The Road Ahead (A Hunter Hayes Fanfiction, Book 4 of The Hardships Saga)

Chapter Eighteen

❝realise (pronounced ˈrɪəlʌɪz or ree-uh-lahyz), verb
become fully aware of (something) as a fact; understand clearly.❞

"And that's class over, everyone."

Elle sighed, pushing her blue hair back. She didn't like dancing anymore. It felt like a chore, not something she actually wanted to do, and she hated that. The only thing she ever cared about was taken from her, and she felt dead inside.

"Elle, come here for a moment?" said Lucky, turning away to do something with her class attendance roll. The other girls began talking rapidly in Hindi.

Elle had been taking Bharatha Natyam classes with Lucky and the other girls she taught at her academy of dance. There was practice every Friday night, and she'd been in the same class since she had been twelve.

"What's up, Aunt Lucky?"

Lucky didn't look up for a bit, and said, "Wait 'til everyone's gone. I want to talk to you."

"About what?"

"You'll find out."

Elle nodded, slightly concerned, and sat down, waiting for all the girls to eventually get picked up by their mothers. Lucky glanced at her. "Jasper told me that you're seeing a-"

She groaned. "It's literally just Chad. He's not that bad."

"I think you're lying to me, Elle."

"What makes you say that?"

"I've known you since the week after you were born. I've watched you grow. I've watched you go through everything, and I've watched your father do the same."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"You love Drew. Don't you?"

"So what if I do? That's the easy choice. The good choice. I don't care about making that choice anymore because it means nothing to me. It's just... easy."

"You're sacrificing your happiness to get back at your father?"

"He's not my father."

"He damn well is, and you'd better treat him as such, Elle," said Lucky sharply. This sudden lecture stung. Lucky was always so kind to her that to suddenly have her totally against her hurt.

"He kept me around for his own selfish needs. It's borderline creepy."

"He raised you as his own, and loves you as his own. The fact that he didn't immediately put you up for adoption or ditch you on the side of the road tells us that."

"Like I give a damn."

"Yeah? Well, maybe you should. He believed you owned that weed because he didn't know what to believe. You know he doesn't believe that now. Live and let live, Elle, have you ever heard that saying?"

"What if I don't care?!" she yelled suddenly. "What if I'm sick of knowing that he doesn't think about me the way he thinks of Spence and Robbie?! What if I'm suffering, too?! It's always about him, it's always about them. 'Your poor mother! Your poor father! The poor woman who died giving birth to twins!' What about me?! What about the one who was taken from her family because some damn nurse decided that I didn't matter, so long as Hunter freaking Hayes was happy?! What about my family?! They're loving and caring for a daughter that isn't me! They don't even know! So, fine. I see how it is. You care about Hunter more than you care about me, too. That's fine. Everyone does."

"Elle Lilliana-"

"That isn't my name. Don't expect me to come to next week's class." She picked up her bag, slinging it over her shoulder. "I don't need this kind of shit, especially not from you. Oh, and tell Jasper to mind his own f*cking business."