SOS: Ship of Secrets✔️

9- Lilly

I finally found Josie sitting in a lounge chair near the pool. She wiped a tear when she saw me.

"Are you okay?"

"It's nothing I haven't heard before."

I slid a chair next to her and grabbed her hand.

"That doesn't make it right."

"I remember the first fight Joey and I had. It was 6 months after I started living with Jennifer. I was dating a guy he didn't like and he scared him off. I started yelling at Joey and I told him to stay out of my life. Joey told me that he was just trying to be my brother and I yelled at him that he wasn't my brother and that he was just a roommate. After that, Joey started treating me as if I wasn't a person. He treated me as if my life didn't have any value at all. Despite this, Jennifer kept trying to push us together and every time Joey took a shot at me, she had my back.", She paused and smiled at the memory.

"Eventually, she adopted me and I remember feeling so relieved because I was almost too old to find a good home. Me being adopted changed nothing with Joey. It's like he made it his mission to make my life miserable. Every day, he made some smart remark and would just make me feel so disposable. He may have legally been my brother, but I couldn't see him that way. You don't treat people that way. Something happened and Joey turned Jennifer against me. She just believed his lies. She never even asked me my side of the story, so I stopped trying. I eventually left that house, changed cities ,and changed my last name back to Parks."

"I'm so sorry. Josie, you don't need them. You have me. I'm your home."

She smiled at me before replying, "And I'm yours."

We sat in silence and relaxed by the pool.

Soon, we heard a ringing sound. One ring meant it was time to eat.

I grabbed Josie's hand and we headed for the dining room.

We walked into the dining room and saw that there were name cards at each seat.

I was seated between Josie and Joey. Whoever is toying with us has a wicked sense of humor.

"Where's the food?", Jesse asked.

All of our phones vibrated.

Good Question!! We're going to play a game. Answer your question and then everyone eats. If you refuse, no one gets food for a week.

Seriously?

Josie's phone vibrated.

"Why did you leave your family?", she read aloud.

"I was once told that I was no longer welcome and that I deserved nothing more than death."

We all looked at Joey.

"What the hell is the matter with you?", Neal said in disgust.

"I was angry.", Joey said before his phone vibrated.

"Why are you so angry at everyone?", he read.

"Everyone left. I was alone after what happened."

What does that even mean?

"Oh, boo fucking hoo. You pushed everyone away. I make no apologies for getting out of a bad situation. We all had to go.", Rocco stated.

Joey looked at him with rage in his eyes.

Rocco's phone vibrated.

He stared at the text. His eyes were wide. It looked like he was holding his breath.

"Spit it out.", Jesse ordered.

"How did it feel...", he drifted off.

He looked at Josie.

"I'm so sorry.", he says while looking at her with worried eyes.

Josie cocked her head to the side.

"How did it feel when you took Josie's virginity?"

Everyone looked from Rocco to Josie, who was trying to keep a straight face.

"You son of a bitch! She's Josie! How could you take advantage like that?", Neal said angrily.

Joey's face was red and his fists were clenched.

Josie looked at Neal.

"It wasn't like that. I promise. It only happened one time. We didn't even mean for it to happen. It was months before I left. Rocco didn't take advantage of me. I was upset and I just needed a break from my own head and he was right there. I swear it didn't mean anything.", Josie explained.

Joey looked at Rocco.

"She had just turned 18 when she left. She had to be 17 when you..had sex with her and you were what..21!", Joey said. I could see him getting more and more angrier as he spoke.

For someone who constantly puts Josie down, he seems really angry about this.

"Why are you so upset? I don't need you now. I don't need you to be the brother that you neglected to be when I needed you to. I'm fine. I'm over it. Rocco did nothing wrong."

Joey looked at his hands.

"I was 20. I know that doesn't make it better. I should've known better. Josie, I'm so sorry. I needed...", Rocco drifted off.

We sat in silence for a minute.

"Rocco, I think they want you to answer the question.", Jennifer finally spoke. It was quiet and she didn't look at him.

Rocco turned to Josie.

She looked away.

"It was..I..I loved it...", he mumbled.

Josie began squirming under the gazes of everyone at the table, so I grabbed her hand.  She looked at me and I gave her a reassuring smile.

We were definitely gonna talk about this.

Jesse's phone vibrated.

He laughed before reading the question.

"Did you sleep with Nina? No, I did not."

Neal and Rocco burst into laughter.

Joey rolled his eyes.

"I apologized for accusing you.", he said.

All of our phones vibrated.

Game Over.

We all looked at each other.

"Does this mean we can finally eat?", Jesse said.

Suddenly, the staff that greeted us before, brought in small plates of grilled pork chops and roasted red potatoes. They poured us glasses of lemonade.

The boys seemed to nearly devour the meal in a matter of minutes. I was halfway finished with mine when I noticed Josie was picking at her pork chop.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm not really hungry." she replied, not stopping to look at me.

She placed her fork down and walked out of the dining room.

There was a heavy sigh at the table and we all looked in the direction it came from. It was Jennifer.

"Rocco, how could you?"

"Mama J, I am so sorry. She came to me and I just wanted to make everything better for her. We didn't plan it. I swear."

Jennifer looked hurt and I don't blame her.

We were silent for the rest of the meal then everyone went there separate ways.

I went to find Josie.

I went to her room and found her in her bed. She was staring at the wall beside her.

"What's wrong?"

"I just can't believe everyone knows."

"Josie, it's fine. It was a one-time thing. It's nothing to be embarrassed about."

She closed her eyes and looked at me.

"It wasn't a one-time thing and it wasn't just sex."

I cocked my head to the side.

"I was in love with him."