ayla's pov |
"Corbyn.. what did you hear," I asked him, with anxiety building to the very tip top of my body. "I may or may not know of someone who found out.." he said with disappointment in his voice as it grew lower. The world seemed to stop, everyone became blurry. I snapped back into it, "Corbyn, what the hell?! Do you know who it was?!" I shouted at him with a tight pain going down my throat.
As the tension in the room grew, a rush of anger came over me. I stormed over to the windows, quickly pulling down the blinds in the room for extra privacy. Without thinking, I went over to Corbyn and shoved him, "Tell me, now" I spoke, wanting an answer.
"I don't know his name, but I told him it wasn't true," he told me. I started to feel nauseous. "Shit, if my mom hears about this.. she'll kill me, she really will," I whispered to myself but everyone heard. I started breathing hard, feeling a panic attack coming on. I slowly calmed down and took a seat.
Daniel started pacing back and forth, not knowing what to do. "Ayla, it'll be okay," He told me.
"No. It won't! I don't wanna lie anymore. I'm telling her. I don't care about the damn consequences. I'm tired of all this bullshit. I'm gonna tell her. Tonight. If she hits me-" I was rambling on, not being able to find anymore words.
"What will you do. Come back to us, trying to hide it?" Daniel said annoyed.
I looked at him, hurt showing in my eyes. He slowly closed his eyes and let out a sigh. "Ayla, I didn't mean it like that," he tried coming closer to me. But I stomped away, put the door. No one came after me. They knew I was angry. I didn't stop marching, until I reached my car. Ready to face the world that was coming at me.
-
As i was driving, i received a text from my mom.
Mom. - Come straight home. Now.
Terrified, I decided to call Daniel with extra worry in my voice as I kept my eyes on the road;
"Daniel, she's onto me."
"Just stay calm"
"She wants me home right away. I'm- I'm scared, Dani"
"Hey, hey, don't be. You'll be okay, alright?"
"You promise?"
"I promise."
"I- I believe you."
"Good, I'll- I'll be right outside if anything were to happen to you."
"Thank you Daniel, bye"
"Bye"
As I got closer to home, my heartbeat grew quicker, faster as I got even closer to my house.
I pulled in, seeing Carter sitting on the steps of my house, I leaped out of the car and I ran up to him. "Carter, why are you out here?" I asked calmly, "Mom, said that we're going away," he said with a confused look on his face. I quickly went for the door, "Carter, stay right there and don't move," I warned as I stormed inside the house.
I walked in, chest rising up and down, fists clenched, and then I saw her, sitting there, mug in hand, with my dad.
"Why the hell is Carter telling me we're going away," I demanded looking my mom dead in the eye, "Why would you leave him out there alone, are you crazy. He's 4 years old." I snapped. "Watch your mouth, Ayla," my dad said calmly. "What's with this? Someone told me that you have been seeing this Daniel boy after I, your mother, specifically told you not to," my mom shouted at me. "They're bad news Ayla. All of them," then I interrupted her, in a pissed off tone. I was done. "Oh, Mom! Come on! Why can't you just face the fact that I'm happy? Do you want me to be depressed for the rest of my life or something?!" I hollered, "Of course we want you to be happy Ayla," my dad chimed in still staying calm, his eyes adverted to my mom, "Maybe, you should give them another chance, Jess." She shot him a glare, "You know what they did," he flinched, staying on her side, "Then again, your mother has a point, Ayla," he gulped. I knew he was scared of her.
"But, Dad, they didn't do anything," I spoke as I expressed my emotions with my hands flying this way and that, "they even tried to come and apologize at the house, weeks ago! When she went bonkers!" I pointed at my mom, "I don't understand or know what you want from them!" my dad looked confused as I told him this episode had happened.
"Why didn't I know about this, the boys coming to apologize?" he grumbled to my mom. "She- she didn't tell you?" I mumbled, just as confused as he was.
She rolled her eyes, I could see her growing more and more frustrated. "Don't you know what they did to her-" I stopped her mid-sentence to my dad.
"Mom. Are you hearing yourself right now? You're still hungover some petty fight that happened 2 years ago. It's over! We can't do anything about it! It wasn't even their fault to begin with. I'm so sick and tired of y-"
As I was talking, she took her hand and slapped me right across my face. Then she pushed me very hard against the wall, breaking a family portrait that was hanging on the wall. The pain going through my back and my cheek stinging like biting ants. "Jessica!" My dad screamed as she hovered over me. I saw no regret in her light green eyes that had turned dark and mean. "Ayla, that isn't the point here! You disobeyed me," I was too busy holding my cheek where she slapped me and laying against the wall hiding my pain to listen to her lecture. I thought of Carter, how he couldn't live here anymore, not like this. And neither could I.
Then I zoned back in to find my mom still yelling, "I am trying to protect you! For all we know, these boys are probably going to dump you on the street the first chance they get! I don't want you seeing that beast, or any of them, anymore," she scolded at me. I got up and took a step towards her. Finally finding the strength to do what I had to.
"That "beast" has a name. Daniel. He's not a beast. He's caring and has dreams and him and the boys are much more family to me than you ever were. And the only thing I should be protected from, is you. I am 18 years old. I could move out for all I care," I growled at her. Tears filling my eyes.
"If that's what you want. Then leave," my mother said merciless. She stepped away from me, I saw my dad standing in the kitchen. His eyes watery and cold. "Ayla," He called to me, I stopped the tears from running down my burning cheeks as I turned and ran upstairs. I got a duffel bag out and started packing my things. Throwing in all kinds of clothes and shoes. Anything and everything. I was done.
Done with my bitch of a "mom"
daniel's pov |
I heard a loud slap as I approached the door, Carter was sitting there. Then I heard something fall. He just sat there covering his ears.
"Carter, is everything okay?" he shook his head in denial. I couldn't believe her mom had come to this. She used to love me. I was like her own son. Then, we got the opportunity to start a record label and tour a little bit of the US. But we couldn't do it with Ayla. That's what made her mom angry with us. She thinks it's our fault her daughter didn't get the chance to start a music career. But to this day, we don't know why our manager turned her down. She had an amazing voice. Especially when she sang with us. It was beautiful. It's a shame she couldn't experience it with us the last two years.
I walked up to the door about to knock, then heard another yell and took a risk to open it. I saw Ayla's mom at the end of the hall, she immediately turned and growled, "If you ever come near my family again, I will put a restraining order against you and those little bastards. Then get you sent straight to jail. Since you can't stay away from my daughter," she tried pushing me out the door, but I stopped her.
"I can't stay away from your daughter because i am in love with her. I'm very sorry if that's an issue, but no matter what you do, or threaten, we'll always find our way back to each other. We have known each other since we were kids. We were here for each other through thick and thin and we will continue to do that. Even now," I tried breaking past her but stopped.
"I don't understand how a parent wouldn't want to see their own child be happy," I told her, she then tried to slap me but suddenly, Mr. Santos pounced behind her, pinning her arms behind her back and shoving her against the wall. Quickly looking up, "Go, Daniel!" he shouted at me, motioning to go upstairs.
I took off and ran upstairs to find Ayla with her things packed and ready. Ready to jump out the window to take off. I screamed her name. She turned her head, swinging her dark hair, until her dark blue-green eyes fell into mine, She dropped her bags, and ran straight to me. I noticed she was holding her cheek.
"Ayla, what-" I gently moved her hand off her cheek, only to find it turning a darker black and blue color by the second. "She- she," I started, then felt very angry and started marching down stairs, jaw clenched, the last thing I heard was Ayla shouting for me to stop, but I didn't listen. All of the sounds that were going on around me went silent. I walked up to her mom and threw a hard punch, making myself miss. And hit the wall, causing a hole. I couldn't hit a woman, no matter how messed up she was, I just wasn't raised that way. Tony, her dad, came closer to me telling me to calm down, "Ayla! Go!" he placed a couple hundred dollar bills at her. Saying he would call her after everything. "I love you, baby," He called after her, she went back and gave him a huge hug, then she left with tears in her eyes.
As we were about to leave and take Carter, he stopped us. "Leave Carter," he spoke, with fear in his eyes. "But Dad, are you-" Ayla started to argue.
"Trust me."
Ayla gulped, walking out and grabbed Carter by his shoulders.
"Hey, hey, hey, look at me, it's over," she said softly taking his hands off of his ears. "Listen to me," she held his face in her hands and looked into his eyes. "you stay right here until Dad says for you to come inside, okay?" Tears started filling her eyes. She kept herself together. "Where are you going?" he asked with worry in his voice as he looked up to me. I bit my lip and looked away so he wouldn't see me on the verge of crying. "I'm going away for a little, Dad will keep you safe," she told him. "But I'll miss you," I gripped my thigh as Carter gave her a bear hug. I saw Ayla crying and gripping onto him, holding him like I held her.
"Carter. You have to trust me and Dad, we will do whatever we have to in order to keep you safe." She pulled him in for another hug. Whispering, "I love you, Carter. I'll see you soon, okay? I promise." She gave him a kiss on the forehead and stepped back so I could talk to him.
I kneeled down, "Carter, you gotta be strong right now, you understand? Never let that woman touch you. If your dad isn't keeping you safe. You call us. Right away," I scribbled down my number and handed it to him. "You can call us, whenever you need to if you're in danger, or even if you just want to talk. We'll be here," I gave him a tight hug. "Like Ayla said, you just have to trust us." I got up, "Be strong, Little Guy," I ruffled his hair and kissed the top of his head, tears trying to escape, but I didn't let them.
Before we left, we gave into a group
Carter waved to us as we walked off and down the street, until we couldn't see him anymore. Ayla still carrying her bag, tears flowing down her bruised cheek, eventually asking me, "Where are we going," and to be honest, I don't know yet.
ayla's pov |
We'd been walking for about an hour, when a thought hit me.
"Daniel. What are we gonna do?" I asked, still half-crying due to our circumstances. He thought for a second, "I have an idea, but i don't think you'll like it,"
"At this point, anything sounds sane,"
He took a long pause, "We could stay at our house in LA?"
"Are you insane?! I can't leave Carter in that house alone! Something could happen to him! She could hit him. Or even worse. Ki-"
Daniel grabbed my shoulders and kissed me very aggressively, causing me to wrap my arms around his neck and pulling him closer. "Ayla. I love you. I will do everything I can to keep you and Carter safe." He said as he looked deeply into my eyes. Panting, I let out a breath, "Okay," is all I could choke out, continuing to walk to the park down the street we were on. Then, we called the boys.
Daniel - Hey, Jonah?
Jonah - What's up
Daniel - Can you- uhm- come get us? We're at the park near Taco Bell
Jonah - Uh, yeah, I'll be there in a few, do you want me to bring the guys?
Daniel looked at me, probably seeing what a mess i was.
Daniel - Yeah- Bring them, see ya later
Jonah - See ya
I had been biting my nails for the past 5 minutes, bouncing my leg up and down.
"We're gonna be fine, Ayla, just trust me," he told me in a soothing voice. As he walked over to the swings, I set my bag on a nearby tree stump and joined him. I thought for a second, "Daniel," his piercing blue eyes shot up, "are you serious about moving to LA?" I asked nervously as my short legs dangled from the swing that was about 3 feet off the ground.
"I mean, only if we need to," he finally answered, looking out at the sunset that was beginning to set. Just then, my phone started ringing. Daniel and I looked at the glowing screen: 'Dad' is calling. I quickly slid the answer bar. "Hello?.... I'm safe.. with Daniel... uhm," I threw my eyes to Daniel, 'Where are we going' I mouthed. "Just tell him we'll be at my house," he whispered. "Uh, we're heading to his house... you need me to what?... what about Carter?!.... Dad. You have to promise... Dad, keep him safe... Okay, Love you.."
I hung up. Looking down at my dangling feet. "Speaking of going to LA, my dad wants me out of the state. He said my mom doesn't want to see me again. If she does, she'll go on another rampage, or some, crazy ass shit again. We both know that her first target won't be me if she does that again. It'll be Carter," my voice started cracking. As I pushed my tongue into my cheek, not wanting to cry anymore.
"Ayla, I'm so sorry," Daniel gently said, embracing me into a hug as I softly shoved my face into his shoulder. "If we got to LA, who says we can't take Carter?" He suggested after our hug ended, "My dad. One more outburst, she's getting kicked out. If she tries coming back, he'll call the cops." I repeated as to what my dad had told me. Daniel just placed his warm hand on mine, silently telling me everything would be okay. Then we lay there, watching the sun go down and admiring the beautiful stars that came after.
After about 30 minutes, a big SUV pulled up, squeaking as it came to a halt. It sorta lightened the mood. Jonah hopped out of the drivers seat, twirling the keys around his finger thinking he looked cool. "What do ya think?" he indicated towards the SUV. Daniel went up to it and walked all around it, observing every detail.
"She's a beaut!" Daniel shouted, throwing his hands up in the air like a little kid on Christmas morning. "Her name's Bertha," Zach said, patting the hood. I bust out laughing, "Bertha?" I continued laughing my butt off.
"Do not disrespect our new sixth member," Corbyn sassed, wagging his finger in my face, causing me to laugh so hard a tear seeped out of my eye. Finally, a tear that isn't caused by so much sadness I thought to myself. Daniel noticed and put an arm around me. Smiling a big, toothless grin.
"So, what happened? Why'd we meet up," Jack asked, as he walked over, his curls flopping up and down.
"Well, let's just say, I'm done with my mom, for real this time. I left Carter with my dad. He says he's gonna protect him and if she pulls another episode, he'll kick her out. If she tries coming back, he'll call the cops and make sure she goes to jail. But he wants me to stay out of the state, because he thinks it's safe for me. My mom doesn't want to see me ever again, if she does or even hears about me, she'll probably go on another attack and try to hurt Carter. So it's really best for me to move out of state and just finish school online."
Everyone was silent when I finished. Until Corbyn spoke up, "We can move back to our house in LA, you can stay with us," the boys all nodded to the idea.
"That's what Dani said. I think it's a good plan," I glanced over to him, "now that I know what's going on. I don't care where I go. As long as my baby brother is safe," I sighed.
"Well, Ayla, just know you'll always have us," Jonah reminded me as they all surrounded me in a group hug. "So, you guys need a ride, or what,"
We all piled into the SUV with Daniel in the passenger seat and me in the middle seat in the middle row. Jack to my right and Corbyn to my left. We threw Zach in the back since he's the youngest and we basically boss him around 24/7.
Jack started taking a Snapchat video for his story when he noticed my bruised cheek. "What the hell happened bro, that looks freakin gnarly," he exclaimed, eyeing the bruise with his flash. Corbyn and Zach went ahead and checked it out. Leading to another explanation.
"Remember when I said I was done with my bitchy mom? This," I pointed to my bruise, "was the last straw. She slapped me, hard. Then she pushed me into the wall, harder." I groaned with a blank expression, "My dad didn't do anything, he was in shock, he wanted to help, he just couldn't," a tear slipped down my cheek, Daniel eyed me from the passenger seat, turning to put a hand on mine.
"Damn." Jonah blankly said as he kept his eyes on the road while driving.
"Thats terrible, good thing we got you out of there." Corbyn spoke with relief. "Yeah, and if your dad is who we think he is, he won't let your mom lay a finger on Carter," Zach added. He was right, my dad has always been protective of Carter. Even when she was normal, he'd never lay a hand on him if he did anything bad, not that Carter was a mischievous child. When my mom had a bad day, she'd get him in trouble for anything he did. Dad would be the one to stop her.
"Yeah. He would never," I said as we pulled into Daniel's driveway. Hitting a few bumps until we finally came to a halt. I started making my way over Jack and hopped out, "Wish me luck," I said plastering a cheeky smile onto my face.
Corbyn rolled his eyes, "Pfft, as if you'll need it. That woman loves you," he laughed. He wasn't wrong. "Ha, see you guys," I waved them goodbye and shut the door. Daniel took my hand and started leading me up to his front porch.
As I approached the door, I came to another stop. Daniel gave me a questioning look, "Are you coming?"
I started thinking of all the possible ways this could end horribly.
"Daniel, what if she hates me. Then I'll have no where to go," I said, my voice shaking with fear. He came up and held me firmly. "Don't you worry, she loves you, I promise," he told me as he gently wrapped his hand in mine again and opened the door.
Keri popped her head out of the kitchen and walked over with a surprised expression on her face, "Ayla!" I gave her a sweet smile and gave her a quick hug. As we pulled away, she stopped me, noticing my face. "Ayla, sweetheart! What happened to you?! You're all bruised up," she took a step in and gently held my face, examining the bruise.
"Mom, Ayla's family is going through some uh- issues, and she needs somewhere to stay tonight," Daniel said as she continued observing my cheek, "I can stay with Maya," I offered, not only because I thought Daniel's mom was being too nice, but also because I didn't want to be a burden.
"Honey, it's getting late, you can just stay here, i insist, we have a guest room," she kept offering. I glanced over to Daniel, who had the expression of a begging puppy on his face. "Oh, alright, I'll stay," I turned my eyes to her, "Thank you so much, Mrs. Seavey."
"Oh please, call us Jeff and Keri," Daniel's father came up to greet me, I laughed, giving him a hug as well. "Thank you." I smiled.
Daniels face lit up and he took my hand and led me to the guest room, taking my bag like a gentleman. Keri and Jeff both laughing as they watched it happen. He took my into a room that had a huge bed and picked me up and sat me down on the bed. Jumping in next to me. "Welcome to Casa CV" he spoke with enthusiasm and a childish smile. He got a message from Jonah. Suddenly shooting up, "I'll go tell my mom when and why we're leaving first thing tomorrow, alright?" I nodded as he exited the room.
I ran my fingers across the soft comforter and admired the light gray paint on the walls with perfectly matching cream colored furniture. I could barely hear Daniel talking to his parents, telling them everything. A sudden knock on the door made me lose focus, I watched Anna's head peek in, "Ayla, hey," I sat up, patting the bed for her to sit next to me. I gave her a hug, "I heard some of what Daniel said, are you okay?" She wrapped an arm around me, "Yeah, but I have to go," I paused, "I have to leave," She watched my face fall, "It's okay. We understand." Anna comforted me, I looked around, "I can't believe I'm leaving my life behind." I felt a tear fall from my eye. Anna embraced me in a hug. I'd be leaving this place first thing tomorrow morning.
"Now that I think about it, I'm leaving this town first thing in the morning. The town I've grown up and lived in," I spoke softly.
Oh boy, oh boy. This is gonna be a drastic change.
-
hey lovely's! here's a super duper long chapter. i posted two chapters in a day!! only because we sucked butt at the tourney today and i've had nothing to do so i decided i'd update for y'all
antyyy wayyss
do you think Ayla made the right decision leaving her home to keep her little brother safe?
do you think her mom is really dangerous, or is it just a phase?
i really hope y'all are enjoying my book
remember to vote and comment
12/2/17