Bullied & Abused ✔️

Chapter Thirty-Three

A couple days later, Adam and I got a call from the officer Kian and I spoke to the other night. He said he got in touch with our aunt: Rachel Martin, who was coming up this afternoon to pick us up. He didn't tell us much about her other than her being our mom's twin sister and living in San Diego, which was only a few hours away from here.

Honestly, this was the first time we were hearing of her. Our mom didn't mention having a sister, much less a twin.

What could have happened between them to completely cut each other off? Whatever happened, I hoped it would never happen to me and Adam.

Julia and I pulled into the driveway of my, now, old house and I spotted Adam's car already there. I turned my head over to Julia smiling at her.

"Thanks for driving me." I said as she put her car in park, "And for being me stay at your place." She glanced over at me. Her eyes shifted down to her lap. My smile faded fast, "Look, Julia, I'm sorry I didn't tell you before." She sighed, flickering her eyes up to me.

"I'll always been there for you, Ariel. Long before your mom passed." She replied leaning toward me, "You could have told me about your dad and Kian."

"I know." I nodded, "But I was too scared to."

"I get that." She said, "But I'm your best friend. You shouldn't be scared to tell me anything." She put her hand on my shoulder as my eyes flickered at her.

"I know that now." I replied, shrugging, "I wouldn't ever keep anything from you again." She chuckled, shaking her head at me.

"Ariel, you are the bravest person I've ever met." She spoke, making me smile, "I can't even image how hard it was to tell the cops everything he did to you... and Adam."

"We got through it. Now we have a new began ahead of us." With that, I opened the door and climbed out of Julia's car, "I'll see you at school."

"Hey, do you want me to stay and help you and Adam pack?" Julia offered before I could shut the door.

"WE got it." I replied, "I'll see you." She nodded and I closed the door behind me before heading to the house.

As I opened the front door, I saw moving boxes all over downstairs; some closed shut and others have full. I dropped my keys on the table next to the couch and walked upstairs to find Adam.

Spotting my brother's bedroom door open, I walked down the hall and popped my head in. Adam was standing in the middle of his room, facing me, but his eyes were focused on a letter in his hands.

"Hey!" I hollered, standing in the doorway. Adam flinched, quickly popping his head up at me. He had a nervous look on his face, "What's that?" I asked, pointing to the letter.

"It's- it's nothing." He stuttered. I gave him a considered look and walked over, snatching the letter from his hands, "Hey!" He shouted as I read the letter.

"You got accepted to the New York Film Academy?" I asked, looking up at him with widen eyes. He sighed, then nodded, "Adam that's amazing! Why did you tell me?"

"I- I'm not sure if I even wanna go." He admitted.

"What? That's crazy!" I replied, "Why wouldn't you want to go? You've been talking about getting into this school since you were like... ten." I reminded him. He sighed, then stepped closer to me.

"If I go, Ariel, I would be leaving here in a few weeks. They want me to start in the mid of the semester. You'll be graduating high school without me next year." He explained, "I don't' want to leave you." I laugh, smiling at him as took my head.

"Adam you've always taken care of me," I said, "But now I think it's time you to take care of yourself. I'll be fine. I'm still moving in with our aunt and I have Kian looking out for me." He sighed again, then stared at me with sorrow eyes for a moment.

"Are you sure you're okay with me going?" He asked. I sighed smiling as I walked up to him, "New York is across the country." He reminded me.

"Yes. I know how far New York is." I replied as I put my hand on his shoulder, "And I'm sure." My eyes flickered up to his, "This is a great opportunity, Adam. You have to go." I remined him

"Are you sure?" He asked one more time. I smiled at him and nodded, "Okay." He whispered. His lips peered into a smile, looking down at me. We stared at each other for a long moment.

"I should get back to packing." Adam spoke changing the subject, "You should start packing up your room." I nodded agreeing and headed to my room.

The hours flew by and Adam and I were exhausted by 4PM. We had gotten all our boxes stacked by the front door, ready to go when our aunt got there.

"Finally done." Adam said putting down the last box down next to the other boxes. He sighed in relief looking over at me as I sat down on the stairs. He smiled, walking towards the stairs.

Before he could sit down, the sound of a car door slamming caught our attention. He got back on his feet and strolled her to the window next to the front door, peeking through it. He glanced at me and opened the front door. I stood up and followed him outside.

Walking toward the house, we spotted a woman who looked to be in her late thirties. She was wearing a black sleeve tank shirt and light pink skinny jeans. She had blue eyes and chocolate brown hair shoulder length, with bangs covering her forehead.

She gave us a friendly smile. "It's so nice to finally meet you two." Her voice was soft and kind. Something we haven't heard in a long time, "And I'm so sorry for everything you guys have been through."

"They- they told you everything?" I questioned, referring to the cops who called her.

She nodded. "If I had known sooner, I would have been here in a heartbeat," she said, looking at us with sympathy. "Jason had no right to treat you guys like that. Especially you, Ariel." She turned her attention directly to me, "If Nicole was here, she would have kicked him out the moment he laid a hand on you."

"Thank you, Aunt Rachel." I replied. My lips perked into a smile, "That means a lot to me."

"What happened between you and our mom anyway?" Adam asked, grabbing both our attention. Rachel looked over to my brother, "Why didn't she ever mention you to us?" My eyes shifted up to him.

"Adam, I don't think right now is a good time- "

"It's okay Ariel." Rachel interrupted. I looked back at her as Adam waited for her response. "Short answer is your mom  didn't agree with some of my life choices." She answer simply, "We stopped talking before you two were born and neither one of us reached out after that." Her voice creaked as she finished. Adam  was about to ask another question, but I stopped him. I could tell Nicole was a sensitive topic for her just like she was for me sometimes.

"We're all packed up inside." I spoke shifting the conversation to something a little more exciting. She looked at me grinning, "I guess we're moving to San Diego." I tried to said cheerily. Inside, my heart was breaking.

"No." Adam and I exchanged confused looks before turning our attention to Rachel as she said shrugging, "My wife, Natalie and I just moved to Los Angeles." Our eyes widen staring at her with our mouths dropped open.

What did she just say?

"We- we're staying in LA?"  I questioned. She smiled nodding. "Wait, what?" I gave her a confused look. She laughed at me.

"My wife's job transferred her to Los Angeles a few week ago." Rachel explained, "We had just signed the papers for our house when I got the call about you guys." My lips peered into a smile. My eyes flickered over to Adam, as he looked down at me.

"This doesn't change me going to New York." Adam retorted. Rachel looked over at him, her eyebrows rasied, "It's a long story. I'll explain later." He told her. Rachel laughed nodded.

"Well, let's get these boxes onto the moving truck." She said, then walked  past us toward the house. Adam glanced over at me.

"I think you two are gonna get along just fine." He said glancing at me. I rolled my eyes at him, chuckling. I pushed him toward the house, so we could start loading up the moving truck.