GAME OVER ━━ Lip Gallagher

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

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Game Over
chapter twenty four

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"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!" The cold winter air stiffened with tension. Like lighting a match doused in gasoline, a flame began to scorch those in its vicinity. Phoebe's eyes widened as her mother charged forward with fury's fire blazing within her eyes. Her hair whipped around against the wind, her heels clicking against the sidewalk. She barreled through the family waiting for their brothers with no remorse and stomped right up to stand before her fearful daughter. She towered over Phoebe in her heels, face contorted into a furious expression, lip curled and brows pinched. "Stealing a car!?" she shouted into the air. Millie grabbed her daughter's coat collar in tight fists and gave her a single, firm shake.

"Mom– I didn't–" Complete shock fueled her features. Her mother never lost her cool in front of people. She was always so composed, even when she was a little out of it. Phoebe's lip quivered as her mother jerked her forward. Their eyes were met in an intense stare, one that could melt pure metal with its heated hatred. "I don't want to hear it!" Millie hissed. Her jaw became tense as she stared back into Phoebe's eyes. It was one of the only times she's ever done that. Her fingers curled tighter into the fabric. It was a surprise her fingernails didn't rip into it. Letting go, she shoved Phoebe back a few steps and ran her fingers through her tangled locks. She seemed to have became calm, but there was always calm before a storm.

          "This is your fault!" She turned toward Lip, pointing an accusatory finger his way. He stood there, still like a statue, unable to respond. "Ever since she started hanging out with you and your family of miscreants, she's done nothing but get herself in trouble." Phoebe quickly grabbed her mother's wrist. "N–No! Mom, this isn't his fault. Stop," she begged. "Before you do something you regret. Please." Millie Lim was an enigma. She was fire and ice, burning into your skin with acid. She could fill your lungs with anxiety, scarring the insides of your body with just a flick of her tongue and a single word. She could make you succumb to the cold, forcing it through your veins and filling you with dread. She was the epitome of pain, emotionally and psychologically. She didn't stoop to physical pain as it was mere child's play. No, she wanted to hurt you where it stayed forever, in the back of your mind like a haunting whisper.

          "All you are is trouble! If you keep hanging out with this... this heathen, you're going to lose everything." She jerked her hand away from her daughter with a snarl. "You're going to turn to the streets, selling yourself for enough money to buy a fucking cheeseburger. And no man will ever respect you." Phoebe should have expected something nasty from her mother. She should have expected that the tables would turn to her and her supposed naivety. "Just wait until your father gets home," she hissed. "Start walking. We're going home." Phoebe's eyes had unknowingly began to swim with tears as sharp as knives. They bled along her cheeks agonizingly slow, leaving a trail of red in its wake. Before she could move, though, she felt a hand grab hers. She turned to face Ian in surprise, eyes wide and pelting warm droplets of pain and torture.

His lips were pressed into a thin line. His eyes peered into hers. Gently, he squeezed her hand in reassurance. "You don't have to go," he told her in a soft voice. Fiona felt her jaw drop as she moved toward the two. "You can stay with us. You don't have to go." Phoebe felt her chest tighten as she looked back to where her mother was still walking away. She hadn't even stopped to see if she was following her. Her arms swung by her sides as her fists clenched tighter. She knew that there was no way she could just up and disappear, not this time. She was already in trouble, more trouble than she had ever been in before, and if she ran.. it wouldn't end well. She could end up in another holding cell or in the back of another police car.