The Stark Trap

~17~

The next morning, Andi woke up nearly late for school. She jumped out of bed and rushed to get ready, grabbing her phone and running downstairs. Her mother wasn’t at work yet but Andi didn’t want to ask her for a ride, if she was quick and didn’t stop anywhere then she could make it to school either right on time or only a minute or so late. 
 
As she practically ran to school, she checked her phone for the first time that morning. She saw a text from Melissa and nearly tripped when she read it.
 
'He knows’
 
Andi almost ran into a telephone poll and stopped walking. She read the text over and over again. Who knew? Her father? What did he know? That they talked to Christine? Or… Andi felt her heart drop as she realized. Her father knew about the switch…
 
Clicking the call button on her phone, Andi started running again as she waited for Melissa to pick up. When she didn’t, Andi called again. She knew Melissa was at school but she needed to know what happened. Melissa would be going to lunch soon anyways. 
 
“Everything okay Andi? I was in class…” Melissa said, finally picking up. 
 
“What happened with Dad?” Andi asked. 
 
Melissa sighed. “Dad was mad about me talking to Christine and he was yelling at me and I had just wanted to make him stop, I didn’t think and I said that I was Melissa. I ended up telling him everything, how we met, our plan, the tape. We talked for a while, it was kind of emotional. He said that he didn’t want to go along with the custody arrangement but he agreed to it because he didn’t want to lose both of us.” Melissa explained what Tony said about their mother not being able to just forgive him after sixteen years. “He said one of us has to tell Mom about the switch…”
 
Andi stopped running again. “Fuck, this is going to ruin the plan…” She said, panting.
 
“Are you out of breath? What are you doing?” Melissa asked.
 
“I woke up late, I’m running to school cause I didn’t want to bother Mom.” She said, gripping her side with one hand. “I think this is the most I’ve run in my entire life… Honestly I don’t think I’ve ever ran…”
 
“Andi’s running…?” Andi heard Peter say in the background. “My Andi is running… Something’s wrong here”
 
Andi laughed and then continued to run to school. She was a little more than halfway there and had a few more minutes to get to school before she was late. “So what are we going to do? Should I tell Mom?”
 
“Peter said we might be able to get his Aunt to help with getting Mom to New York.”
 
“May is still in contact with Mom?” Andi asked. “Why didn’t she tell me?” She said that last part more to herself. 
 
Melissa sighed. “I don’t know. Do you think May would be able to help us get Mom here?”
 
“I don’t know…” Andi said as she finally got to the school. She had two minutes to spare so she sat down on one of the benches to catch her breath. “I have an idea. We tell Mom about the switch, she’ll be mad and want you to come back here. My idea is, you tell Mom that you don’t want to come back and she’ll probably fly to New York to bring me home and drag you back.”
 
Melissa sighed again. “That might work, but then again she might yell at me until I agree to come back. And if she does come to New York we can’t be certain that she will even talk to Dad. They might fight the entire time…”
 
“It’s worth a shot though…” Andi said. “I don’t think there’s anything else we can do. We have to tell Mom. We can’t just tell Dad that we did because he’s not going to believe us after what we did, he would probably call Mom, or guilt us until we told him that we lied.”
 
Melissa was quiet for a few seconds. “You’re right. Do you want to tell her or should I call her?”
 
“I’ll tell her tonight, then I’ll facetime you so she can see for herself…” Andi said, checking the time on her phone. “I need to go, I’m going to be late"
 
“Okay, see ya”
 
“See ya” She hung up and went inside the school. 
 
Throughout the entire school day, Andi was anxious about what was going to happen after school. She was more anxious than she had ever been in her life. She worried that her mother would be angry with her, or even hate her, for lying to her… She wouldn’t be able to take it if her mother hated her… 
 
When the bell rang at the end of the school day, Andi slowly made her way to Melissa’s locker. For the first time in her life, Andi didn’t want to go home… She was so nervous about telling her mother everything…
 
She had a text from her mother, asking if she wanted a ride home but Andi said that she was fine walking home. She needed time to think about what she was going to say… She took her time on her way back, thinking about how she was going to tell her mother that the kid she’s supposed to have is in Manhattan and the kid she hasn’t seen since she was a baby is standing right in front of her…
 
When she finally got home, her mother was in the kitchen, starting to make dinner. Andi texted Melissa, letting her know that she was about to tell their mother, and then she went into the kitchen. “Hey…”
 
“Hey hun!” Pepper greeted, looking up at Andi. “How was school?”
 
“It was good…” She said, sitting at the island. “Can I talk to you…?”
 
Pepper looked up from what she was chopping, confused and concerned. “Is everything okay?”
 
Andi nodded. “Yeah… I uh…” Andi had no idea what to say. She thought about it the entire time she was at school and while she walked home but she still hadn’t come up with anything. “I have something to tell you…”
 
“What is it?” Her mother asked, setting down the knife she was holding. “Did you do something?”
 
“Kind of…” She took a deep breath. She just had to rip the bandaid off… “I know about Andrea…” She said, using her full name in case her mother didn’t know about her nickname.
 
Pepper’s eyes widened. She opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. “I… How?”
 
Andi sighed. “Because I am Andrea…”
 
Pepper’s eyes widened more and she put her hands over her mouth. “Wh-What…? Y-you’re…” She trailed off, tears starting to run down her face.
 
Andi nodded. “Melissa and I met on her field trip and we came up with a plan to switch so that we could get to know the other parent… We didn’t think you guys would allow us to travel across the country if we told you…”
 
Sitting down on a stool, Pepper didn't take her eyes off of her. Andi wasn't even sure that her mother heard anything she had said. “Andrea…” Pepper got up from her stool and walked around the counter to hug Andi. 
 
Andi didn’t want to cry, she wasn’t an emotional person, but she was having trouble holding back her tears. She wondered if this was how Melissa felt yesterday with their father…
 
“Why didn’t you tell me that you two switched?” Pepper asked, pulling out of the hug. 
 
Andi shrugged. “We thought you’d be mad…”
 
Her mother sat down on the stool next to her, rubbing Andi’s arm affectionately. “I wouldn’t have been mad. I would have been a little upset but not mad. You should have told me before you switched, I would have allowed Melissa to go to New York and I’m sure your father would have allowed you to come here…” She smiled. “How is Melissa doing in New York?”
 
“She’s doing good.” Andi sighed. “What’s going to happen now that you and Dad know we switched?”
 
“I don’t know…” Pepper said, sighing. “I would have to talk to your father about it…” 
 
Andi could tell by the look on her mother’s face that she didn’t want to talk to Tony. Andi wondered if she should tell her mother about the Christine thing… “Do you want to call Liss? I told her that we could facetime her after I told you about the switch so that you two could see each other.”
 
Smiling, Pepper nodded. “By the way, there are going to be consequences for both of you for going across the country without permission, and I’m sure your father would agree."
 
Andi nodded. She knew that there was no getting out of this without getting in trouble, even if they got their parents back together. She pulled out her phone and called Melissa on facetime.
 
She answered almost immediately and smiled. "Hey!"
 
Pepper smiled and started to tear up. She hadn't seen her daughter in so long. "Hey hun. I can't believe you went all the way to New York without my permission"
 
"Well technically I went to New York with your permission, for the field trip, but I stayed in New York without your permission"
 
Pepper playfully rolled her eyes. "Okay fine smart ass, but you're still going to be in trouble when you get home, hopefully in a few days"
 
Melissa glanced over at Andi and they shared a look, both of them silently agreeing that this is when they should tell their mother that Melissa wanted to stay there. Melissa looked back at her mother. "I don't want to go back to Malibu…"
 
Their mother was taken aback. "What? What do you mean you don't want to come back?"
 
"I want to spend more time with Dad. And I've barely gotten to spend any time with Andi…"
 
Pepper sighed. "I know you want to spend time with them, and you guys can fly back and forth now that you're older. But you're coming home. No ifs, ands, or buts about it."
 
Melissa grimaced and Andi could tell that she was having trouble continuing. "Mom… I want to stay here-"
 
"You can go back but I need you to come home so that I can deal with you lying to me for weeks!" Pepper shouted. She might not have been angry before but she was now.
 
Melissa shook her head. "I want to stay! I know I lied to you but I'm seventeen, I should be able to stay with my father!"
 
"Melissa Jane! You are coming home and that is final!"
 
Andi could tell that Melissa was having a lot of trouble keeping her composer. "I'm staying," She said, hanging up. 
 
Pepper got up angrily and crossed her arms. "First she lies to me for weeks and now she thinks she can just tell me she's staying in New York and not have any consequences!"
 
"I mean… You could always go to Manhattan and drag her home…?" Andi suggested nervously.
 
Pepper's demeanor changed. She shifted her body, clenched her jaw and avoided eye contact with Andi. “I would go get her but I can’t. I have work…”
 
“Is that the only reason you don’t want to go to New York?” Andi asked, raising an eyebrow. 
 
Her mother nodded, still avoiding eye contact. “Of course it is, otherwise I would go down there and get my daughter without hesitation. 
 
Sighing, Andi nodded and dropped the topic. Andi helped her mother with dinner and told her about her life. She told her about Peter and even opened up about her confusing feelings for Peter. Pepper had met Peter when he was very young but hadn’t seen him since. Pepper and May had known each other, which Andi knew, ever since college and they stayed close after leaving college. When Peter’s parents died, Pepper was the first person May called after finding out. She was there for May when she was grieving the deaths of her brother-in-law and sister-in-law and May was there for Pepper when she and Tony broke up. Apparently, when Andi and Peter were very young, they had ‘met’ but obviously Peter and Andi didn’t remember that. They also stayed in touch after Pepper moved to California and, again, was the first person May called when Ben died. Pepper wanted to be there to comfort her but she was still emotional after everything that happened with Tony, she didn’t think that she would be able to go back to New York, and May one hundred percent understood. 
 
Pepper gave Andi some advice about her feelings for Peter, now that she had more information than before when Andi first brought it up to her. Andi was afraid that if she really did like Peter more than she should and if she told him then she might ruin their friendship, but Pepper said that from what she’s heard, she’s pretty positive that Peter likes her as well. 
 
After dinner, the two of them watched a movie and then they decided to go to bed. Andi got dressed into PJs and checked her phone, finding a text from Melissa. 
 
‘Is Mom mad at me?’
 
Andi laid down and texted her back. ‘No. She’s a little upset but she’s not mad at you. I tried to convince her to go to New York to get you but she shot it down quickly. I’m going to try more tomorrow, hopefully I can convince her, otherwise we’re SOL. Unless we can get Dad to come up here but I don’t think we can…’
 
‘I’ll talk to Dad more tomorrow. Maybe I’ll pull the same thing on him that we’re pulling on Mom’
 
Andi didn’t think they’d be able to convince their father to come to Malibu… ‘The only way Dad would come here was if me or Mom were hurt. Unless…’
 
‘Unless what?’
 
Andi smirked a little to herself. ‘Unless I get arrested… Dad has full custody over me, he would have to come here to bail me out…’