The Rebel (#Wattys2016)

21. You Got What You Wanted

Skander knew where Adeen would be. The library was quiet when he made it in, until he heard a sob. He relaxed and ran to the center, where he found Adeen curled up in a ball. He sat down beside her and threw his right arm around her. Adeen uncurled and buried her face on his chest. Her hands clutched the fabric of his jacket.

"He'll be judged. For whatever he did. He'll be punished. I promise."

Adeen nodded and calmed down slightly. Finally she spoke.

"My mother's Alzheimer's was the reason Dax kicked my dad out. When he found out about her... He went crazy. He was convinced there was a treatment, something he could do, and he was convinced the only way we'd pay for it was if he won some gambles. But he never did. He gambled our savings away. Every single dime. And when he did win something, he said it was only good for alcohol." She looked up at the ceiling away. "You asked me why I hadn't gotten drunk during the ball. When he was home..." Adeen sat up. She convinced herself she had to tell someone. "He was a disgusting son of a bitch. When I scolded him for buying alcohol, he made me drink some of it. Get drunk.

"I don't remember much of my first teenage years. Sometimes, a memory comes back. Liz crying with my mom, Dax working his butt off in the farms, my father drunk, and me lying down beside him. Holding a bottle, crying because it was so wrong. And my father telling me it was all right, it was natural. That I got him, that I understood. And then giving me some more alcohol. Sometimes I woke up in a different place, sometimes I woke up to my dad giving me more alcohol." Adeen took in a shaky breath. "Sometimes I hated waking up. I hated getting up and trying. I hated living. I wanted to just die."

Skander was silent.

"Sometimes I still do." She looked up to Skander, who stared at her. "Is that wrong? Wanting to leave it all behind and just rest? Even if it means leaving Liz?"

Skander shook his head.

"You're eighteen, Adeen. And you've gone through far more than any person should go through in their entire life. It's okay to want to run away."

Adeen nodded and buried her head on his neck.

"Adeen?"

"Yes?"

"I think I like this. Because we're both so fucked up and broken, that when we're together, we make a full person. And I think I like that person."

"I think I like this, too."

~

Liz and Adeen's mother stayed in the room besides Adeen's, but later that night, Liz went to Adeen's room and lied beside Adeen. Exhausted after her father, Skander and crying, Adeen sunk into her sister's warmth. She inhaled her familiar smell and exhaled, relieved. Tomorrow, she thought, will be better.

In a way, it was. Liz was as happy as she'd ever been. She had tried on the dresses Maggie and the rest had done for her, and they all fitted her. Liz looked beautiful. She was twirling, chatting excitedly to Maggie about the newest dress, a pink one, when somebody knocked on Adeen's door. Valerie made a move to open it but Adeen stood up from her bed and did so herself.

Skander looked at her, smiling. Adeen heard Liz gasp and Skander looked to her. He grinned and turned to Adeen, who nodded. Skander went in the room and kneeled down, shaking Liz's hand. She smiled and hugged him, remembering the time she'd met him. Skander smiled and hugged her back. Then he stood up and turned to Adeen's mother, who sat on a chair, looking at him.

"I'm Skander." He said and shook her hand, unsure as to what to call her.

"Nice to meet you, Skander. I'm Clarisse." Her eyes traveled from Skander to Adeen, then back. "Are you Adeen's boyfriend?"