CHAPTER 6

　　“This was MY home long before it was yours. My mom’s home before my father found his way into your bed….. Don’t you fucking dare sit there and act like you’re doing me any fucking favors by having me come back to my own home! I have more right to be here than you.” His voice rasps, and the tone stays loud and threatening.

　　“Dane. Enough!” Bryan slams his hand on the table even though his voice is calm and level, and we all jump in fright at the sudden bang. I drop my fork on the floor and tense hard, so I end up sitting stiffly and gripping the edge of my seat.

　　“ME? Maybe tell your wife to stop always looking for a reason to pick fights. Did I ask to come here? No…. Did I want to be forced home for dinner to pretend we all get along and play happy fucking families? NO! I did not!..... Maybe if you all butted out of my life and left me alone to get through the remainder of school, we wouldn’t have this bullshit every fucking day.” As he stands up, Dane scrapes his chair back with rage, banging the table with his fist and disrupting all the water glasses.

　　“Sit down, stop swearing… this is not how I raised you to handle disputes….” Bryan is trying and failing to cage his fiery son, like always. The rest of us are sitting staring at our hands with clamped shut mouths, except my mom, who is openly glaring and shaking her head at the stepson she never wanted to deal with.

　　“Don’t make me laugh. You didn’t raise me. Mom did. Ten years on her own while you were over here playing daddy to little miss straight A’s over here. Don’t start acting like a father now.”

　　I’ve had enough and know from experience that this is only starting to heat up. They will rage and row while he sasses them, and it will turn nastier once tempers fully kick in. My mom doesn’t know how to back down, and Dane is not the type to storm out of a fight. He takes it head-on and has to have the last word. Bryan won’t diffuse anything, and as usual, I will end up in my room listening to it for the next hour. I don’t need an audience for that.

　　“Mom, I’m taking them to the door, and I’ll eat when this is done.” It’s my turn to butt in, sliding back my chair, heart hammering in my chest like a war drum. Embarrassed to the core over this showdown. “Elisa, come on.”

　　I get up, gesturing to her, and then shove Tyler on the shoulder.

　　“You too.” I slide past him to walk them out, keeping my expression blank and holding back the tears that start swirling down in my stomach. Right now, I want to talk to my dad more than ever because living here has become so shitty I would even consider staying with him for a little while in New York. Even if he works all day and I only got to see him on weekends and was alone in his apartment most of the time. It’s got to be better than this day in and out.

　　I’m sick of this every time we are all in one place. I don’t need this stress in my life, or I’ll end up with a stomach ulcer.

　　“I know the way. I’ll take him. Go get your food and go upstairs. When you don’t eat, you get faint… your blood sugar.” Elisa rubs my arm as she moves close to whisper at me as we march out of the dining room and head for the hall without looking back. She is trying to be my little emotional support, and I love her for it. She knows how things are.

　　The three behind us at least have the grace to remain quiet while we leave, but I know it’s short-lived. I can almost taste the static in the air, and the tension is so thick I can practically see it. A storm is poised for the crescendo.

　　“It’s okay. I need air and will walk you home. Tyler, if you say a word to anyone…….” I start to warn him as we slide out of the room and close the door behind me. Keeping my voice hushed and wave a pointer finger at his tall frame.

　　“Cool it, okay. He's my best friend. Not a word will come from me.” He lifts his hand and crosses his fingers, making a juvenile promise before turning on his heel to walk ahead of us to leave

　　“Laters.”

　　I kick rocks on the road, mood simmering and feeling listless as I make my way back up the huge, curved drive to our house after walking Elisa home. It’s getting dark because I hung out at hers for a while to pass the time and give my so-called family a chance to get over their current fight. Elisa made me dinner, and we avoided all talk of earlier, seeing as it was not the first time. I’m tired and looking to go to my room to catch up on study notes before bed. I have a test tomorrow in English lit.

　　As I round the bend obscured by the bushes of our manicured garden, I catch sight of Dane coming this way, hands shoved in the pockets of his jeans, head down and kicking at debris the same way I am as he walks. He’s changed from his school clothes into that rumpled, badass casual he prefers. Light ripped jeans, a white Tee under an open check shirt with graffiti embroidery across a shoulder and one side. His hair is freshly ruffled, and he’s sporting all the metal he usually wears in his face and ear, so it shines in the light. I always hated how his eyebrow bar and lip ring suited his face and transformed him from a good-looking teen into something older and sinister. He used to be a clean-cut, cute boy, and now he looks like a gang thug.

　　Dragging his steps and sighing as he watches the ground ahead of him. He seems deflated with a blank expression. Just the mere sight of him annoys me, and I exhale sharply, pull up my chin, and speed up my pace to get by him as fast as possible.

　　He glances up at the scuff of gravel under my sneakers, sees me under that floppy side bang he has going on, and sighs harder, turning his head to the opposing side with a look of ‘this is all I need.’ It makes me grit my teeth. He shifts from walking centrally towards me to meandering two or three paces to the right with a veer as he gets closer, making it clear he has nothing to say.

　　“Asshole,” I murmur under my breath as I pass him by with a good five-foot gap now, focusing on the house's lights ahead. I keep my pace and posture brisk and avoid looking at him.

　　“What? … If you have something to say, don’t be shy…. didn't take you for a coward who mumbles.” He snaps at me, temper riled from whatever happened in my absence, and pushes my kill switch too.