Chapter Twenty One- Fallback Or Fall Apart
Once when I was six, mom and dad took me to the beach. It wasn't uncommon considering we lived in one of the many beach houses found in Clear Bay. But this one time stuck out the most.
It was the first time I ever felt different.
I was running around with Brie, when we got really close to the shore. It was high tide and mom had warned me to stay close because my swimming skills weren't exactly perfect by then. I didn't listen though, I thought I was a perfect swimmer.
Hell, I thought I was a fucking mermaid!
Brie ran off to look for seashells closer to the adults. I thought it was smarter to look by the water. I finally found a shiny pearl colored one. As I was digging it out, a huge tide came in.
Instead of swimming back, my body went into panic mode. I instantly forgot everything dad taught me about swimming.
Thankfully a life guard came in and saved me. Everyone ran towards the poor guy and ambushed him. He explained what he saw and handed me over to my parents.
Except not really- he handed me to Aunt Chrissie and her husband. Mom got really mad and said I was hers.
The lifeguard apologized and explained I looked too much like aunt Chrissie. Since then, I couldn't help but compare myself to my parents.
They were blonde. I was brunette. Mom had grey eyes and dad had blue. I was odd and had green eyes. Mom had curly hair, dad had straight, then there was me, with my wavy hair.
Mom and dad could tan easily. I wasn't so fortunate. I was always a pale color.
After a couple months of racking my brain, I finally told them. It was October and it was bedtime. Mom and dad kissed me goodnight, but I needed to know. "Mommy, Daddy?" I called them. They both came to my side in no time.
"What is it sweetie?" Dad asked.
"How come I don't look like you and mommy?" I asked curiously.
I tried to ignore their panicked glances at each other. The way mom's grey eyes watered slightly with fear. Dad however seemed more put together, as if he knew this question would come sooner or later.
"You get your looks from mommy's side of the family." he said, "Your great grandmother had this nose-" he said softly poking my nose, "and those beautiful green eyes, and your soft brown hair."
Mom cleared her throat and gently stroked my cheek, "You are ours Ally. No matter what anyone says, you belong to daddy and I. Now enough of this and go to bed, you have school in the morning." she whispered kissing my cheeks as dad kissed my other.
Fast forward twelve years, and here I was crying on Masons shoulder. He held me tightly, rubbing my back gently and whispering in my ear.
"It's okay princess. They still love you, they still love you." he repeated over and over again.
Finally, I angrily pushed him away. "You don't lie to someone you love!" I yelled angrily.
He looked hurt and tried to keep me quiet. "Shh, your parents are going to hear you." he tried to warn me.
I scoffed loudly and got up. I stormed out of my room and down stairs. I was sure Mason would leave, but much to my surprise, he was hot on my heals.
"Ally you need to calm down. You're too mad, just calm down before you talk to them!" he growled in frustration.
I quickly stopped on the stairs and glared at him. "Fuck off Reynolds! You knew this whole time and never once told me!" I spat angrily.
"It wasn't my secret to tell!" he shot back before he sighed and gently held my hands. "I didn't want you to get hurt."
I looked into his foreign grey eyes. They held so much fear, remorse, and...love. I quickly tore my gaze away. "I'm hurt....that was inevitable." I whispered before turning away and storming into the kitchen where my parents....or Carol and Derek were.
They both smiled at me, then they saw Mason and began glaring at him. My dad stepped up, his whole body in a tense stance.
"What the hell is he doing here young lady? I thought we made it clear we didn't want you to see him anymore!" Dad growled out angrily.
"He's the least of your worries Derek." I said eerily calmed. My voice laced with anger and hurt.
Mom and dad shot me a look. "Don't call your father by his first name young lady!" mom glared at me, "Mason you need to go home before I call the mayor." she warned him.
"He's staying." I said defiantly, "Derek, Carol, who the hell is Raven Porter." I demanded rather than asked.
"Mom." Carol whispered, "My name is mom. " she repeated hurt.
I didn't need them to answer my question. Whether they told me the truth or not, it would never mask the hurt and betrayal. "When were you planning on telling me?" I choked out my voice thick.
I was met by silence. Dad's angry demeanor replaced with one of defeat. Mom looked like she just saw a ghost and stared at the tile floor, lost in thought.
Then it hit me, "You never planned on telling me,did you?"
They both averted their gazes, I grabbed the first thing in my reach. A glass plate and I threw it at the wall. "DID YOU!" I shouted angrily.
They both flinched as mom let out a strangled sob. "You're our daughter Allyson. Of course we weren't going to tell you." Dad spoke up.
I couldn't stop it. I broke down and sobbed on the ground. My whole life was a sham, a big lie. My own parents weren't my parents. They were liars, who never thought it was necessary to tell me I had real parents out there!
I felt dad try to hug me, but I pushed him away, "Don't touch me, I don't even know who you are!" I yelled at him angrily, tears running down my face.
I stood up a little uneasily and ran upstairs. Derek and Carol didn't dare follow me, Mason however was dumb enough and he followed me. I ignored him as he stood by my door and watched me.
I grabbed a duffle bag I used for camp once and started stuffing clothes. I grabbed my phone, laptop and all my chargers and threw them in there. Finally I gripped the yellow envelope and took it too.
"What? Are you just going to runaway?" Mason asked incredulously.
"It's not running away if it was never home." I said surprising myself when I said it void of any emotion.
I grabbed my car keys and started downstairs. "Where are we going?" Mason asked. I rolled my eyes and ran out the door.
I couldn't stay any longer. The people who I thought were my parents were in the kitchen still, trying to comprehend what just happened. I climbed in my car and would have peeled out if Mason wouldn't have climbed in too.
"Get out." I demanded.
He shook his head and kept his gaze straight ahead. "No. Wherever you're going, I'm going too."
I sighed and rested my head on the steering wheel. I had no idea where I would go. I grabbed my phone and dialed Brie. She picked up on the sixth ring.
"Get everyone and meet me at the aquarium in fifteen minutes." I said my voice hard.
"Ally cat, what's wrong?" she asked worried. I inwardly sighed.
"I'll explain when everyone's there." I told her before I hung up. I grabbed my wallet from the middle console and counted my cash.
It was close to five hundred, plus the extra seven thousand in my savings. It would have to do. I thought wearily.
Without a second word, I ripped out of my driveway and into the night. Mason looked at me worried, but gratefully didn't say anything.
***
Mason and I didn't wait long before everyone showed up. Nate and Collins showed up- they were both dressed in footie pajamas, my best guess was that it was movie night.
Gaby and Brett showed up hand in hand, a confused face etched on them. Then lastly, a nicely dressed Brie and Laine. I mentally face-palmed when I remembered their big fancy date.
I totally forgot everyone had a life and were with their significant other. I wanted to tell them it was a false alarm, to go back to their dates or whatever and ignore their crazy friend, but Masons voice stopped me.
"Are you going to tell them what happened, and why we're all here?" he soft voice carried through the empty hallway in the penguin wing of the aquarium.
"Ally cat, tell us what happened." Nate's asked concerned.
"Yeah we're all a little freaked out." Brett chimed in.
"We haven't had an emergency meeting in two years." Brie put in.
Collins snapped her fingers, "Oh yeah when Brett had that really bad addiction-"
"Dear God, someone please stop her!" Brett cried out.
Laine chuckled, "What, you had an addiction?" he raised his eyebrow.
"It wasn't an addiction per say." Brett clarified.
"Dude we couldn't pry you away from beef jerky, even if we begged. Then Gabs threatened to break up with you when you gained fifteen pounds." Nate snorted.
"You had a beef jerky addiction?" Laine laughed.
"It was a dark period in our relationship." Gaby said darkly.
"Well this must be serious, if Ally called an emergency meeting. It's been ages since we last had one." Brie commented.
They all paused and looked at me curiously. I sighed and pushed through my fear, these were my best friends....they'd be here for me. Right?
I closed my eyes and yelled out, "I'm adopted!"
I kept my eyes closed as I heard a collective gasp. Then I felt the breath in me knocked out. I opened my eyes and found everyone but Mason and Laine hugging me.
Collins turned towards them, still immersed in the hug. She scoffed loudly, "I know you guys are new and all, but when a major problemo is going down, it means group hug. Now don't just stand there and get your asses over here!"
Both boys reluctantly joined in. I took a minute to revel in the fact that I had amazingly weird friends. No matter the crisis, they will always be here. They were the only family I had.
"I'm leaving tonight." I whispered. They all shot back and looked genuinely upset. "I have to find her...I need answers from her. Her name's Raven Porter."
"What about your parents Ally?" Brie asked gently, "
"What parents? The ones that lied to me my entire life? Those parents Brie? Because as far as i'm concerned, they're not my parents!" I said restraining myself from yelling.
"Ally they raised you." Mason said gently.
"They lied to me. They kept this huge secret and never planned on telling me. She donated blood, did you know that? I have Ravens blood in me, because my supposed parents weren't a match. I need to find her and...I don't know...get answers. I at least deserve that." I said sounding pathetically weak.
"You read the letter. You know why she gave you up, she was young and alone. She was happy with giving your parents a baby." Mason said, and a part of me knew this made sense. But another part- a much larger and stubborn part of me wanted answers.
"I need to see her...to see who I am. Who I could've been. I grew up around two people who I had nothing in common with. I was always out of place....I just need to see where I came from. My looks and habits, I need know me. I know it doesn't make sense to you guys, but it does to me." I rambled as a jumble of my thoughts were finally confessed.
Everyone stayed silent. The air was so tense, you could easily cut it with a plastic butter knife. Mason was the one to speak first.
Out of nowhere he holds my hand and squeezes it reassuringly. "She's in Brentwood." he says.
My eyes go wild, "You know where she is?"
He smiled sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck, "I kind of had my dad dig into your family's files." he admitted.
I paused and pointed at him, "First of all, you need to learn boundaries. Secondly, thank you." I smiled genuinely, the first smile since I found.
"What time are we going?" Brett asked out of nowhere.
"What?" I asked.
"You didn't think we'd let you go on your own did you?" Collins smiled warmly.
"It's a road trip to remember." Brie chuckled.
I truly had the greatest friends. I should have known better, of course they wanted to come. This was beyond major, I was going to meet my bio mom!
I looked at everyone, my gaze ending at Mason. I was still holding his hand, and I couldn't deny the spark that ignited when he touched me.
"How fast can you guys pack?" I asked a ghost of a smile on my lips.