it by the morning.” She kisses my cheek. “Te quiero, Javier.” And then leaves me.
A gross feeling of shock settles over me.
I hate that she won’t leave him. I want to understand. I want to see her side. But all I can think about is that she must not love me enough to leave him. Which I don’t necessarily think is true, but my angry fucking brain won’t let me think of anything else.
I lay in my bed and stew the rest of the night, thinking about the fact that Declan is probably alone at that party. A party he didn’t want to go to.
I have no car. No phone. There’s nothing I can do but wait.
I’ve positioned myself so I can still see out the window while laying on my side, eyes trained on his house while my brain obsesses about what Declan is doing right now.
I start to think that maybe he immediately left. Walked in, saw that I wasn’t around, and dipped.
But when Nancy and Harold come home without him, and then more time passes with no sign of him, I get a little on edge.
It’s around three in the morning that I can’t keep my eyes open anymore, despite how much I try. I fall asleep, face still pointed toward Declan’s house.