Predator

Chapter Twenty-Five

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Just as the door gently clicks shut, the light flashes on and I nearly jump out of my skin.

"Rachel Barbra Berry!" booms from an unseen source, my eyes still adjusting to the contrast.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

"Do you have any idea of what time it is?"

Dad is sitting at the table, drumming his fingers rapidly, and Daddy stands leant against the archway beside the light switch. He repeats, "Do you?!"

"Uh...um...no," I stutter. "I went to Quinn's and us and Mercedes were watching a movie. We fell asleep."

Well, that's partially true. I only substituted the location and participants, along with what exactly I was participating in. But there was a movie on at some point.

"Oh, really," Dad says flatly. "And your father and I are just supposed to...take your word for it?"

His demeanor makes my mouth instantly dry. "W-why wouldn't you?" I feign naivety. He purses his lips.

"Well Rachel," he muses, "when you didn't come home from work tonight we decided to call in. Then, for some strange reason, Paula informed us that you actually hadn't been working there for the past month."

There's a deadly silence.

I swallow in an effort to draw moisture from anywhere. "I quit," I say suddenly. "I hated every second in that place and besides, it was getting too hard on me."

Daddy retreats from his position to the table. "The fact of the matter isn't that you quit," he begins slowly, "but that you've been lying to us. Rachel, where have you been all this time?"

"Quinn's," I automatically answer.

"How do you expect us to believe that?" Dad's voice rises. "If you were lying about your job, who's to say you're not lying about your whereabouts every day?"

Hot, frustrating tears begin to rise up. "Because you're supposed to trust me!"

"Trust you?!" he bellows. "Rachel, I don't believe you understand the meaning of that word! It's one thing to get drunk and ultimately become pregnant by a stranger, but to repeatedly lie to us afterward? Especially now? It'd be a goddamn miracle if your father and I had one ounce of trust for you!"

"As far as we know, you're out doing the exact things that got you into this situation in the first place," Daddy pipes in. "Rachel, what happened to you? You were such a responsible, level-headed girl!"

Suddenly, I can't help but wonder why I've spent so much time and effort defending these people to Will. Ever since the day Shelby called, my family matters have been a strained topic of conversation between us. He's told me over and over that my parents don't treat me right, and I've always argued with him. But now I wonder...what was I arguing for? Will is right. And it's like a switch has been flipped inside of me.

"Yeah?" I retort. "You wouldn't know, you're not even around most of the damn time!"

This stops them both in their tracks, and they look at me as if I started speaking in Chinese. "What?"

"I said," I repeat, low and sharp, "You're never even around! If you're really wondering why I'm so different, maybe you should've taken the time to actually interact with me before my life went to shit!"

Daddy gasps. "Rachel! Do you hear how ungrateful you're being? We work to support you! You and this baby you don't even remember conceiving let alone who fathers it!"

"Well I'm sorry for being such an inconvenience," I cry. "I'm so sorry that you have to come home from work every once and awhile and be around your whore of a daughter! I'm sorry for humiliating you in front of this hellhole of a town by having a bastard baby! And I'm sorry for being stupid enough to think you might actually love her, and not care about how expensive she is! Obviously I was wrong!"