He can’t be serious.
“Why?” I step back.
“Because you can’t be trusted with it. Just like you can’t be trusted to stop talking to this boy. You’re not giving me a choice,” he insists, driving his palm closer to my face.
“What does that mean?” I spit, slipping my hand into my pocket as if to protect my phone and freedom.
“It means we were wrong,” Dave scolds. “We’ve been treating you like an adult. We’ve been trusting you like an adult, but you’re just a kid who doesn’t know what’s good for her.”
“You mean him, don’t you? He’s not good for me?”
They don’t know a thing about him.
They don’t know he’s the kind of person to set the world ablaze for the people he loves. They don’t know he would’ve gladly given his life for Lexie or his mom. Or that there’s a huge heart hidden behind years of trauma and bad attitude.
“Dia, give him the fucking phone,” Jesse barks, and his intervention sets me off.
“You.” I point a finger at him. “You’ve got some nerve pitting them against me for lying when you’ve done nothing but keep secrets. Where were you these past six months, huh? Better yet, why did you stop being friends with Brody Richards? You’re full of shit, Jesse.” I steer my focus onto my dads, who seem completely clueless as to how they should handle this situation.
“Don’t even get me started on you two. You never talk about my birth parents. What happened to my mom? You never told me how she died. You never told me anything.”
My dads are stunned, but the guilt ripping across Gaten’s gaze confirms my biggest fears.
My palm lifts to my mouth. “Oh, God, is she even dead?”
Gaten’s eyes glisten with tears, and he moves closer to me. “Dia, please—”
“Please what? Don’t make a scene? Don’t ask about my mom? What about my dad? Can I talk about him, or is he off-limits, too?”
No one speaks for long seconds.
Until my brother mutters, “Guys… it’s time.”
“Time for what?” I search my parents’ eyes for a hint.
Gaten and Dave exchange glances.
Then Dave shakes his head in disagreement.
What just happened?
“You won’t tell me? Fine. I’ll figure it out on my own.”
I can’t control my limbs as I tear through the kitchen in a fury. I’ve just placed my hand on the doorknob when Dave’s voice rings out in the kitchen.
“Dia, don’t you dare walk out that door—”
But I’m already gone.
* * *
Aveena and I drive up Finn’s driveway twenty minutes later. I haven’t shed a tear or said a word about the fight with my dads since I climbed into her car.
She doesn’t suspect a thing. Not because she’s a bad friend, but because I’m surprisingly good at pretending like my whole world isn’t falling apart.
As if today wasn’t awful enough, I just saw Brie and Xavier making out on Lacey’s Instagram story. I can’t believe he invited Cruella tonight when he very publicly dumped her at Theo’s pool party a few days ago.
“Seriously?” I blow out a breath at the nauseating video of Brie and Xavier on my phone.