Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
PRESLEY
BEFORE…
I awake to the sound of shouting.
It’s not entirely unheard of in our house. I do have three brothers. But as I blink open my eyes and sit up, I quickly realize the noise I hear from downstairs isn’t coming from my rowdy siblings.
It’s coming from adults.
I quickly hop out of bed and put on a pair of pajama pants and a hoodie. Grabbing my phone, I check the time.
It’s just after eight a.m. Who would show up this early—on a Saturday, no less—and cause such a scene?
Maybe one of my dad’s clients?
No. My dad wouldn’t put up with that, no matter who it was. He’d kick Mick Jagger himself to the curb if he showed up at his door and disturbed his family.
I pull open my bedroom door as the voices grow louder.
“Why don’t we all just go into the dining room and talk this over?” I hear my mom say.
“There’s nothing to talk over,” someone replies, and it takes me a second to recognize that distinctive voice. I’ve only heard it a few times, but my pulse starts to race at the sound. “I’m leaving town, and Hollis is coming with me. End of discussion.”
Hollis’s mom is here?
And she wants to take him away?
My heart plummets just as I hear a door close behind me. I turn to see him standing there with a bag slung over his shoulder, eyes filled with defeat.
“But he’s graduating in a month,” my mom pleads. “Surely you wouldn’t take him away from his friends and—”
“He can graduate somewhere else,” she cuts her off. “Or not. It doesn’t really matter either way. Not like he’s going to college.”
Hollis visibly flinches. Despite her harsh words, he had been accepted to several colleges, and my parents were more than willing to pay his tuition, but he had been hesitant.
Had he known this was going to happen?
Or just feared it might?
I take a step toward him just as Hendrix rushes out of his room. “What the fuck is going on?” He rubs his tired eyes, hair sticking up everywhere, but he’s ready to do battle nonetheless.
“My mom is here.” His voice is soft and monotone.
“What do you mean?”
“I have to go,” he simply says.
Hendrix’s eyes shift from Hollis to me and then back again. I see the confusion and reluctance to accept what’s happening. “Okay. When will you be back?”
“I don’t think I’m coming back, Hen.”
He just shakes his head. “No.” Then he stalks toward the stairs. “Uh-uh. Not happening.”
“Hen!” Both of us run after him.
We manage to catch up to him in the foyer, but it’s too late. He’s already in the middle of everything, surrounded by my parents, with an angry finger pointed at Hollis’s mom. “You do not get to show up here after all this time and demand—”
“Hendrix.” My mom’s voice is calm and steady as she places a tender hand on his shoulder. “She can do whatever she wants. She’s his mother.”
Hen’s head whips around to face her. His expression is riddled with betrayal. “You can’t be serious? She is not his family.” His voice cracks. “We are.”
“I know,” she soothes, pulling him into a hug as her gaze finds mine. “But he’s still a minor, and she’s his legal guardian.”
“He’ll be eighteen in a few weeks. Can’t he just stay here until then?” I ask her, hoping she’ll see reason.
But then I notice just how different she looks from the last time I saw her. Her light-blonde hair is pulled back in a messy ponytail, and there is makeup smudged and flaking under her eyes.
Her clothes are still designer, but they look like they need a wash. Honestly, the same could be said of her as well. What happened to her? And what exactly is she trying to drag her son into?
“No,” she answers curtly, her eyes now pinned on Hollis. She gives him an appraising glance before turning away. “If I have to be miserable, so does he.” Then she turns and heads for the door. “I’ll be in the car. Don’t keep me waiting.”
We all watch her leave, and the sound of the door slamming behind her makes my heart lurch.
This can’t be happening.
This isn’t real.
Just yesterday, the guys were talking about going to Cabo for a graduation trip, and now Hollis won’t even be here to get his diploma?
It feels like all the air has been sucked out of the room.
“Mom, Dad, you have to do something,” I say, turning to both of them. They’re staring at Hollis as if it physically pains them to see him so lost and bewildered.
“I’ll call our lawyer, but—”
“It’s okay,” Hollis finally says. It’s the first words I’ve heard him utter since we came downstairs. He gives us all a meaningful look, his face ashen as he tries to play off a casual shrug. “We always knew this was temporary anyway.”
“Hollis—” my mom begins to say, but he simply offers a sad smile as he steps forward and hugs her. Her eyes well with tears.
“Thanks for everything.”
My lips start to quiver, and my throat feels thick as I watch him pull back and step toward the door.
“Hollis,” Hendrix calls out. “Don’t go.”
“Good luck at Stanford, man,” he says, then heads for the door. I get one final look as he glances over his shoulder, and then he’s gone.
Before I know what I’m doing, I’m running after him. I don’t even make it halfway across the foyer before someone catches me around the waist. I cry out and struggle against their hold. “No,” I plead. “No!”
“Let him go,” my dad says, as the door softly clicks behind him. It echoes in my head, the sound so final. So resolute.
“Why aren’t you fighting?” I yell. “Why aren’t you doing anything?”
“I will,” he promises. “I am. I’ll call the lawyer right now, just like I said I would. We’ll get him back, but we can’t fight her. Not like this, okay?”
Tears fall down my cheeks as I give in to him, letting my father’s arms engulf me as I weep, hoping he means what he says.
Because I do not want to lose Hollis Beck.
Not now. Not ever.