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I stare at him, at a complete loss for words, and my stomach bursts with butterflies. I never could figure out who left Ani, but I was so grateful nonetheless.
“Yeah, I remember,” Marcus replies. “It was creepy.”
“C’mon, grumpy bear. The kid was smitten. It was sweet.”
“Smitten? He’s obviously been obsessing over her forever,” Marcus grumbles.
“Okay, wait, who’s Anakin?” Fiona asks. “I’m so confused.”
“My cat,” I say.
“You named your cat after a Sith? You’re the cutest nerd ever,” Fi laughs.
“Actually, Anakin was a Jedi. He wasn’t a Sith until he became Vader,” I point out.
“I think we’re getting off topic here,” Seb says. Then he looks at me, his expression more serious. “We FaceTime you all the time. Why didn’t you ever mention any of this?”
I hold up a finger. “Well, one, I wasn’t drunk. And, two, I don’t like to worry you, Seb. You treat me like I’m going to breakany second.” I look over at Marcus. “Three,youhate me now, so I figure you don’t care either way.”
Marcus’s face falls. “I don’t hate you, Charlie,” he says quietly. “I just…”
“It’s fine.” I hold up my hand. “Turns out I’m not an innocent, fragile doll like you both always thought I was. I walked in on my boyfriend fucking someone else. I watched my mom bleed out onto our expensive bathroom tiles. And then my stepdad, who was supposed to take care of me, walked out and left me with nothing—literally nothing—no money, hardly any food, and no fucking furniture.” I can hear the wobble in my voice, but I refuse to cry again.
“Wait, what?” Seb says, standing.
Marcus’s hands have balled into fists, and he’s shaking.
“That escalated quickly,” Fiona says, her eyes wide.
“Yeah, and guess what?” I’m practically yelling. “I survived. I fought depression and pushed through every anxiety attack. I spent every night in the housewegrew up in all alone, remembering what it was like to be a happy, normal family. I graduated high school. I got a scholarship so that I could still have a fucking future now that I’m not the heir to a goddamn fortune.” I blink back tears. If I don’t leave soon, I’ll completely lose it. “I even applied to New York University to get the hell away from here.”
Fiona’s mouth drops open, and I realize belatedly that she didn’t know that tidbit of information.
“We didn’t know about Dad….” Marcus looks angry and sad.
They both do.
I lean over, placing my hands flat on the table. “I never told you,” I say quietly. “You both still have a father, and I didn’t want to break our family any more than I already have.” I grab my coat and purse from the back of my chair and walk from the room, through the pub, and out into the cold winter night.
Despite my inebriated state,I still manage to wander back to my stepbrothers’ apartment unscathed. Of course, I don’t have a key, but some nice couple took pity on me and let me into the lobby.
Canadians are so polite, I muse as I ride the elevator up to the sixteenth floor.
I walk down the hallway and pause outside their apartment. Realizing I’ll just have to wait, I slide down the door until my butt hits the floor and pull my legs to my chest.
My phone has been buzzing nonstop with texts from Seb and Fiona, but I’ve been ignoring them. They probably aren’t far behind me anyway, and I’m suddenly so embarrassed about my outburst.
Stupid drunk Charlie strikes again.
The tears I’ve been holding back hit me with full force, and I put my forehead on my knees and cry.
My phone buzzes again, and I pick it up angrily about to silence my texts altogether, when I see Trey’s name on the screen.
Trey
We need to talk. Please come over.
I wipe my eyes and nose and stare at the message, knowing I shouldn’t respond. I’m definitely too drunk and should wait until morning, but…
