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They can’t compute that I did what I did of my own free will.
Kissing, vandalizing and ending up at a reform school, where I still go.
“I should’ve beaten the crap out of him two years ago,” my dad continues, growling, “I should beat the crap out of him right now. For coming back. For setting foot —”
“But Dad,” I cut him off. “He d-didn’t… He didn’t seduce me. I’ve told you that. I was —”
“Echo,” my mom snaps. “No.”
“But Mom —”
“No, not one word.”
I bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from talking.
From explaining to them — probably for the hundredth time — that he didn’t coerce me or coax me. He didn’t force himself on me or render me stupid with seduction.
“We don’t want to talk about it,” my mom says while Dad sits there huffing and puffing. “We don’t want to hear about it. You’ve hurt us, Echo. You turned our lives upside down. After everything that we’ve done for you, after everything that your father and I gave you, this is how you repaid us. You repaid us by blowing everything to pieces. By being reckless and stupid and selfish. We could’ve lost our jobs, our livelihoods. You realize that, don’t you? You could’ve cost us everything that we’d ever worked for. Especially when you know your dad’s condition. We trusted you. Wedependedon you and you stabbed us in the back. Not to mention, you wrecked your own future. You not only lost a good and loving boyfriend, but also all your dreams about going to NYU.”
She is right.
I did that.
I changed everyone’s lives, not just my own. I did stab them in the back. I betrayed them when they trusted me to be good. For the first time ever, my parents had good jobs. They didn’t have to break their backs to provide for me and I threatened all that with my stupid, reckless actions.
“So we don’t want to hear anything from your mouth,” my mom continues, “except one thing and one thing only. We want you to promise us that you will stay away from him, from that boy. You will have no contact with him whatsoever. No contact, Echo.
“You know how he is, don’t you? You know how much of a troublemaker he is. He’s always been a constant source of shame for the Davidson family, a constant source of disappointment. He didn’t even show up for his father’s funeral, Echo. His own father. Mr. Davidson didn’t deserve that. He didn’t deserve to be disrespected like that. He was a good man. And you know this better than anyone, don’t you? He could’ve pressed charges back then but he didn’t. He let you go. He still kept us on. We owe him, Echo. We owe him a lot.Promiseus that you will be good. That you won’t jeopardize everything that we’ve worked for, not again.”
My eyes are brimming with tears but I don’t let them fall.
This time I control them. I make them stay put.
I’m not going to act like a victim and cry for this. I don’t deserve to cry for this.
Especially when I’ve already broken the promise that they want me to make.
When I’ve alreadyhad contactwith him.
And I’m not going to stop.
I can’t.
I have to make it right. I have to fix things.
Not only with Lucas but also with my parents.
Don’t I?
I can’t get into NYU or change the fact that I haven’t graduated yet. But if I get back together with him, maybe my parents will finally forgive me. If I make everything like it used to be, then they will see that I’m still their good daughter and that they can depend on me.
So yeah, I’m going to fix things.
And he’s helping me.
The guy they want me to stay away from. The guy they think seduced me.
He didn’t.
