“Jeremy!” Dad scolded.
“No, Dad, I’m tired of walking on eggshells around her. We lied, but we did it for good reason, so stop being a brat and get over it. You’re my sister whether we share genes or not.” He pointed to Mum and Dad. “They brought you up and love you the same as me. You’re theirs so enough now.”
My eyes narrowed. He was right and that only made me angrier. How could he tell me to just get over it? He hadn’t just been told that his biological parents would’ve murdered him if no one had stepped in.
“Okay, we all need to calm down,” Mum said. “Coffee is ready so let’s try to have breakfast like a normal family.”
That was all well and good, but we were nothing like a normal family. I almost laughed.
Hurry up, Noah.
Breakfast wasn’t normal, it couldn’t be. I sat beside my brother and focused solely on the pastries and coffee. They watched me the whole time, making everything ten times more awkward. Did they think I didn’t love them anymore? Did they think I would feel out of place knowing I didn’t share their genes? I didn’t. I loved them, no matter what they still felt like family. But they’d hurt me so badly by keeping the truth from me.
We ate mostly in silence with Jeremy occasionally saying something about football, the present he got Amie for her birthday or a trip he and his friends were going on. I picked at my croissant, only having managed a few bites from the cinnamon swirl.
“What time is Noah home?” Dad asked. I think he was as eager to get him here as I was, hoping he’d be able to help.
I looked up at the clock and back to him, meeting eyes that I once thought were the same shape as mine, even if they were a different colour. Everything looked different now. “Around now. He’s dropping his bags off and coming straight here. I’m finished, can I go to my room?”
Mum’s dark eyebrows pulled together. “You’ve not eaten much.” Neither had she.
“I’m not hungry.”
With a sober smile, she nodded, and I left the table.
I wasn’t back in my room long before Noah’s confident knock echoed through my room. “Come in,” I said, immediately brightening.
His smile for me was wide and light, and I didn’t realise how much I’d missed him until I saw how happy he was to see me. “Hey,” he said, flopping down on the bed beside me and pulling me in for a kiss.
I held onto his upper arms and kissed him back, feeling more whole by the second. He was someone linked to the me I knew before, someone that hadn’t changed almost beyond recognition.
His lips were soft, but the kiss was much firmer than usual. “Hey back,” I whispered when he broke the kiss and leant against my forehead.
“I missed you, Scarlett. It’s stupid, it was only two days, but not seeing you just felt wrong.”
“I missed you, too,” I replied, grinning like a fool. “Things here have sucked but knowing you were coming back made it bearable.”
He winced. “I’m sorry.”
“No, don’t be. I didn’t mean to make you feel bad, you’re allowed to have a life outside of me, you know.”
“I know. Not that sure if I want to.” Frowning, he shook his head. “Alright, that sounded less co-dependent in my head.”
I laughed and replied, “I know what you mean.”
“Tell me the truth, are you okay?” he asked.
I wrapped my arms around my legs. I was so not okay, but I felt better now he was back. It was stupid, he wasn’t gone long, but I really needed him to stay for a while now.
“Not really. It’s still hard even trying to get my head around what they told me, you know? They had Mum’s parents in on it, too. What a burden their lie must’ve been on everyone.”
And they did it all for me.
I felt horrible for being angry and angry for feeling horrible all at the same, mind screwing time.
He pulled my hands apart, untangling my body and wrapped me tightly in his arms. “Yes, it’s...” His foot tapped on the bed, and I was so sure he was about to run off.
“Screwed up?”
The corner of his mouth kicked up. “That is one way of putting it.”
“If you want to leave, Noah, I’ll understand.” We hadn’t been together that long and add in the fact that my biological parents were crazy cult leaders. I wouldn’t blame him if he wanted to run for the hills.
“No.” Taking my hand, he turned to me. “I know things are…strained right now, and you have been told something that’s hard to understand and hard to believe, but I’m not going anywhere. When I told you I love you, I meant it. We’ll get through this together. You need to decide what you want to do?”
“Thank you,” I whispered, squeezing his hand. “I have no idea what I want to do. I don’t even know what to think right now. It’s so surreal. Cults and human sacrifice…”
Me as the sacrifice.
“I know,” he whispered.
“This stuff only happens on TV.”
“I’m so sorry, Scarlett.”