𝑭𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒏' 𝑰𝒕 | 𝑹𝒆𝒏 𝑴𝒄𝑪𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒄𝒌

FIFTEEN

《︎𝘈𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳'𝘴 𝘗𝘖𝘝》︎

Rusty dropped Ariel and Chloe off at the church. They went inside and Vi helped clean Chloe up. After about ten minutes Roger and Shaw came rushing in. Shaw's eyes darkened.

"That son of a bitch." He grumbles.

"Careful, Daddy, you're in church." Ariel whispers. Roger sits down in front of Chloe.

"Look at me." He says in a demanding tone. Chloe's lip quivers and she turns to face him. "Clover.."

"I..."

"Did Ren McCormack do this to you?" Shaw asks. She huffs.

"Answer him!" Roger raises his voice.

"Let's keep calm. We don't even know what happened." Vi whispers.

"His daughter has been assaulted, Vi." Shaw says before shaking his head. By this time Ren had already showed up at the church. He stood at the entrance and eavesdropped when he heard his name. "I'm calling the police. I want that boy in handcuffs."

Chloe scoffs and stands up. "I can see how that works for you people, just blame everything on Ren. Just like you guys blamed everything on Bobby." They all stared at her. Ren raised his brows.

"What?" Ariel asks.

"Oh don't act so dumb. Bobby spent his whole life trying to make your family proud and you know it." Ariel shrugs in her seat. "He made good grades. He went to church every Sunday, and God help him because he made one mistake? Now nobody remembers the good things about Bobby, all they remember is that damn accident!" Chloe exclaims.

Roger stands up. "Clover.."

She turns and hold a hand up to him. "Oh don't you "Clover" me. Why don't we have a school dance? It's because of Bobby! Why do we have this stupid curfew? Because of Bobby! Bobby's to blame for all this bull-!"

"Lower your voice, and talk in a civil tone." Roger says.

"If you're going to go blaming people, blame Lacey too cause she's just as much to blame as he is." I spit.

"Let's not do this here." Ariel whispers.

"Why Ariel? Isn't this my church? Isn't this where we're supposed to talk about our problems? It's been three years, so why don't we start talking?!" She huffs as more tears run down her face. "I have been so lost. I've been losing my mind, and none of you even see it! You don't even care." Chloe chokes out.

Vi grabs Chloe's arms. "Of course we care."

"We don't expect you to understand everything we do that's intended to keep you safe." Roger whispers.

"Stop it! I hate it when you treat me like I'm a child."

Roger walks toward Chloe. "Well, whether you like it or not young lady, you are my child!"

"No I'm not! I'm just the kid you got stuck with!" She exclaims

"Please don't talk like that." He whispers.

"Okay. Calm down. You're being ridiculous Clover." Ariel huffs.

"Oh stop it. Quit acting like you don't have a part in this! Why don't you tell your daddy about how your "science project" beat me up." She suggests.

Ariel's eyes fill with anger. "Shut it, Dunbar." She hisses.

"Why don't you tell him where you really are every night, because you're definitely not at Rusty's." She yells. Shaw and Vi give each other a look.