Dead & Forgotten

Ch. 23

"Viv, can I see you for a second up in our room?" Dad said through his teeth. He was not too passionate about what was going on at all. So they both went up to their room, and Mom started speaking. "I know, I know. Before you throw a fit, I'll explain. The Goldbergs just want to make amends with us, Aris. It's been over twenty years now. How long do you expect us to continue getting at each other's throats?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe until we're all dead!" snapped Dad. "And make amends? Please." He scoffed. "Everyone knows that Quincy Goldberg was the biggest player in Beverly Hills High School. He probably hasn't even changed one bit. And I don't understand how you could do this to me, Vivienne. Inviting these---these Holocaust terrorists into my own household behind my back!" You might not know this, but he just made a very offensive Jewish remark when he said that.

"Aristotle, stop it!" Mom said, trying to calm him down. "Jesus, try to calm down before you get a heart attack. The Goldbergs aren't really as bad as you think. They just admitted to being the ones who have moved into our old house and---"

"Whoa, hold on there," Dad said, putting his hand up as a signal for stop. "Did we even sign a lease with them yet? I don't think so. They can't take what's ours and think they can get away with it! What do those idiots take us for, fools?" He was really angry, and Mom was silent for a moment.

Just like that, the day flew by fast. Very fast. I didn't know what it was. Maybe it was the fact that Headmistress Rogers didn't want anything to do with me again. Or the fact that I've actually agreed to do the upcoming school play in late December pertaining to Christmas, and that I actually showed up for auditions during lunchtime. I didn't know what I was thinking when I did that, but I guess I just wanted some attention from my peers. Maybe not in a positive way like I hoped, but I wanted at least something from them. We also had auditions after classes were over, but I chose not to show up, for some reason. I thought it felt a tad awkward, so guess what I did? Isolate myself in my dorm room.

Unfortunately, the room wasn't too good of a hiding place. There was a furious knock on the door, and I opened it and saw it was Donna and Marvin, both giving me death stares. Uh-oh. Apparently, I had been avoiding them all day, especially since what I've said to Marvin down in the dining hall during breakfast.

"What are you two doing here?" I asked.

"Were you planning to get Headmistress Rogers fired?" Marvin snapped. Apparently, that answered my question.

"No, I wasn't---"

"You know that Marvin was only trying to help you, right?" said Donna. "You know, yesterday?" She was trying to make me remember. When Marvin said he had to make a phone call, it was his way of asking Headmistress Rogers if it was all right that he helped me out. So in other words....he'd believed everything I said. Every word of it. And like Donna, he was willing to help out. Now I felt like such an idiot, in fact, an even bigger idiot than ever before. I'd jumped to the wrong conclusions. Why did I do that? "And you should be ashamed of yourself for what you've done," she said snappishly. "You know there's always someone around, and you choose to run away and make yourself go missing and have the whole school going crazy over finding you. God knows, you could have been killed wherever you were!"

"Well, excuse me for trying to solve some clues all by myself," I replied back with a retort.

"There's no doing it yourself, Cassandra," Marvin said sharply. "In cases like this, believe me, someone always ends up getting hurt. And I don't wanna pay to see that happen to you. You're far too young and beautiful for that kind of stuff to happen to you."

He was right, and I knew it. There was no use fighting against him. I knew when Marvin Garrett was right in everything he said. Why? Because I loved him. I truly cared about him, and he cared about me too. And it should remain that way. "Okay. I guess I better apologize," I said. "To be honest, I didn't really...."