Chapter Twenty-Four #3
“No,” he replies sternly. “No, Sky. You have made my sad excuse for a life so much brighter than I ever deserved. What you did as a child doesn’t dictate who you are today.”
What you did as a child doesn’t dictate who you are today.
I had no idea, until this singular moment, how badly I needed to hear these words. They resonate deep inside of me, coating my fear and my shame in a thick layer of comfort.
The inner child inside of me—the one screaming and begging to be reassured and understood—falls silent. It is as if Everett is reaching deep into my heart and swooping him up, effortlessly soothing him as he rocks and coddles my small body.
Everett is touching my soul with careful, delicate fingers. He is seeing me—truly seeing me, for the first time.
“You don’t hate me now?” I whisper, and though the words come out shaky and nervous, all I can feel internally is a pleasant hum. “You aren’t scared of me?”
“Scared of you?” he repeats, now standing before me with a sad smile. “I’ve had you wrapped around my throat since we were kids, puppy. Even with your teeth sunk deep beneath my skin, I have never once been scared of what you’d do to me.”
Everett reaches out, placing a warm palm against my cheek, and I shudder under the weight of it. He knows that I am trouble, that I am a mess, and he isn’t afraid.
“You still love me? I-I know you haven’t really said it yet, but I figured you did. Before all of this, I mean. I thought… I thought you loved me.” I’m rambling, standing frozen before him.
I’m too scared to reach out and touch. I’m afraid it’ll ruin this calming thrum rushing through my veins.
I really, really need him to love me. I need him to stare into the ugliest parts of me and decide that yes, they exist, but I am worth more than what they make me. That I am not my anger, and even if I was, he’d love that too.
“Of course I love you,” Everett murmurs. “I’ve loved you for so long that I’ve forgotten what it feels like to see you and not be completely and totally enamored.”
Evie has never been much of a poet. For the entire time that I’ve known him, he’s been more action than declarations. But right now, staring into my eyes in this tiny motel room, he is Shakespeare himself.
He has given me my very own love story—a sonnet to take home and play again and again.
“Um, we’re still here,” Henry suddenly says, his tone mildly awkward as I turn to look at our friends.
They’re staring at us, Henry with a look of slight discomfort and Kelly with a dim smile.
“This moment is cute and all,” she begins, “but what about your dad, Ev? Why is he bullying you two in the first place?”
“Because he’s a homophobic piece of shit who is a dick to his son,” I answer, crossing my arms. Irritation replaces the pleasant hum that was just coursing through me.
“Has he always been like this?” Henry asks.
“Yeah,” Everett breathes out, slumping in embarrassment. “He’s always been… a lot.”
I hate that he carries the burden of who his father is. That for the rest of his life, Everett will have to carry the weight of his childhood.
“That’s fucked,” Kelly mutters.
“You guys should leave.” Everett runs his fingertips over my chin before pulling back completely, putting space between himself and those who love him. “It’s the only way to prevent my father from retaliating.”
“So if you don’t leave Florida and lose contact with us, he’ll expose Sky?” Henry verifies, and as Everett nods, he huffs. “Alright. So what do we do?”
Both Kelly and Henry’s eyes land on me.
“What do you mean?” Everett questions. “You leave.”
“Sky, what’s the plan?” Kelly pushes, completely ignoring him.
“Um… Well, let’s think this through,” I start, anxiously peering around the room.
I was born malicious and conniving; I can come up with something, right?
“Think what through?!” Everett nearly screeches.
Ash has dirt on me and therefore has dirt on Evie. The best course of action would be to get dirt on him to counter his move, right?
“Alright. How about this,” I continue. “We get dirt on Ash and threaten to out him if he outs me.”
Everett groans, throwing his hands up. “There is no dirt on my dad! He’s made him indestructible!”
“No,” I interrupt, pointing my finger in his direction. “He’s indestructible to you. You lived your whole life afraid of him, but he’s just a guy, Evie. He’s bound to have made mistakes.”
“None that he reveals to the world,” Everett counters.
“Blackmail is a mistake, right?” Henry offers, his eyes darting between the group excitedly.
Blackmail is a mistake. It’s illegal. If we could prove that, then he’d be done for. But how do we prove it? As far as I know, Everett didn’t record his encounter with his dad.
Record.
Oh, shit.
“Evie, your dad cares a lot about appearances, right?” I ask, taking a step toward him with a new determination.
“Sky, stop scheming. This won’t help us,” he shoots back.
“Just answer my question.”
“Yes, he does.”
Perfect. If the only thing Ash truly cares about in this world is his image, then we attack that.
I grin, all teeth and a complete representation of the angry thing inside of me that is stirring. “Here is the plan.”
Kelly lets out a soft laugh. “Let the game begin.”