𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐀 𝐂𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐓 (ANGEL)
Older. Scary. Silent.
Damon Lars was always lurking in the shadows, a sinister presence that scared me. It would be oblivious for me not to notice him even in the darkest areas. He was there. Maybe invisible to ot...
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MARCELLA CRIST
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It was my brother Jaxon's eighteenth birthday, and as usual, my mom had thrown one of her grand dinner parties. The table was filled with people who were practically family, and some I could barely stand. It was the same crowd every year—Avery's unbearable parents, her smug sister Avalina, Stella's absent dad, Grayson's lovely parents, Damon's awful father and his sweet mother, Liliana's kind parents, and Alessio's mysterious family, who none of us knew much about. But for the most part, it was tradition—eat dinner, no singing happy birthday because Jaxon was "too old" for that, then cut the cake and unwrap the gifts later.
The air at the dinner table was unusually tense, the kind of quiet that made your skin crawl. Then Avalina, always looking to stir up trouble, piped up with a smirk. "You should've invited your boyfriend, Avery. I heard you're dating that nineteen-year-old?"
The room fell into an immediate hush. Avery's face paled, and she dropped her gaze to the table, her lips thinning into a tight line. Her father turned to her, his expression darkening.
"What boyfriend?" I asked, the shock tightening my voice. Stella hissed, glaring at Avalina, clearly as furious as I was.
Liliana smiled gently, almost too supportive. "Congrats, Avery."
But Jaxon was having none of it. His face twisted into a scowl, his fork clinking loudly against the plate. "What do you mean, congrats? What boyfriend is she talking about? If it's that Astor guy..."
As if on cue, Alessio stood up abruptly, excusing himself from the table. The other parents exchanged glances, the tension spreading like wildfire.
My mom tried to ease the awkwardness, ever the one to smooth things over. "Honey, why didn't we know about this?" she asked Avery, her voice tight with concern. My mom was always extra protective of Avery, and her being kept in the dark wasn't sitting well with her.
But Avery's stepmom, who had a talent for making everything worse, chimed in with her own brand of disdain. "She's not your daughter, Mrs. Crist. Why do you care? It's not like it's your problem. Honestly, it's just another crisis." The scrape of her fork on the plate was grating.
My father, never one to tolerate nonsense, spoke up, his voice calm but firm. "My wife can care about whomever she wants. And we do care about Avery, especially when no one else did. Do you not remember who looked after her when you and your husband were jet-setting across the world?"
True. My parents practically raised her and Stella.
The table went dead silent. Even Damon's creepy father, who rarely said much, decided to back my dad. "Sí, Mrs. Raven, no need to make a scene. We're just looking out for our little Avery," he added, his voice oily and unsettling. Damon's Dad is a creep.
