Tainted

Chapter 14: The Family Meeting

Hello everyone! I know it's been a while sorry for the wait! Thank you Leigh for editing, you always are amazing. Gabriel stole this chapter. I had planned for another point of view, but Gabriel had a lot he needed to talk about. Hopefully you enjoy.

                  

Gabriel's POV

I quietly stare at Sang, contemplating what I should do with the secret that her mother is her father's cousin. Her mother was only 15 at the time, and a year later, she was pregnant with Sang. I keep twisting one of my earrings as I bite the inside of my cheek and concentrate on finding the right course of action.  I either tell Sang first, or I tell Mr. Blackbourne first so he can help me console Sang; I refuse to let her blame herself for what her father has done.  I've managed to keep Marie from saying anything to Sang about it, but I know I should confess what I've learned soon.

"Gabriel, come over here and paint sweets on the anonymous advice box." Luke says loudly right next to my ear.

"Fuck Luke! Don't yell in my ear!" I smack the side of his head.

"Language!" Kota exclaims reminding me we are still at school.

"Whatever," I mutter under my breath.

Of course, Kota only gets on my cussing and totally ignores the fact that Luke yelled in my ear. Luke grins and sends a wink over his shoulder to Sang. I roll my eyes at Luke's antics and take the box from Sang. A glance at the selection of paintbrushes makes me blow air out between my lips; there are only a few to select from. The smallest brush isn't that small, and the biggest brush is too big to do anything but paint the background color of the box. The paints are very basic, so I'll have to spend a fair amount of time mixing them until I get the colors I want. I should try to keep it simple so I don't have to mix too many colors.

I mix a few colors to get a rustic green color and paint the entire box with the largest brush. I furrow my eyebrows when I see how the color turned out. It wasn't exactly what I was going for. The green was still a bit too bright. Maybe I should add darker shadows to make up for it. I mix in a dark grey and begin to add dimension to the box. Then to finish it off, I work on painting simple sweets: peppermints, chocolate kisses, lollipops, and some salt water taffies. The candies are bright in comparison to the background.

Sang gasps once she notices I've finished. "Wow, it is beautiful Gabriel!"

"Actually..." I start to reply.

"Hey!" I say in frustration as a chocolate bar hits me in the face.

I glare at Luke and decide as punishment I will eat his candy. I'm not going to throw it back in anger and give him the satisfaction of eating it. One look at his sad face and I know he had expected me to throw it back at him in revenge.

"Sang is right, you know. You did an amazing job and painting really does help you relax," Luke chides. 

"You could have at least let me explain myself before hitting me in the face with chocolate." I huff in annoyance.

"Nah, it was pretty obvious you were going to dismiss your own work," Nathan defends Luke with a teasing smile at me.

"You guys are feeding the unhealthy teenagers' eating habits though. Shouldn't you have at least drawn some fruit?" North asks.

I grin. "That is a good idea, North. I'll add a chocolate covered strawberry just for you."

"That's not what I meant." North's jaw twitches.

Before I can get started on the strawberry, my cell alerts me to a new message. I dig my hand into my pocket just as everyone else's cellphones start to ding. Mr. Blackbourne sent us a message, so I quickly read it. I frown knowing this is the perfect opportunity to talk to Mr. Blackbourne about Sang's family. The trouble is that I don't know if I should or shouldn't.