Brady Remington Landed Me in Jail

I pressed, "Ever since you found out, you've been avoiding me. You haven't wanted to talk to me. How is that normal when a parent-like figure is avoiding the teenager? I'm supposed to be the one avoiding you. Not the other way around. Now you're dancing around and acting like everything is hunky dory? It's not."

As Viola swallowed visibly, I watched how the muffins almost dropped.

I cried out, "I am sorry that I have shamed you so much that you can't even talk to me. I am sorry that you can't bear to be in the same room as me except when Clarissa was here. I am sorry that I turned out just like my mother and you've had to deal with all this past stuff again. I am so sorry that…I don't even know what anymore. I'm sorry for disappointing you and for not being the perfect daughter that my mother never was!"

The muffins dropped.

I brushed away some tears. "And you don't even know what's been going on in my life. Brady and I had sex. Then Clarissa acted like my friend only to not really be my friend. There are these other girls who hate me. Kid—what do I even say about him? Brady hates him. You hate him, but I don't. Then he tells me all this stuff about his dad. Is Frank Stephens my father? And if he is, then why does he hate me so much?"

I gulped for a breath and wiped away more tears before I looked at my grandmother. She stood there frozen with the pan still in her hands. Her eyes were glazed over like she was seeing a stranger.

I took another shuddering breath.

Viola choked out, "Are you saying—are you in love with Brady?"

My eyes went wide. "That's all I get?"

She took another deep breath and slowly placed the muffin pan on the table. "So…you two had sex."

"Yes."

She nodded with her lips pursed and a look of concentration on her face. "Okay. So…have you had sex again?"

I nodded,. Then I rushed out, "But I have my period so I know I'm not pregnant. I went to the doctor and I have birth control now. Just in case, you know."

"So…" She looked in pain. "Are you two a couple?"

"I…" I had no idea what to say. Were we? We hadn't talked about it. I loved him. I knew that, but that was about it. I hung my head and whispered, "We haven't really talked about it except that Brady once said he couldn't handle the changes."

My grandmother always knew what to say, but this was the one time I saw that she had no clue. A myriad of emotions flickered over her face. "So…I am sorry, Rayna. I know that I'm supposed to be the perfect and wise grandma who knows what to say to you, but I don't. Do I like the idea of you and Brady? No. Am I torn because I know that you're my granddaughter and you've finally given yourself to a boy? Yes. I want to hug you, soothe you, and tell you that everything is going to be okay. But I can't. Do I love you? Of course I do. Do I know what to do to make everything alright? If I did, things wouldn't be this screwed up. I would've known what to say the first time I found out."

My eyes were brimming in tears as I looked at her. I saw the torment on her face and my heart matched it. It tore at my insides when I whispered, "So you don't hate me?"

"Why would I ever hate you?"

"Because I'm just like her." A sob ripped out of me.

"What? You are not like your mother. Well, you kind of are, but not in the way you think."

Tears fell freely down my cheeks, but I paid them no attention. "Did she sleep around? Was she really empty inside or really lonely or what? I've been trying to wrap my mind around it and I can't figure it out. I can't figure out why she would do that. I have no urge to do that. Brady was just because…" I couldn't say it.

Viola finished, "Because you love him?"

I looked away. Could I tell her that?

My grandmother stepped forward. "So you think that because you slept with Brady you're like your mother?"

For some reason I couldn't speak anymore. I nodded instead.

She hung her head. "You are like your mother in only two ways." She looked up and pierced me with those eyes now. "You look like her and you fell in love with the wrong man."

What—huh?

"I know the rumours. I know what everyone says about your mother, but I'm telling you that those rumours are just rumours. They are complete lies."

It was my turn to again—"What?"

"Your mother never slept around. I know you think she did. Everyone talks about it, but it's not true. She was keeping herself, much like you, for the one man she loved. It just didn't happen the way we all wanted it to be. But she didn't sleep around, Rayna. She wasn't like that."

Again—wha….huh?

CHAPTER NINETEEN

"But you said….." I realized that my grandmother had never said anything about my mother sleeping around. She just said that she had caused enough problems around town.

I'd assumed.

Viola clamped her mouth shut and grabbed the wall. I shot to her side, but she shook her head with her eyes closed and pushed me away. "I can stand on my own."

A second later, her face cleared of all expression.

I stood back in awe.