Chapter 25 – Drama #2
Aunt Bee slapped his arm to silence him.
“And it’s not about Jacob,” my mom said. “It’s about Brooklyn.”
My dad scoffed. “Oh, give me a break.”
“Our daughter has clearly been in love with Axel her whole life. And you wouldn’t let her date him because he’s Tyler’s son.”
“That’s not...”
“Yes it is!” my mom screamed. “What the hell is wrong with you, James?!”
I’d never seen her so upset before.
“Penny...”
“You didn’t want her to date Axel because you hate Tyler. You wanted her to date Jacob because you love Brooklyn!”
“I don’t love Brooklyn,” my dad said.
“You proposed to her!”
WHAT?!
“Well at least I didn’t sleep with her while I was dating you!” my dad yelled.
“We were on a break when I was with Tyler!”
I just stared at the scene in front of me. My mom had slept with Uncle Tyler?! When?! What was happening right now? I turned to see the expression on Aunt Brooklyn’s face. And she didn’t looked shocked about the proposal comment. Seriously...what the fuck?
“And this isn’t about our past, James,” my mom said.
“It’s about Scarlett’s future. How could you do this to our baby?
” My mom’s voice cracked. “Have you not seen how much this has affected her? That little girl we raised was fearless. She had the confidence to tackle the whole world. And you broke her!”
I felt myself shrinking. Even my mom had seen my confidence vanish over the years.
And it had all started that day in sixth grade.
My dad made Axel wait. And Axel tried to get me to make the first move by dating other girls.
The two of them together had ruined any self-confidence I had.
I put my hand on my chest. My mom was right. I was broken.
“I was protecting her from him!” my dad yelled. “I was keeping her safe.”
Tears started streaming down my cheeks. What did it matter that I was safe when I was only a ghost of my former self?
“You should have seen Axel the day he found out that Scarlett and Jacob were dating,” Aunt Hails said. She put her hand on her chest like her heart actually ached.
“Mom, don’t...” Axel started.
But she ignored him. “You’re our family, James. How could you do this to my son who thinks of you as an uncle?”
“I should have put this together,” Sophie whispered.
“How could you have possibly?” I tried to wipe away my tears as I turned to her. “We didn’t know any of this about Uncle Tyler and Aunt Brooklyn.”
“Oh, I did. It was all in your mom’s books.”
I stared at her. “We’re not allowed to read her books.”
She shrugged. “Yeah, I remember her saying that ages ago. I went home and read them that very day. They’re very scandalous.”
“You read them?”
“Yeah, I read the whole Hunted series and Empire High series. Drama. Oh my God, do you think she’s going to put this in a book? Awkward.”
I hadn’t heard what my parents were talking about because I was busy talking to Sophie. But I turned back to them when I heard Aunt Hailey scream at the top of her lungs.
Uncle Tyler took a swing at my dad, his fist colliding hard with my dad’s jaw.
My dad leaned forward, ramming his shoulder into Uncle Tyler’s stomach. The two of them fell onto the coffee table, shattering it in half.
“Not again,” my mom said.
“I think we all need to take a deep breath,” Aunt Daphne said.
No one listened to that advice. My dad and Uncle Tyler kept fighting.
“Stop it!” Aunt Hails yelled. “Someone do something!”
My other uncles stepped forward like they were about to join in on the fight too. I honestly had no idea whose side they were going to take.
“Wrassling time!” Mr. Nigel yelled and rolled up his sleeves.
“Don’t,” Mr. Tanner said and put his hand out. “You’ll hurt the poor lads.”
“But Tyler is kind of my son in a way,” Mr. Nigel said.
Mr. Tanner just shook his head.
I was more worried about my dad and Uncle Tyler killing each other than whatever Mr. Nigel was about to do.
My dad lifted his fist in the air to take a swing. “A Stevens will never date a Hunter!”
Was he seriously doubling down on this right now?
“I’m dating a Hunter,” Parker said.
RJ made a face and stepped away from her.
My dad’s fist collided with Uncle Tyler’s nose.
I gasped as blood flew all over the carpet. “Dad!” I yelled at the top of my lungs. “Stop it!”
My dad’s fist froze in the air as he turned to me. He slowly lowered it when he saw the tears on my cheeks.
“Pumpkin.”
I stared at him. But all I could see was the image of him in the video.
Threatening Axel. Ruining my life. He wasn’t protecting me.
My mom was right. This wasn’t about me at all.
This was about his own shit. And he wasn’t saying he was sorry.
He was doubling down. He was freaking beating up Uncle Tyler. He’d lost his mind.
He’d lost me.
And I’d freaking lost myself.
“I hate you,” I said.
“Pumpkin, I didn’t mean...”
I shook my head and started to run out of the room.
“Scarlett!” Axel called after me.
But I kept running. I was broken. Everyone knew it. Everyone saw it. I was the only one that hadn’t known. And now that I did, I couldn’t breathe.
My whole life was a lie.
I slammed my bedroom door closed and locked it. And then I fell to my knees and buried my face in my hands as I cried. Axel had proposed to me. I’d just gotten everything I’d ever wanted. But I didn’t even know who I was.