Chapter 56 #3
“What have I done this time?” I ask, feigning innocence. I already know that it’s useless, and I already know that Tiffani will swing at me if she gets angry enough, so I step away from her. Better to be safe than sorry.
“What have you done? Are you seriously asking?” she says in dis-belief, her mouth open. She looks younger without all the makeup, but right now, I think she might just be the most furious I have ever seen her. She inhales deeply, keeping her cool, and then firmly orders, “Backyard. Now.”
She turns away from me, shoving Eden to one side and against the wall as she pushes her way downstairs. Eden narrows her eyes after her, then flashes her gaze back to me, searching for an explanation. And honestly, all I know is that this isn’t going to be pretty.
“Fuck,” I mouth, burying my face into my hands. I am praying with absolutely everything in me that Tiffani hasn’t figured out the truth, that she isn’t here to confront me about my relationship with Eden.
Tiffani has paused at the foot of the stairs to look back up at us both.
“I can talk to you both outside or I can talk to you right here,” she says slowly, placing a hand back on her hip as she casts a quick glance toward the living room.
Our parents are in there. She lowers her voice, adding, “And trust me, I think you’d rather I spoke to you outside. ”
She definitely knows what’s going on. There is no hiding from this, no denying it.
We have no choice but to face Tiffani and the consequences.
There is a lump forming in my throat as I reluctantly begin to move, guiding Eden downstairs in front of me as we follow in Tiffani’s path down the hall, through the kitchen, and outside into the backyard.
The sun is bright and blinding, and the tense silence between all of us is almost unbearable. Eden looks terrified, and I think she may have realized what’s going on too. We both know that we’ve been caught, and that it is far too late to do anything about it.
“Sooo,” Tiffani says. She is facing us both, but she remains several feet away.
“So…” I echo. I’m surprised I can even speak. My throat is so dry, and I’m just waiting for Tiffani to lay the truth out in front of us.
“So I woke up to a text from TJ this morning,” she begins, keeping her voice clear and slow.
Her fierce eyes are flickering between Eden and me, most likely waiting for one of us to crack.
“And you know, I’m getting real sick of other people talking to me about us hooking up, Tyler, because half the fucking time it’s not even me. ”
“What are you talking about?” I ask, making a face.
It’s another pathetic attempt at digging my way out of this, but I’m only wasting my breath.
Tiffani’s glare sharpens as she locks her eyes on me, and from beside me, even Eden is looking at me in disbelief as though she can’t believe I’m even trying to deny it.
“Don’t start, Tyler. Just don’t,” Tiffani hisses at me, giving me a small shake of her head.
Her tone is changing. It’s growing harsher, angrier, and her words are becoming faster and ragged.
“He made a joke about us hooking up last night, because his room was a total mess, and we both know perfectly fine that it wasn’t me. ”
It’s almost a reflex at this point to automatically begin conjuring up excuses for my wrongdoings, and although I know that it is pointless, I can’t help but try.
“Look, baby, I didn’t hook up with anyone,” I say quickly, lowering my voice, trying to sound gentle as I step toward her.
“I just forgot to tidy the place up after—”
“Shut up!” Tiffani screams at me, and it instantly silences me.
She’s losing it now, and when Tiffani loses her temper, she is unpredictable.
She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath.
When she opens them again, her gaze is almost calm, like she is back in control.
She angles toward Eden as her mouth forms a cruel smirk. “Eden, didn’t you want your shoes?”
The color drains from Eden’s face and she parts her lips, searching for words that never arrive. She doesn’t know what to say, and neither do I. We’re so screwed. Eventually, she manages to whisper, “How did you—”
“Because TJ asked if I’d had a good night and then said I’d left behind my Converse,” Tiffani cuts in sharply.
The roughness to her voice is back again, and so is the fire in her blue eyes.
“Asked me what the words written on them meant. I sure as hell remember you waving yours around the entire night. The ones with the lyrics on them, right?” She cocks her head to one side, her glare almost threatening.
“By the way, you’re not getting those back.
I told him I didn’t want them and asked him to toss them in the trash for me. ”
“But Tyler’s my—” Eden tries, but her attempts at denial are as useless as mine were.
“Stepbrother?” Tiffani finishes. She is so angry now that tears are welling in her eyes, and she wipes them away, placing her hands on her hips.
“Yeah, I know. I just spent the past half hour arguing with myself. I was like, ‘No way, they’re totally related.’ But I’ve watched Clueless before, okay?
You know, when Cher falls for her stepbrother? I’m not stupid.”
So, this is it. Tiffani really does know the truth.
We should have been more careful. I should have kept my distance from Eden until I cleared up this mess with Tiffani.
I’ve betrayed her, I’ve been selfish, and as much as I can’t stand Tiffani, I know that this has hurt her.
I can see the fury in her eyes, but I can also see the pain.
She isn’t fighting back her tears now. But did she care when she was controlling my life for the past three years?
Did she even care that I didn’t want to be with her anyway?
Maybe this is the end of us. I didn’t want it to happen like this, but if this is what it takes to finally have Tiffani let go, then I’ll take it.
She can’t be with someone who has gone behind her back like this.
She can’t be with someone who has cheated on her.
We are both better off without one another, and I hope she sees that now.
I glance sideways at Eden, but she is paralyzed. She is staring at Tiffani with wide eyes, barely blinking, her face still white. She is terrified, and I wish I could reach over and take her hand in mine so that she knows I’m here, that we’re in this together, that everything will be okay.
“You didn’t really hook up with Jake, did you, Eden?” Tiffani asks weakly, breaking the silence.
“No,” Eden whispers. She looks down at the ground, starting to blink again now, but I think it’s only because she’s holding back tears herself. It’s okay; I’m here .
“It was you that night at the pier,” Tiffani says through her sobs. I don’t think I’ve ever really seen Tiffani cry. At least not like this. “You’re a liar.”
“I know,” Eden says, and her husky voice is cracked with guilt. “I’m a liar. I’m a bitch. I’m a terrible friend.”
This is really between Tiffani and me. My relationship with Eden would never have come to this if Tiffani had just let me go, if she hadn’t blackmailed me into staying with her. I’m not letting her confront Eden like this, not when it is only mine and Tiffani’s fault. I want her out of my life.
“You know what, Tiffani?” I say loudly, clearing my throat and stepping in between her and Eden.
I narrow my eyes at the girl crying in front of me, at the girl who has controlled my every move for so long, and anger builds within me.
It’s finally my turn to get my say. It’s finally time to end this all for good.
“I don’t even want to be with you. I’ve wasted three years because you blackmailed me into staying with you.
Do whatever you want. Tell everyone everything you know about me, because having you keep it a secret isn’t worth the effort it takes to put up with you,” I tell her, and she is staring back at me with wide, swollen eyes and her mouth slightly hung open in shock, but I don’t care.
She isn’t the victim here; neither of us are.
We just aren’t good together, and all we do is hurt one another.
“We’re over. Sue me. Report me to the cops. I don’t care. I’m done.”
“This is all your fault!” Tiffani screams at Eden as she steps around me and throws up her hands. “I don’t even care about the fact that you’re basically siblings, which I should because it’s disgusting, but no, the only thing I care about is that you’ve ruined everything.”
Eden, for some crazy reason or another, actually takes a step closer to her. “Tiffani, I didn’t mean for—”
I hold up a hand to stop her. Eden doesn’t need to apologize. She tried to convince me not to go through with this, to stay away from her unless I ended things with Tiffani, but I didn’t listen. I couldn’t stay away from her.
I set my gaze back on Tiffani and without even flinching, I firmly state, “It’s over, babe .” And man, it feels like the most satisfying thing in the world. Almost blissful. I step back and jab a finger toward the gate, ordering her to leave. There is nothing more to say.
Tiffani lets out a muffled wail and throws her hands back into her hair. “But you can’t break up with me!”
She is so pathetic, it is laughable. And I do laugh. Out loud. She needs to drop this. She needs to move on, to find someone else who she actually wants to be with for a more genuine, sincere reason. “Because I won’t be there to make you look cool? Because you won’t get to control me anymore?”
“Because I’m pregnant , Tyler!”