Hey Wattpad!!
Yeah, I know, second upload within 24 hours. Why, you ask? Well, because I have this chapter done, and I figured you guys were tired of guessing:P
In case you were wondering, congratulations to basically everyone for guessing why Tiffany needs help! I was kind of surprised people thought she was pregnant, but I'm hoping everything makes sense after this:)
Also the other reason I'm uploading now is because everyone wants me to, and I try to give the people what they want:)
The song on the side is Cam's song. And you'll see why it's there about half way through the chapter:P
CHAPTER TWENTY
I froze in the middle of the handshake, pulling my hand away slowly. “What do you want?” I asked, immediately on the defensive. “Is Kate here too?”
Tiffany smiled, her stupid perfect white teeth showing. “You call her Kate? So you don’t like her?” She asked.
“Let’s just say that if she got hit by a bus, I’d be the one driving.”
Tiffany laughed. “You’re funny. Ok, thank God. Look, can we go inside? I have to talk to you.”
I nodded, feeling a little self-conscious next to her. I knew I wasn’t ugly, but the girl was wearing what seemed to be size negative something.
I shut the door, and was immediately engulfed in a hug.
“Um, Tiffany, would you mind letting go so I can put my stuff down?” I asked, trying to be as nice as possible.
So far, I could see why Kate liked her. So that meant I didn’t.
“Right, sorry.” Tiffany backed away, and I frowned a little. She wouldn’t apologize if she was like Kate, would she?
“So, why are you here, Tiffany?” I asked.
She sighed. “Honestly? I’m fed up. Kate is always pushing and pushing for me to go into modeling. I’m ok with that because I actually do want to go into it, but I hate feeling this pressurized to stay this skinny.”
I frowned. “Then why do it? Why not just move out and make it on your own or something?”
She sighed again, taking a seat on the couch. “Well, I just turned eighteen, and I want to wait until I get a job so that I can afford to live somewhere.” She explained.
I sat down next to her, slowly. What was her angle? “Ok, but that doesn’t explain why you’re here. You already know what you’re going to do.”
She took a deep breath, and lifted up her shirt enough to show her stomach. There was nothing there.
“I get it, you have a flat stomach.” I said, frowning more. What was this girl playing at?
“It’s what’s underneath.” She said, pulling out a little make up remover pad and wiping it across her stomach a few times.
I gasped as she kept rubbing, and saw her face contort into pain every couple of seconds.
By the time she was done, all I wanted to do was hug her, but I felt frozen in shock.
On her body were bruises upon bruises. She literally looked as though she’d been used as a punching bag. That part of her body anyway.
“What happened?” I asked, breathing heavily. Of course I already knew what happened, it was the same thing Kate had done to me when I was four.
“Kate.” Tiffany spat, bitterly. “The worst part is that these were done a month or so ago. They still haven’t faded…”
“What happened?” I repeated, more urgently. I’d told Kate that if she sent Tiffany down I’d take her to court, but now it was for a different reason. Tiffany needed this too. At least, I think she did.
“I told Kate I wanted to hire a professional agent for modeling, because it seemed like a nice idea.” Tiffany told me, and I was shocked to see tears in her eyes. I put an arm around her shoulders awkwardly. “She hit me because apparently this is bonding time, not just a job. Then I tried explaining that to me it was a job that I loved doing, and she just got angrier. She said that I couldn’t become anything more than a model if I hired a modeling agent.” She looked up at the ceiling. “Can I get an ice pack or something? I haven’t had a chance until now.”
I nodded. “Yeah, sure. Sorry.” I rushed to the kitchen. So it was happening again, and this time was somehow worse. Kate had only hit me one time, and from the sounds of it this was a recurring thing with Tiffany. She even knew how much make up to put over it.
I handed her a couple of ice packs wrapped in small hand towels, and she placed them on her stomach.
“Thanks.” She said, letting her head fall back.
“So, why did you come?” I asked, still confused. She was eighteen, why didn’t she just sue Kate?
“Because I need your help in court. See, they might believe an eighteen year old got beaten, but if you testify too, there’s no way they can discount it. We’ll have a solid argument.” She said.
I bit my lip. “I want to help you, I really do, but is there any chance you can wait until I turn eighteen? My dad doesn’t know about it and I’d prefer him never to.” I said.
“Why doesn’t he know?”
“He was at work, and Kate claimed it was some ten-year-old who lived near us. I never argued it because she basically had my leg in a death lock while she said it.” I told Tiffany, who rolled her eyes.
“Bitch!”
I nodded, then paused. “Hang on. The only two people who know about what happened are me and Kate. How do you know?” I asked.
Tiffany just sighed. “Kate was bitching about what to do to my dad. She kept saying that she wasn’t sure whether or not to take you seriously because it was over twelve years ago. She then started trying to explain how since she only hit you one time it was an accident.”
I gritted my teeth. “I’ll help. I don’t want to tell my dad though. I don’t want to have to involve anyone else in this.” I said.
“Why not? Why haven’t you told on her after all these years?” Tiffany asked, sounding genuinely curious.
I smiled a little at her. She was definitely not the little angel Kate thought she was, and I loved it. “First of all, leverage. Second of all, the worst thing that could happen to her is jail. I’d rather see her there than dead.”
“Why would she die?”
“My dad owns about three guns. He already hates her for leaving, what do you think he’d do if he found out she hit me as well?”
“Good point.” Tiffany bit her lip, and I almost laughed. Maybe we had similar habits too. “Ok, we can wait until you turn eighteen. But you have to do something for me.”
I nodded. “Sure, what is it you need?”
“I need a place to stay. I can fake being perfect for another couple of months or so without getting a beating, but you have to be nicer to Kate. I was only allowed over here because I told her I’d come over and convince you Michigan was a nice place. You can just keep her busy by texting her and asking about University of Michigan, and what kind of psychology classes you’d have to take. Just keep her thinking about you. I’ll move in the beginning of July and tell Kate I got some amazing modeling camp opportunity in New York, but we’re not allowed cell phones or internet at all. I’ll give her a fake number and address so she can’t track me or something.” Tiffany took a breath, and I left my mouth open for a few seconds.
“You’ve really thought about this.” I finally said.
She shrugged. “I had an idea if I could ever get a hold of you. If your accident hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t have had the chance.” She said, before adding, “And I forgot to mention it, but I’m sorry you lost your baby. I’m sure you would have made an amazing mother. Who’s the father?”
I almost smiled at the fact that Tiffany was, apparently, one of the nicest girls in the world. “My boyfriend, Cameron. We’ve been dating for six months. Closer to seven now…” I trailed off, remembering the discussion. Would we be able to have our seven months?
“Is everything ok?” She asked.
I looked at her, and without warning, I told her the entire story. How I just wanted to lose my virginity, so I ended up sleeping with the infamous Cameron Riter. I told her about how he ended up getting clingier than a girl, so he sort of took me on a date. I told her about getting together and my fear of commitment. I told her about Thanksgiving, Christmas, meeting his mom, New Years, him meeting my dad, and all the way up to now.
“I confronted him today about ignoring me. We almost broke up, but he made me promise to wait until tomorrow; if I still wasn’t satisfied, then fine.” I took a breath.
Tiffany had been quiet throughout my story, and finally said, “It sounds like you guys are meant to be together honestly. You shouldn’t let this go. You’re really lucky, Taylor.” She smiled.
I smiled back. “Call me Tay. And if I don’t have to, I won’t. I really want to be with him, Tiffany, forever at least.”
She made an “aw” sound, then groaned. “Ok, I should probably go back to the Wicked Witch of Michigan. I’ll tell her I managed to convince you to think about it, so please just text her and sound interested, ok? It’s only until your birthday, and then we can strike. I’ll text you when I’m getting ready to move in. Which reminds me…” She pulled out her phone and handed it to me. “Put your number in there.”
I did, handing it back.
“I’ll text you when I get to the hotel Kate’s staying at. Wish me luck!”
I probably surprised both of us when I hugged her. “Stay strong. And if it gets too bad, then text me and screw it I’ll tell my dad everything and we can go to court that same day, ok?”
She nodded. “Deal. Also, if it’s getting to that then call an ambulance. I’ll probably also be dying.” She was only half joking.
“Ok. See you later, Tiffany.” I smiled, waving as she got into her car.
Before she could drive away, she yelled out of her window. “Good luck tomorrow!”
I laughed. “Thanks! I’ll let you know what happened!”
She laughed too, and reversed out of driveway.
Damn that was… interesting.
I shut the door and pulled out my phone, ready to text Cam before remembering he was probably still ignoring me. I’d tell him about it if tomorrow went ok.
I dialed Rania’s number, only to be greeted by an answering machine.
I really needed more friends. I literally only had Rania, Matthew, Cameron, and now Tiffany.
College would have to be my friend making years I guess. It wasn’t like I had that long left until graduation, so I could deal.
I checked the time, groaning when I realized it wasn’t even 5PM yet.
Guess I’d better do some actual homework…
The next day, I was walking around school completely terrified. I kept checking my phone, wondering if Cam or even Tiffany was about to randomly text me. I was scared out of my mind that Tiffany would call me, telling me Kate had done something, but by lunch nothing had happened.
“What’s up with you?” Rania asked, making me jump. Somehow I’d sat down at our usual table before her and Matthew.
“Paranoia, I think it’s called. I really hope Tiffany’s ok…” I trailed off, checking my phone again.
“Who’s Tiffany?” Matthew asked, and I remembered no one except me knew about her.
“She’s my step-sister. It’s a long story, I’ll explain it later.” I said, taking a bite of the sandwich I’d packed for my lunch. It tasted weird, off, so I stopped. I couldn’t even eat for fear of Tiffany texting me. What could I do from here though? I guess if I had to, I’d call in a class and ask which hospital she was at…
“Tay, are you ok?” Rania asked.
I shrugged. “I might explain this one day.” I said. If I didn’t have to tell her, I wouldn’t. It would be mine, and Tiffany’s, secret if we could just get to my birthday.
A loud scraping noise made the room go kind of quiet, and I saw Cam pulling along one of the tables.
“Sorry. Give me a couple of minutes.” He said, pulling another table to that one. A few people, mainly the ones who were sitting at those tables, gave him a weird look, but shrugged it off and started talking to their friends again.
I continued to watch Cam as he plugged in what appeared to be a CD player, and then plug a microphone into that. When he seemed sure it was all good, he stood on top of the connecting tables.
“Checking! Can everybody hear me?” He said, his voice echoing a little around the room.
Everyone nodded, shutting up. What was going on?
“Now, as a lot of you know, I’m currently in a relationship with one Taylor Quessie. Now, recently something bad happened, and even though she thinks I’m not saying anything because I don’t know what to say, it’s because whenever I start to say anything, my brain tells me to shut up now.” Cam said, addressing the crowd. I wondered vaguely why none of the teachers were stopping him, but the thought fled my mind when Cam’s eyes connected with mine. “But Tay, I promise, it’s only because it hurts too much. I promise, after today, we can talk. But first I need to let you know something, and since singing in front of the school was a resolution…” He trailed off, pressing a button on the CD player. “It’s not the entire school, but it’s close enough. This is for you, Taylor.” He smiled at me, just as the music started.
I didn’t recognize the song, but it was clear that Cam knew it. He started singing, and I remembered it in the back of my mind. It was by a band I’d only ever seen on YouTube called Paradise Fears, and the song was called “Here To Stay.” I listened to the lyrics, smiling when it seemed to fit, well, us.
At the last bridge, he indicated for me to stand up and walk over to him, which I did. The music elevated slightly as I walked, hitting the final chorus as Cam seemed to sing directly to me this time. I looked into his eyes as he jumped off the stage and stared right back.
This was it; that feeling girls always talked about. The one where they felt as though no one else was in the room, just her and the guy they loved.
I loved it.
He sung the final note and dropped the microphone, causing a loud, high pitched blare, but he didn’t care. He kept staring into my eyes, and as the music died down, he opened his mouth.
“I love you, Taylor Quessie. I’m completely in freaking love with you.” He breathed.
I laughed, a little breathless myself; I’d never realized how amazing those words could sound before. “I love you, too.” I said, loving the look in his eyes as I said it. “I’m freaking in love with you, too. I have no idea how but I am.”
Cam picked me up, spinning me in a circle as I laughed. I hadn’t realized how much weight those words had had over me until this second. I felt lighter, freer.
And a hell of a lot more mushy apparently. Yuck.
I felt Cam’s lips press against mine, and maybe there weren’t fireworks, but it felt right, just like that first night we’d spent together.
I heard a couple of wolf whistles, and pulled myself away from Cam. “We should probably stop while we’re in school.” I managed to breathe out.
His eyes widened, but he laughed again. “Yeah, wouldn’t be smart to get kicked out for that.”
I couldn’t help laughing with him. “I love you so freaking much.” I said, feeling a need to say it first. It felt amazing.
It was even more amazing to hear him say, “I love you too, Tay.”
The world seemed to come back to me slowly as a couple of people clapped. I even heard Matthew saying, “Finally! Jesus…”
“We should probably sit down so people can eat.” I told him, the smile still on my face.
It seemed Cam couldn’t stop smiling either. “Sure.” He picked up the microphone again. “Thanks for listening!”
He turned it off, and placed it on the CD player. “I’ll clean that up later.”
When we reached the table, he stopped. “Crap. I had one more thing.”
I wanted to frown at him, but I honest to God couldn’t stop smiling. “What’s up?”
He smiled widely at me. “Will you go to prom with me?”
I rolled my eyes. “Hell yes!”
And as he spun me around again, and the school returned to normal, I couldn’t help but think that maybe, just maybe, I’d get my happy ending in life.
This is NOT the end! I promise, there is at least two chapters left, PLUS an epilogue!! I just decided to not leave you on a cliffhanger this time:)
And sorry it's a little shorter than usual... BUT I'm hoping the fact that they said it makes up for that:)
Anyway, hope you liked!:D
LOVE<3