AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Dario’s house is not my home.”
“Your father’s an idiot. This is your home, and you’re welcome here.”
She’s right about the first half at least, but not so much the second. “No, I’m not. I’m not staying anywhere I’m not wanted, and this house has never felt like a home to me. Even if I were welcome, I don’t want to stay here.”
Zia Stella pulls into the driveway in front of the missing garage and parks. “Please, let’s just go inside.
You can think about it a little more, and we can talk out everything that’s happened. Dario will be working late, so we won’t be bothered. I’ll call work and tell them I can’t come in today so we can sort it all out.”
I don’t want to talk to Zia Stella, and I don’t want to sort it all out. I want to be left alone and stew in peace.
“Don’t bother,” I say, taking off my seat belt. “I’ll go inside, but only because I need more clothes—I packed terribly, these aren’t even my shoes—but then I’m leaving.
Jason will get me after school.”
Zia Stella searches my face, and whatever she sees there makes her sigh in defeat. “I’m not going to push you, but I am going to find a way to fix this. If you want to be alone today, I get it. I’ll see what I can do about everything going on. Thank you for trusting me with the truth.”
I don’t look at her,can’tlook at her. She’s speaking so earnestly, so fervently, that I believe her. Instead of replying, I exit the car before I’m able to decipher any of the emotions swirling around inside me that make my throat feel tight.
Shutting the door and turning, I still when I spot Officer Liu standing in his driveway, wearing his uniform and a smug smile.
He doesn’t move closer to me, and I don’t move closer to him. We just stare at each other from the driveways, separated by a lawn of green grass, just like that very first day all those weeks ago when I first came here, when I first met Lily.
“I’ve seen the picture,” he starts. “It’s viral all over the internet because you’re Florence’s daughter.”
Even though I’m already certain, I still ask, “Are you the one who gave Brandon the photo?”
Officer Liu only shrugs. “Everyone knows you’re a killer, and now it’s only a matter of time before the truth about what you did to Lily comes out.”
Before I can screech that I’m not involved with what happened to Lily, Zia Stella rolls down her window. “Is there a problem here?”
I don’t think she heard anything he said, or she wouldn’t be acting all polite, but she can definitely sense the tension in the air.
Officer Liu twirls his keys around his finger. “Nope.
See you around, Stella.” He unlocks the door and enters his house, and Zia Stella doesn’t back away from the driveway until after I punch in the code to the door in the garage and close it behind me.
Twenty-two
I take advantage of being home alone for the day by taking my time to properly pack. Not only that, but I also help myself to whatever food is in Dario’s fridge and pantry, and even take a steaming shower to de-stress. By the time Gia gets home from school, I’m clean, slightly less angry, and have most of my things packed.
“Siena?” she calls, running up the stairs and finding me in my room, trying to shove my shoes into an over-stuffed drawstring bag.
“Hey, you okay?” I ask, taking in her disheveled state.
“Oh my God, it was awful today! You’re all everyone can talk about. Everyone kept asking me about what happened, and I just kept yelling, ‘It was self-defense!’ before running away.” She collapses onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling. “I think I’m going to stay home tomorrow; I can’t go through that again.”
Well, she can join the club, since I’m not going to school either.
“Did Brandon bother you?” I ask. He waspissedat me today, and I don’t want that anger transferred to Gia.
Jason assured me he’d look out for her.
“No, I didn’t see him after this morning. But you should’ve seen how worried Jason was when I ran to find him and told him Brandon was harassing you. He shoved a few kids out of his way and everything.” She gives a small laugh before frowning. “Brianna said people were telling her about how you kicked Brandon in the balls this morning. I told her he deserved it, and now I think she’s a little angry with me even though she agrees he’s been an ass lately.”
I pause my failed packing attempts to look at her.
She’s the same girl she was last week, still a pixie cut that’s starting to grow out, still tiny, still big, innocent brown eyes, yet she’s like a different person lately. The last time Brandon and I got into it, Gia took Brianna’s side, and now not only is she trying to be accountable for her actions, but she also defended me to her friend and had my back when the entire school questioned her. She withstood the stares, whispers, questions, and accusations all day, by herself, when she always said she’d never be able to. And sure, she doesn’t want to go to school tomorrow, but she shouldn’t have to, and that does nothing to take away from the fact that sheisstrong, and sheiscapable of standing up to scrutiny.
