My head splintered into a thousand pieces when I slowly opened my eyes the next morning. I placed my hand against it to keep it steady while I propped myself up onto my elbows. The slightest movement increased the storm inside my head, which caused me to snuggle under my blankets again.
"Demi?" Meg beckoned softly. "Are you alive?" I had spent the night by Meg, seemingly how I could barely keep myself up last night.
"No," I grumbled under the blankets. "I was hoping for dearth." I groaned and pulled the blankets tighter around my head. "Drinking sucks."
Meg chuckled. "Well, the way you drank does. Come on. Get out of bed and we can go get something deliciously greasy to eat."
"I honestly just want to lie here and die."
"Trust me. You will feel much better after you've gotten something to eat."
I peeked out from under the blankets. Megs hair was a tangled mess and her puffy red eyes were smeared with mascara. I could only imagine what I looked like. Glancing in the mirror above her dresser, I ran my fingers over the nest that was once my hair and wiped the black streaks under my bloodshot eyes. "Okay, let me take a shower first."
Meg jotted up and headed to my door. "I also need one. I will meet you down stairs in 20 minutes."
I grabbed random clothes from her drawers and trotted towards the bathroom. I turned on the water until it was almost scolding hot and stood under the cleansing streams.
Stop acting like a slut.
Ethan's hateful voice rang through my head. With my eyes clenched tight, I forced him away and scrubbed harder.
I tried to scour the feel of Max's hands on my body and the taste of his tongue in my mouth. When I turned off the water and stepped out the shower, I was still repulsed with myself.
°°°
A line awaited us when we pulled into the parking lot of the local breakfast spot. Thankfully, the line progressed quickly, and we slipped into a booth fifteen minutes later with our iced coffees and croissants.
Meg studied me from across the booth and shook her head. "I still can't believe you drank. You never drink."
I shrugged and mumbled, "Never again," as I took a big bite out of my croissant. The chocolate melted out onto my tongue and I don't think I've ever tasted anything that good. Meg's head dipped in sympathy and I turned my gaze out to a window. I've never been more thankful for a friend than what I was today.
"What time do you have to be by your dad to help load the truck?"
I sighed in remembrance of having to move to Carpenteria in California. I quickly wiped my hands clean with a soviet and pulled out my phone from my back pocket, "At three. I think."
She nodded and took a sip from her iced coffee. "What about Ethan?"
A vapour of memories and unfathomable heartache was released into the air. "I don't know." I answered truthfully. Meg was the only person who I had told about Ethan's abusive ways. "I better go. Still have to pack up the last bits of my goodies back at home."
Meg smiled and slipped out of the booth to give me a hug goodbye. She was expecting Cole in about five minutes. Unfortunately, this was the last time I would be seeing her until one of us could pay a visit. "I'll see you soon, hun."
I smiled and hugged her back. "Definitely."
°°°
"Why can't she move in with us?" I asked my father who was loading boxes into the truck while I lazily sat on the lounger watching him.
He sighed while picking up a small table. "Lisa's house is much bigger than ours." He huffed and chucked a box into the half filled truck. "You know, you could help me load the truck."
With the way I felt, I probably would have slowed him down. "You do know that it would have been so much easier if she just moved in here, herself."
"Demi! We've discussed this all ready. Our decision is final! Pack your stuff or we will be late."
Late for what? I groaned and headed to my empty room. Luckily, my dad had already packed most of my goodies. Only the light boxes were left. I caught a glimpse of the pink jewelry box my mother presented to me on my 5th birthday. Feels like forever ago since she decided to pack up her things and go.
Shaking my thoughts away, I picked up my last box and headed to the truck. "That's all of them."
"Thanks pumpkin." My dad smiled and locked the truck. "Come on. You can't stay miserable your whole life just for moving. Besides, we'll be close to the beach which is a massive bonus."
I rolled my eyes and climbed into the car. Of course I could. Would he tolerate it? Now that was the question.
°°°
After a four hour drive of constant torture with my dad's olden day music playing, we finally arrived in California.
My dad had no clue what so ever where we were. After much time wasted on his attempt on getting us there himself, he sighed heavily and gave up on his search. Reaching for the cabinet, he pulled out the GPS. "Type in Carpenteria."
I did as told and stuck it up on the window-shield "There."
"Thanks." He turned his gaze from the road to me. "I don't want you giving Lisa a hard time. She is going to be a part of this family whether you like it or not."
"Oh please. Dad, I've never given her a hard time." I dug around in my backpack in attempt to find my earphones because clearly this conversation was becoming an enouence.
"Demi, I'm serious. Lisa always tries her best to be loving and kind."
I laughed sarcastically. "Yeah, okay."
"Okay, let's put it this way. If you don't make an effort, I won't take you to visit Ethan."
"That won't be a problem." I stated dryly. I had not told my father of our break up. In his mind, we were still the same old love birds he knew us to be.
"Why not?"
"We don't want a distant relationship." I lied.
My father's face softened. "I'm sorry my pumpkin. Hopefully you guys can stay in contact and still see each other every once in a while."
I turned my gaze to the window and plugged my earphones in. "Maybe, we'll see."
We pulled up Lisa's drive way about five minutes later. It was astonishing. First thing that caught my eye was the huge field of luscious green grass.
"Mike!" I heard Lisa scream from the porch. I rolled my eyes. She ran across the front yard and into my dad's arms. Gee, how old were they? They acted like a teenage couple who had just fallen in love. I watched in horror as my dad wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her into a kiss.
Was Lisa beautiful? Yes she was. She had the thickest black hair with the brightest blue eyes. Was I jealous? I'd like to think not.
"Demi!" She yelled and wrapped her arms around me. Give me a break. Trust me, if my dad was not standing right beside us, she would never have dreamt of doing that.
"Lisa!" I yelled back with the same amount of fake enthusiasm as her. In my mind I just thought about stabbing her 10 million times in the back. She pulled away, almost as if she had heard my thoughts, and smiled.
"How have you been kido?" She knew exactly how much I hated it when she called me that. It was almost as if she had this mischievous grin on her face.
I smiled sarcastically and answered, "Great! I just love the idea of living under the same roof as you."
"Demi!" My dad chirped.
Lisa scowled slightly but quickly replaced it with a smile. "The first truck arrived a bit earlier on, so some of your luggage is already here. Why don't you guys come on in and we can unpack the rest a bit later on." She smiled and gestured to the front door. I glanced up to see my dad glaring at me.
Lisa wrapped her arm around my dad's waist before slidding it up his T-shirt. He pecked her twice on the lips before a smile crept onto his face.
My dad always seemed happier in her presence. Something I never seemed to get right. Rolling my eyes, I headed to the front door and waited for them to enter. My dad pushed open the door and let Lisa and I in.
I glanced around. Okay, the house was amazing. There were two modern staircases right in the centre with a crystal chandelier hanging down from the roof. How much money did she have to waste?
"Are you guys hungry? Or maybe thirsty?" Lisa asked while heading towards, what I presumed, was the kitchen. My dad made his way to the lounge and plonked down onto the leather couch.
" I know Mike will want a coke. What about you Demi?"
She probably would have poisoned the drink. "I'm fine."
"Okay." She scuttled towards the kitchen just like a child. I never understood what my dad saw in her. Besides the fact that she was 'fit', there was nothing else to her.
"Where's the bathroom dad?"
"Upstairs to the left pumpkin." He switched on the TV and changed the channel to football.
I headed upstairs and walked left towards the bathroom. Just as I was about to turn the knob, it turned by itself. I screamed blue murder and the door flung open with such a force.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" I watched as his furious aligned facial features slowly started to simmer away. My pounding heart felt like it was about to jump out of my chest. It was as if realisation had dawned down on him and he warily scanned my figure. "What are you doing here? Do I know you?"
I furrowed my eyebrows and crossed my arms over my chest. "I could ask you the same thing."
After a few seconds, he chuckled and flipped his hair to the side. Kill me. "Okay, did Tony set you up for this? I thought I made it clear that I wasn't having sex with one of his friends from primary school." He asked as his eyes wondered and met mine with a mischievous twinkle to them.
"Who the hell do you think you are?!" I snapped. I glanced over my shoulder for any sign of my father or Lisa before looking back to the stranger.
"I'm Dylan Michaels," He replied smoothly, his lips twitching upwards into an annoying smirk, "Nice to meet you."
"Aw, the feeling isn't mutual." I battered my eyelashes in a sickly sweet manner, before shooting a sideways glance at Lisa and my father who were giggling in the background.
"I see you guys have met." Lisa had a beaming smile spread across her face. Both Dylan and I looked at each other in confusion. "Dylan, meet Demi, Mike's daughter. Demi meet Dylan, my son."
"What?" We both yelled in sink. I frantically looked at Dylan and back at Lisa. Okay, there was a resemblance.
"You didn't tell me Lisa had a son!" I yelled at my dad who clearly thought this was a joke.
"Mom! You told me just Mike was moving in!" Dylan yelled while lifting his hands up and gestured them to me.
"You have met my dad?"
He furrowed his eyebrows. "You've met my mom?"
"Okay, why don't we all calm down. Dinners ready, let's go downstairs and we can discuss this at the table."