You Don't Understand

Chapter Twenty-Five

Not editied!

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Chapter Twenty-Five

I sat on the cushioned chair, across my parents   a table between us. Caleb stood there, smiling smugly to himself. Asshole. My dad sat on the couch beside my mom. Lips set into a straight, thin line. Eyes staring directly at me. Just staring. It was hard and cold and full of disappointment and disgust. My mother on the other hand was looking from the photos that laid in her hand to me, eyes wide with frantic, as if not believing the whole situation was true.

It must've been eons   or maybe just five minutes   before someone spoke.

"Explain this," my father grunted, throwing the pictures toward me. 

They laid sprawled out on the ground, toward my chair. I picked up one of them and my stomach sunk to its pit. Exactly what I expected. I scrambled them all up, all pictures of Niall and I kissing, hugging, holding hands, on dates, chilling, anything you can imagine.

Is it okay to feel violated? 'Cause Caleb must've been one heck of a stalker to take all these pictures. A shiver passed down my spine as I spared Caleb a short, horrifying gaze.

"Uhh . . ."

Pop goes the weasel. More like 'Pop goes my dad's temper'. "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS? AND WHO THE F**K IS THAT BOY," he raged.

My mouth hung open in shock. I knew my dad knows swear words, but it wasn't often when he actually used them, especially to me. Just as my body got over the shock, my mouth tried to rack around for a reply.

Just as I was going to let one go, my mother added quietly, yet loud enough to hear the venom in her tone, "Don't you even dare to lie to us."

Okay, screw that.

"It's exactly what it looks like." Apparently that wasn't enough, because they all stared at me to extend and slap the truth in their faces. If that's what they want. "I never had the intention to have a boyfriend. We all knew that. However, a few months after settling in I met Niall, whom you guys would recognize as the boy in the photographs. When I first met him I was oblivious, hated him to be honest and I told him that. But, he kept appearing again and again in my life, no amount of rejection made him disappear, so I gave him a chance. And it just happened."

I could feel the smile on my face as I talked about him. Also the sadness in my voice was evident was there too. Though it was wiped off my face as I saw my father's hatred expression, "What is this him being a part of a . . . band?!"

"Oh, well, I see you've been spared a few details," I said, glaring at Caleb's smug face. "He's a member of a five piece boy band. He's the only Irish boy, the rest are British. I don't know what else you want me to say."

"How about why you didn't tell us? Why you would even think about dating someone like him?"

Fury erupted in me, I've had enough. "Because I knew what you would say. You would make me break up with him. Never look at me the same way again. All the hopes of me being anything like Avery vanish-"

"This has nothing to do with Avery," my dad intruded.

"Oh hell, it has everything to do with her. Are you really going to tell me that she wasn't your favourite child? That I wasn't the screw up daughter you guys were hoping to make right? I can just imagine you guys thinking, 'Avery would never do something like this to us. She would never disgrace us'," I said mocking a different tone than my own. "I can imagine you wondering where I went wrong. I can imagine that you were expecting this from me and only time could tell when."