Chapter 44
Chapter Forty-Four
KAMILA
Present Day
A na’s figure is merely a blob due to the tears threatening to spill at any moment.
“No, no, that didn’t happen.” My voice cracks. “Because that would mean that I stopped talking to my best friend for no reason.” A tear manages to escape, rolling down my cheek. “Because that would mean that my own sister manipulated and lied to me while I stood by her through everything.”
Because that would mean that I put these walls up back then for no reason, not allowing any man or even my friends all the way in.
Not allowing anyone all the way in.
“Is it true?” I ask Ana.
She doesn’t respond, but her eyes soften. It’s a look she’s given me many times before and I know what she’s going to say. “I’m your sister, why would I ever?—”
“Is it true?!” My yell echoes off the walls.
Ana and Cameron both look caught off guard because I never, ever speak like I just did. Still, I hardly flinch or move, waiting for the response .
“Alright, alright.” She puts her hands up in surrender. “Yes, it’s true, okay? But it happened two and a half years ago. No need to be so dramatic.”
My eyes harden and I take a step forward before Cam stops me.
A small smile spreads across Ana’s face. She looks demonic.
“Is this funny to you?” I spit out.
She shrugs. “A little. I mean, you fucked him either way, so I guess he got his revenge, and you got my sloppy seconds.”
Ana roams her eyes over Cam, then back at me. She’s trying to push my buttons to see how far I’ll go. Trying to make me stoop to her level.
“There’s more,” Cameron says to me.
My eyes stay on my sister while I see her face morph into one of surprise. It sends a small ping of satisfaction through my veins, knowing she’s out of the loop as well.
I nod. “Go ahead.”
He takes a deep breath. “Ana started sleeping with Jordan right after he began dating Maddy. She was jealous of you being able to get a guy that she hadn’t been able to in the past?—”
“That is not why?—”
“ Cállate ,” I snap. Ana’s eyes widen. I’m tired of her lies and her believing she has all this power over me.
“Anyways,” Cameron continues, “I told Maddy, and she forgave Jordan after he convinced her it was a one-time thing and a big mistake. However, it wasn’t and still isn’t.”
Observing my sister’s face, which is slowly draining of all color, I ask, “What does that mean?”
“She’s still sleeping with him. They never stopped.”
Ana snaps her head to Cam’s. “How?”
“You’re sleeping with a married man whose wife is pregnant, and you’re worried about how he found out?” Jesus. I knew Ana had her secrets, but this is repulsive.
She sighs as if she hasn’t affected an innocent woman’s life due to her own high school insecurities .
Narrowing my eyes at her, I ask Cam, “Anything else I need to know?”
He nods. “A couple of days later, I went to your house to try and talk to you since I couldn’t reach you anywhere else.” He looks at me with regret and the same longing I’ve felt for years. “Rafael and Nora answered the door. They told me to never come back and that I had already done an irreparable amount of damage. I knew then that if your parents were that angry, you must’ve been ten times worse.”
His eyes are glassy. He quickly clears his throat. “I never blamed you. I suspected that Ana had lied, but my texts and calls never went through. Ethan’s didn’t either and you had deleted all of your social media pages?—”
“I changed my number and deleted all of my accounts two days later,” I whisper at my regrettable and impulsive teenage behavior.
He nods solemnly. “You never looked for me to bother hearing my side of the story, and now I know why. So, I decided to skip Driscoll, moved to Long Island, and studied there instead. I needed some time to reevaluate things.”
“Why didn’t you tell me all of this when you had so many opportunities in the last couple of months?” I whisper, trying to contain my emotions. It’s a stupid question, I know why he didn’t.
“Would you have believed me without her here?”
I hesitate. “I—” I stutter. “I don’t know.” And it’s true. Without Ana being there and seeing her obvious reaction, along with the way she’s treated me the last couple of months, I probably wouldn't have.
He avoids my gaze, clearly ashamed at not trying. His eyes are straight ahead, till he starts to shift uncomfortably. There’s something he’s keeping from me. There’s another reason why he kept the truth hidden for so long. I understand that I was reluctant to have this conversation without Ana present, yet it’s been months. Something else is going on, and I refuse to wait any longer not knowing the whole truth.
“That’s not the only reason you didn’t tell me, though, is it?”
He continues to look at the wall with a frown on his face.
“Why didn’t you say anything, Cameron?” I grit through my teeth, getting tired of having to ask and push in order to get answers. Goddammit, why can’t he just spit it out?
Then there’s another knock on the door.
“For fucks sake, like we need more of an audience.” Cam points at us. “You two, behave while I get rid of whoever’s here.”
I stare at Ana, and she rolls her eyes. “Calm down, sis, we’re even now, alright?”
“Even? Are you kidding?—”
“It’s also alumni weekend,” a male voice says before I see a fist connect with Cam’s face.
What the hell?
Then the man at the door comes into view, and my blood turns into ice.