by Mercy Amare
I am woken up early Sunday morning by a very angry Bridgett.
“Scarlett Ryan — what the fuck?”
Scratch that… Bridgett isn’t angry. She’s furious. She never curses. “What’s wrong?” I sit up, careful to keep myself covered. I have got to remember to lock my bedroom door before falling asleep.
“You’re married.” She crosses her hands over her chest. “How could you not tell me! I’m your sister!”
OH. Fuck. “How… How do you know that?”
Bridgett grabs the remote off the table beside me and turns on the news. Stephan sits up beside me as we watch ourselves make headline news. There is a video of our wedding, along with a copy of the marriage license.
“Oh my God…” I want to hide. Under the covers. Under a rock. On the freaking moon.
“How could you not tell me the second it happened?” Bridgett’s expression turns from anger to hurt in a matter of seconds, and I’m left feeling like the world’s biggest bitch. I am the worst sister ever.
“I’m sorry. We were really drunk, and we didn’t think that it would get out. I knew that everybody would think it was too early, so we decided to wait a year and then tell everybody,” I explain.
“But I’m not everybody, Scar. I am your sister — your twin!”
Just then, Peter and the rest of the camera crew barge into my room, along with Alec, and the rest of the security team.
“Hello, I’m naked here.” I point at the sheet that’s covering my frontside.
“You’re married,” Alec says the obvious.
“Yes. We are married,” I answer. “We got married in Vegas Thursday night. We thought we could keep it a secret, but obviously we were wrong.”
“Are you out of your fucking mind?” Alec is now yelling, and he is furious. “You’re nineteen years old, and you are at the height of your career. Why would you go and do something so… so… stupid?”
I feel tears sting my eyes. “I don’t know, Alec. But I did it. It’s too late to do anything about it now.”
“Why didn’t you get it annulled? Hell, why don’t you get it annulled now?”’
“I don’t want to get it annulled. I like being married to Stephan.”
“What about a year from now?” Alec crosses his arms. “Or fucking two months from now, when you’re on tour getting five hours of sleep or less a night? What about then? Are you still going to like being married?”
“Alec, that’s enough. Don’t talk to Scarlett like that.” Stephan comes to my defense.
Alec turns to Stephan. “Don’t even get me started on you!” He turns back to me. “Did you even get a pre-nup? What is going to happen when this little marriage falls apart? What’s yours is his now, and he will get half. Is that what you want?”
The second that Alec brought Stephan into the argument, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to hold myself back any longer. “Do you think any of this shit means anything to me without Stephan? I left this all. I walked away. I was missing something in my life, and Stephan was that missing piece. If something happens, and our marriage doesn’t work out, I won’t give a shit if he takes it all. But you know what, it is going to work out.”
“What’s the statistics for teen marriages lasting? I’m pretty sure they’re like one in a million.”
I roll my eyes. “That’s a bit dramatic, don’t you think? Besides, Stephan and I are one in a million. Hell, we’re one in a billion. And what happened isn’t going to hurt my career. If anything, Stephan is going to help my career. He’s the reason I’m here. If it wasn’t for him, I would still be hiding out in Florida. I’d be hiding from my parents. I’d be too afraid to stand up for myself. So don’t stand there and criticize me. You’re my best friend, Alec. Start acting like it.”
Alec is speechless. Bridgett takes his silence as an opportunity to speak up. “I’m not mad at you for being married. I like Stephan, and I do think that you’re meant to be together. What I’m mad about is not getting the opportunity to be your maid of honor. I never got to go with you to pick out wedding dresses, and we never got to have a bachelorette party. I feel like you rushed into something that you could have waited a few months for. Or years even. Plus, you and Stephan have only been together a couple months. You ran once. Who says you won’t freak out and do it again? You have your whole lives. Why did you rush it?”
And just like that, I feel like crap, because Bridgett is right. I rushed into this marriage. When Stephan and I have kids, I am not going to have a special or romantic wedding to tell them about. I’m going to be telling them about one drunken night in Vegas that I was too drunk to remember.
“It’s too late now,” Bridgett continues. “So I’m not going to keep making you feel bad about it. But you hurt my feelings, Scar.”
Bridgett walks out of the room, taking a piece of my heart with her. I start to get up and go after her, but then I remember — I’m naked.
“Can you guys get out of here so I can get dressed?” I’m trying really hard not to cry in front of the camera. I’m pretty sure there are enough tears for the documentary already.
One by one, everybody leaves my room until it’s just Stephan and me. I fall back onto the bed and cry.
“They’re right. They are so right. Why did we rush into this, Stephan?”
“It seemed like a good idea at the time.” Stephan grabs my hand. “You can’t regret this, Scar. We got married because we are in love. People are always going to have something to say. Maybe we are too young. And yes, we definitely did rush. But I don’t care. I’m in love with you, and I know without a doubt that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Nothing anybody says is going to change that. I promised you forever, and forever is what I meant.”
Stephan’s words comfort me. But I still feel bad for hurting my sister. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of my family though. Bridgett is so mad. And I dread talking to Stacy and Anna. They’re going to be mad too. I just wish I would have thought, you know?”
He looks at his phone. “Speaking of family… I have five missed calls from my mother. She is going to be so mad at me.”
“Good.” I smile. “I can’t be the only one getting chewed out over this.”
“I’m pretty sure that Alec is waiting for me to get dressed so he can yell at me. Or punch me.”
“I guess I should get dressed and go find Bridge.” I push myself off the bed.
“So much for staying in bed all day,” Stephan says sadly. “We have got to remember to lock the door.”
I laugh, because I thought the exact same thing earlier.
I get a quick shower, get dressed, and go looking for Bridgett. When I walk into the living room, I find Alec watching the entertainment headlines. He looks mad at whatever they’re saying. Probably more on my Vegas wedding.
“What’s up?” I ask him.
He looks over at me. “Your mother is going to be giving a statement in a few minutes regarding your marriage.”
I let out a scream of frustration. Peter, of course, has the camera on me. I choose to ignore him. “I can’t believe that… that… woman! She’s such a heartless bitch! Why do they even care what she has to say about my marriage anyway?”
Alec shrugs. “They thrive on drama. And you, Scarlett Ryan, are the center of drama right now.”
I plop down onto the couch beside him and put my head in my hands. How did I get sucked right back into this? I was enjoying my time in Florida. I was finally have a somewhat normal life. And then I came back here. I didn’t think it was possible, but Barry was right — I am more famous now.
“Are they going to talk about anything else besides me? Isn’t there something more important — like global warming or the economy? This is the news channel, right?”
Alec doesn’t respond, we just sit there watching the news. They show the video of my wedding again. Thank God you can’t tell I’m drunk. My voice isn’t slurred, and I’m walking straight.
Seeing my wedding feels weird. I
t isn’t the first time I’ve blacked out and seen myself on film afterwards. But this is different. This is my wedding. Before, it didn’t really seem that real. But now, it does. I said my vows. I said I do.
“Why did you do it?” I hear Alec ask.
I don’t just want to tell him, or anybody watching the documentary that “I was drunk”. So, I respond in the only way I know how to. “I’m in love with him. And trust me, I know it’s stupid. I know I’m too young. I know it’s too soon. But I don’t care. I want to spend the rest of my life with Stephan. I have no doubts that he is the one I am meant to be with.”
“I wish I was as brave as you are. I can’t even handle being in a relationship. I sleep around, because I’m too scared. And you followed your heart.” Alec sighs sadly. “I can’t even ask Bridgett out on a date. I try, and I just… can’t. I always chicken out. What’s wrong with me?”
“You two have been spending a lot of time together,” I say. “I can’t wait to hear the song you wrote together.”
“We do spend a lot of time together, but what happens after this tour is over? You and I sometimes go six months without seeing each other. We live such crazy lives. I don’t want to be that way with Bridge.”
“So don’t. Stop being a chicken and ask her out.”
“How? She’s not just some girl. She’s special. And I want it to be special. She deserves magic.”
I love hearing Alec call Bridgett special. “Well, you could always do it like I did with Stephan… When I wanted to tell him that I loved him, I wrote a song.”
“You think I should write a song to ask her out on a date?”
“Definitely.” I grin at my fantastic idea. “I think it’s perfect. And very special.”
Alec considers this. “I think you’re onto something.” He starts to say something else, but my mom’s face pops up on TV. He turns up the volume and we listen to her speak.
My mom looks different. Maybe her nose? I can tell she’s definitely had plastic surgery. Her hair is fixed to perfection, and she has her all-too-familiar fake smile plastered on her face.
“What do you think about Scarlett getting married?” the reporter asks.
“Scarlett has always been impulsive,” she responds. “She is young and stupid. We all know that this marriage isn’t going to last. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if she already had it annulled.”
“We hear she kicked you out of her house in Europe. Are the rumors true?”
Then she does something I didn’t expect. She fake cries. “I’m sorry. I’m just so emotional. It’s true. Scarlett did kick me out of her house. It still hurts. I love my daughter. I miss her.”
Ugh, that bitch. She’s such a liar.
“What about her twin, Bridgett Evans? Why was she separated from her?”
“Scarlett was adopted. We have kept it a secret until now, but we had no clue she had a twin.”
“FUCKING LIAR!” I yell at the TV in frustration.
“Don’t worry,” Alec consoles me. “We have it all on film. It’ll be on TV soon enough. The world will see the truth.”
“Right. And until then, everybody will just think I’m a cold-hearted bitch.”
The reporter asks my mom a few more things regarding the divorce, and how she’s holding up, but I can’t listen anymore. I get up from the couch, walk outside, and sit by the pool. I dangle my feet in the water, and gently swish my feet around.
My whole life has been hard. My mom always hated me, my dad always pushed me way too hard, and the one person in the whole world I loved the most ran away. For a split second I thought maybe my life was getting better. Then everything blew up in my face.
I hear the back door open and look over to see Stephan sit down beside me. He doesn’t say a word. He just holds my pinkie with his. Suddenly, my terrible day doesn’t seem so terrible… My world may be crumbling around me. But there is one constant in my life — Stephan. With him, I can conquer the world. Or, at least the day.
10:59 AM
Luke, I am your father.
“Scarlett, there is somebody at the door for you,” Alec says, poking his head out the back door.
“Who is it?” I ask. I really don’t want to get up from this spot. I am really enjoying quiet time with Stephan.
He hesitates before saying, “Your dad.”
I feel my stomach clench up with nerves. “Why is he here?”
“I don’t know,” he answers. “But he says it’s important. He wants to talk to you… And Bridgett.”
Part of me wants to march in there and tell him to get lost. But the other part of me is curious. Curiosity wins. I push myself up off the ground. I know that I should tell him I don’t care what he has to say. But it would be a lie. I care what he has to say, and I want to know what he could have to say to both Bridgett and me.
Maybe it’s an apology.
Could I forgive him if it was?
I want to say no, but the answer is probably yes — I would forgive him.
“Okay. But Stephan is going to be there.”
“So am I,” Alec says.
Stephan get’s up. “Are you sure, Scar?”
I nod. “I want to know what he has to say. No matter how badly he’s treated me, he’s still my dad. I love him.”
“Okay.”
Stephan grabs my hand and we follow Alec inside. We walk into the living room where my dad is standing. Bridgett walks in beside us.
“What’s going on?” she asks.
“My dad wants to talk to us,” I answer.
She turns to him. “What could you possibly have to say to me?”
He looks nervous. Like really nervous. I’ve never seen him like this. He’s usually very calm, even in intense situations. “Please, sit down,” he tells us. So, we all sit on the couch, and he sits across from us on the love seat. He closes his eyes for a minute, and takes a deep breath.
I feel butterflies in my stomach. I’m not sure what he is going to say, but I know it’s big. It has to be. As if my life isn’t full of enough drama, he’s going to add more.
Please, just let this be something stupid. I can’t take any more bad news, I hope silently.
Dad opens his eyes and looks between Bridgett and me. “Scarlett, Bridgett… I…” He sighs. “I am your biological father.”
As soon as the words leave his mouth, the room grows silent. The only sound I hear is the ticking of a clock in a nearby room, and the sound of my own heartbeat. It’s beating fast and hard. What he’s saying can’t be true. Certainly I misunderstood him. “I’m sorry, what?”
“I am your biological father,” he repeats.
I didn’t misunderstand him.
I take a moment to let his words sink in. If he’s my biological father, that means he’s Bridgett’s too. Which doesn’t make sense. “Why would you and Mom just put one of us up for adoption? Why did you keep just me?”
“Because she isn’t your real mom, Scar. I had an affair twenty years ago.”
My Dad — he’s my real dad. I went my whole life thinking that he was. Then I found out he wasn’t. And now I know that he is. Ugh, this is all kinds of screwed up. “Why did you keep just one of us? And what about our real mom? Where is she?”
“Her name was Beverly, and she died. When Beverly was eight months pregnant with you two, she was in a car accident. She was in critical condition and had to choose between her own life or the two of you. Obviously, she chose you. She died just minutes after they performed an emergency c-section,” he explains. “When you were born, I had to tell Stephanie about the affair. She was furious. Rightfully so. When we were on the way to the hospital to pick the two of you up, she threatened me. She said I had to choose. Her and Stacy, or the two of you. I knew that she was serious. Somehow, before we got to the hospital, I convinced her to let me take one of you. The other going to Beverly’s sister, Mary.”
Bridgett gasps as she hears her mom’s name. “But my mom didn’t know about the twins…”
“I had the hospital keep Scarlett a secret from her. I didn’t want her to know, because I didn’t want you to know. I didn’t want you to think that I chose her over you. I did it for my family. It’s a decision that I have regretted every day since then. My family fell apart in ways I couldn’t imagine…” His eyes fill with tears. “Stephanie was very cold after we adopted Scarlett. It was obvious that she hated Scar… No, not really you, Scarlett… She hated what you represented. Every time she looked at you, she saw my betrayal. She became cold and withdrawn, even from Stacy.”
I sit there, looking at him. I’m not sure what to think about what he’s saying. I’m not sure how I’m supposed to respond. I’m so shocked. I’m not sure if I’m more angry with my dad for keeping this secret, or at my mom for being such an evil bitch that separated us.
My dad continues talking. This time, he’s just talking to me. “When you were three years old, you started playing the guitar. We thought it was just a phase, but once we realized how talented you were things turned around. Stephanie… she… changed. She seemed taken with you. For the first time, I felt like she really loved you like a mother loves her daughter. That was why I pushed you so hard. I guess I thought if you were a star that somehow it would fix my marriage. For that, I can never tell you how sorry I am.”
“What about Stacy?” I asked him. “Is she your daughter? Or is she adopted? And why did you kick her out when she got pregnant?”
“Stacy is adopted. Stephanie couldn’t have her own kids, so we decided to adopt,” he explains. “And we didn’t know Stacy was pregnant when we kicked her out. I’d like to say it’s your mom’s fault, but I didn’t stand up to her. I should have put my foot down. But when we kicked Stacy out, she was using drugs. Stephanie was worried about the negative effect it would have on you. I just… I should have stopped it. I should have gotten Stacy the help she needed. But I didn’t. I am glad to hear that she has turned out alright. After your mother kicked her out, I had a private investigator keep an eye on her. I paid for her a place to live, for a card, for food, and even for her to go to college.”
