pull me back | a drag me down spin off

【twenty three】

"Are you okay?" My cousin asks when I pull up alongside his West Hollywood beach house.

I glance at him in the passenger seat and sigh. Jesse is my cousin. The thought still sends me into a state of shock. I've surfed with him, partied with him, sat with him at lacrosse games, and all this time we were secretly family.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I gulp and shift my eyes down.

"It's okay not to be." Cameron softly says from the backseat.

"I just can't believe that my parents kept Ethan a secret from me." I say out loud, looking back at Jesse.

"It's really overwhelming." He nods in agreement.

"I know they're hiding more information." I shake my head in disbelief.

"Just take it one day at a time." Cameron rubs his lips together.

"Listen, Grace, I think you should stay at Cameron's tonight." Jesse speaks up, causing me to furrow my eyebrows.

"Why? Can't I stay here?" I ask.

"I just think it's better to be with him." It's almost like he's trying to tell me something without telling me anything at all. The tone in his voice is making me confused.

"Are you sure?" I can't help but ask again.

"Yeah." Jesse turns to look at Cameron behind him. "Is that okay with you?"

"Of course it is." He nods.

"We'll be in touch, okay?" Jesse pulls on the door handle.

"Okay." I nervously gulp at his strange behavior.

He sends me one more grin before grabbing his surfboard from the trunk and disappearing into his house. Cameron takes this time to hop into the passenger seat.

I pull away from the curb and make my way over to Cameron's house. We're both pretty quiet for the most part. I think my thoughts are all jumbled and I'm definitely more confused now than I ever was.

The low sound of the radio is the only noise consuming my honda. I want to make small talk with him, but he keeps shifting his eyes out the window.

My phone begins ringing, and the sound turns my stomach. Cameron grabs the device from my cupholder. "It's your dad."

"Don't answer it." I clench my jaw.

"You know they're probably going to show up at my house, right? They'll start calling me next." He groans.

"Just ignore it, I don't want to speak to him right now." I exhale a short breath and grip onto the steering wheel.

He obeys and declines the call. His eyes continue to stare at my screen. "Your mom keeps texting you, she sent you ten messages."

"Shut my phone off." I practically beg him.

"Okay." He does as I say and powers it off.

"I need time away from them." I gulp.

"Well, you can stay at my house as long as you need. I know it's only a block away from your parents, but at least it's a little escape." He nods his head.

"And that's what I need, an escape. I can't even look at my family right now." I feel sick just thinking about them.

They got caught in one of the biggest lies I have ever uncovered, yet they still refuse to let me in on any of the important aspects of their past. I know Dad is still hiding information about where he was when I was born. I will never let that dwelling question slide past my thoughts. I will fight until the end to get those answers.