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Mom scoffs. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means, darling,” Dad says, his voice louder, his tone even more bitter than before, “I knew you were fucking that asshole Harry from the very beginning.”
Mom gasps, her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. “Then why didn’t you say anything?”
Dad tosses back his head, laughing bitterly, a hand rubbing his forehead. “That’s all you have to say? After all this time, after you lying to me and deceiving me, that’s what you have to say?” He shakes his head. “I’m so tired, Sarah. I’m so tired of having to please you all the time. I’ll send you the papers when I have a chance to speak to a lawyer.”
“Tom!” Mom grabs Dad’s hand, lurching him back toward her. “What are you saying?”
“Don’t you get it?” Dad pushes Mom’s hand off him. “I want a divorce.”
Something within me cracks. I can’t seem to contain myself any longer. Seeing my parents like this is like a punch to the gut. A sob escapes me, tears flowing down my cheeks. Mom and Dad, in unison, turn toward me. Mom’s face crumbles, and I can see she’s trying to hold back her own tears. Dad’s mouth gapes open, his gaze going from me to the bros standing behind, and then settling on me once again.
“Oh,” Dad breathes, his back straightening. That hate in his gaze dissipates and fills with sorrow. “I’m so sorry, Rachey, I didn’t see you there.”
“Like that matters,” I sob while wiping the tears from my eyes. “What the Hell is going on?”
“Language!” Mom shouts, as if me swearing is really a big deal at a time like this.
I’m still crying, but my sorrow turns into something angry as I turn to her. “And you,” I say while pointing at Mom, my finger trembling. All last semester she had the audacity to judge me for being in a relationship with several men—a healthy relationship where everyone is willing and honest about their feelings. And she was cheating on Dad? With Harry, her fucking colleague, no less?
Mom winces as she turns away, as if somehow she’s able to read my mind. She shakes her head. “I’m so sorry you had to hear all this.”
“We didn’t hear you come in,” Dad adds while stepping toward me, his suitcase rolling across the floor. He turns toward the bros, wincing as he adds, “I’m so sorry you had to see us at our worst.”
“N-no problem,” Seth says awkwardly.
“No family is perfect,” says Lucas.
“Do you want us to wait outside?” Hunter asks.
Dad shakes his head, his gaze meeting mine. He pats the top of my head as if I’m six years old again and he’s telling me to be a good girl in school. “I’m going to spend the night somewhere else, but maybe we can get coffee together before you leave?”
I grind my teeth, trying to stop the sobs from taking over me again. Please stay, I want to beg, but I know he can’t, not after everything Mom has done to him. I wouldn’t want to stay here either. I don’t. Part of me wants to go with Dad, but I know it will be weird with the bros, especially given how exhausted Hunter is.
I turn toward Mom, still standing in the kitchen, leaning against the counter with her gaze glued to the floor. She looks exhausted. Have they been fighting the whole day? Have they been secretly waiting for us to leave so they can finally have it out?
“Good night, Rachey,” says Dad, drawing my attentions away from Mom. He pulls me in for a tight bear hug. “I love you very much.”
Tears prickle my eyes, and I clamp them shut as I whisper, “I love you, too.”
I feel numb as I feel Dad’s hands unwrap. I’m unable to watch him leave, unable to really move as I hear the door open and click close. My lips tremble and my hands fist at my sides.
“Rachel?” I hear Hunter whisper.
Without a single word, I storm through the kitchen and living room, turning to the right, into a narrow hallway. I find my room easily, opening and slamming it close with all my might. My footsteps take me to my bed, and I throw my body onto it, burying my face into the pillows. I scream into them, the sound barely drowned out by the cushions as I punch my fists against the mattress.
How can Mom do that to him? How can she cheat on the man she loves, the man she married? What gives her the right to judge me, to treat me as if I’m lower than her? My fists relax. My body feels worn and used up, as if I’ve been sucked into a tornado and spat out. I don’t lift my head as I hear the door creaking open.
“Rachey?” Mom’s voice reaches my ears, sounding hesitant, soft, like she used to sound when I would lock myself inside my room and cry about something stupid that happened at school.
“Go away,” I mumble, rolling onto my side and facing the window. “I don’t want to talk to you.”
“I feel so embarrassed. I didn’t mean for you to hear all that.”
“I said go away!” I shout.
The bed dips, and I roll my eyes as Mom places her hand on my shoulder. “I wanted to apologize to you. I didn’t mean for—” Mom pauses and I hear her inhale deeply. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.” Her voice is trembling and I can tell she’s on the verge of tears. A slice of guilt stabs through me and I turn around, finding Mom staring down at me with tears streaming down her cheeks. “I had no right to judge you,” she says while quickly wiping her eyes. “When I have been so unfaithful.”
“What happened?” I ask while sitting up in bed, resting my back against the board. “Why did you cheat on Dad? I thought you loved him.”
Mom sighs, her gaze narrowing on my bed sheets. “I honestly don’t really know why. I do love your father. There’s no excuse for what I did.” She runs a trembling hand through her hair. “Sometimes, life doesn’t turn out the way we expect it to. I thought I would become a famous artist. Your father thought he would become a brilliant writer. Instead, we’ve become two mediocre, normal people with our dreams dashed.” Mom shrugs. “Going through life, day after day, the same old thing.” Mom inhales deeply, her gaze lifting to mine. “Honestly, I wanted to feel wanted. I missed feeling special. I guess that’s why I did it. But unfortunately, that one act of selfishness ruined everything.”
I rest my hand on Mom’s and she grabs it, her grip tight. I’m still angry with her. I don’t understand at all what she’s going through, but maybe there’s some way to fix this. “Can’t you talk to Dad about this?” I ask. “Maybe you don’t have to get divorced. Maybe—”
Mom shakes her head, her hand sliding away from mine. “No, there’s nothing I can do. It’s done.” She sucks in a shuddering breath as her body slowly lifts from my bed. I watch her trudge toward the door, her body looking frail and weak for once. There was a time I thought her perfect. As a child, I thought Mom could do no wrong. I thought she knew everything, could solve any problem.
I was wrong.
