Lily's Summer of Precarious Happenings

Chapter Seven

"Bella Beaumont?" 

Kennedy looked at me incredulously.  

"I know," I sighed, bouncing on the balls of my feet, "It's the stage name my father helped her come up with.  Ridiculous, but it works."

"It probably helps that she's hot," Wesley said, right before getting smacked by the fiery girl in the seat next to him.  He groaned and rubbed his bicep, "Hey, you know I'm sensitive."

Colin motioned furiously from his seat in the back of the room, "Can you just tell the story, please?  You're seriously dragging this out."  I rolled my eyes, squeezing my hands together a little harder.  He was right, although I'd never say that out loud.  I was procrastinating having to divulge my family's horribly hidden secret.

Kennedy turned around in her plush leather seat, "Can you, like, not be a douche bag for five seconds?"  She threw her hand out and pointed towards me, "This is clearly not an easy thing for her to talk about."

I grinned at my new-found friend.  She was already closer and more loyal than any friend I'd ever had.  That was probably mostly due to my rollercoaster of a childhood and my lack of social skills.

She gave me an encouraging smile, while the boys stared at me, imploring me to continue.  I supposed this was the closest I'd ever gotten to a group of friends, so if there was anyone I'd want to share this with, it would be the people in that room.

"Well, remember how I said my father's original and largest gym was in Texas?"  They all nodded, mesmerized.  "Although we would relocate our family home every time he planted a new gym, he would always travel back to that one.  He called it his headquarters.  His pride and joy."

I let out a deep breath.  "He discovered Bella Beaumont.  At the time, she was Chloe Vanderbilt.  Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue in the same way."  

Kennedy rolled her eyes, "They're both snooty names.  Sorry.  Keep going."

"She had a natural talent.  She made that gym what it is now- insanely famous and successful.  Any fighter who wanted to make it big traveled to that gym in the off chance they could be trained by my father."  My hands were beginning to go a bit numb, so I ran them through my hair.  "The world of mixed martial arts credited Bella's success to my father, Shamos."

"God forbid a woman can be successful on her own," I heard Kennedy mutter.

"I know how much you enjoy the sound of your own voice, but can you please let her finish?"  Colin groaned from the back of the room.  Kennedy shot him a death glare, before sliding back into her seat and remaining silent.

"Anyway.  My father always told my mother that eventually, we would settle down in a small town and finally be a normal family.  My mom was sick of the spotlight, and my father always traveling.  The first years of their marriage were spent on the road during his career as a fighter, and I guess she always assumed that would end when he retired."

"Things were getting bad at home.  They had a huge fight late one night, and my father left for Texas again."  I sucked in a breath.  "He said he was never coming back.  He was addicted to it.  The success, the life he got to have.  He loved it more than his family.  I think the only reason he launched those gyms was because he never really wanted to retire."

Three sets of eyes bored into my skin.  I had to rip off the band-aid.  "A few weeks later, the tabloids come out.  He moved in with Bella Beaumont.  For years,  he had been far more than just her trainer and her mentor."

Kennedy's jaw dropped open.  Wesley gave me a sympathetic look, and Colin continued to stare, as though he already knew what I had been so scared to reveal.