by Kai Juniper
I pull into Ella's driveway and park. "You want to go in first?"
"No. Come with me." She undoes her seatbelt and opens the door.
I remain in my seat. "I think you should go talk to him."
"And leave you out here? No. I don't want you going back home."
I get out of the truck and toss the keys to her as we walk to the door.
"Dad?" she says as she goes inside.
"Hey, honey." Her dad appears from the kitchen, stopping when he sees me. "Briggs. What are you doing here?"
"Dad, I need to talk to you." Ella goes past him to the living room.
"What's this about?" he asks me.
"You should talk to Ella," I say.
He goes over to her. "I'm listening."
She glances at me, then back at her dad. "Briggs needs to stay here for a few days, maybe longer."
"Why would he stay here?"
"He's having problems with—"
"The noise at my house," I say, going over to Ella, stopping her before she mentions my father. "We're having some work done and it's loud."
"And they're doing it at night?" he asks, his brows raised. He knows it's a lie.
"Dad, it doesn't matter," Ella says. "The point is, he can't go home. Can he please just stay a few days? He'll sleep on the couch."
Her dad's eyes bounce between Ella and me. "What's going on here? You two are obviously hiding something from me, so what is it?"
Ella steps up to him. "Dad, you know I wouldn't ask you to do this unless it was really important. Please, I'm begging you, let him stay here."
"His father is the reason we're losing our house. And you invite this boy to stay with us?"
"Briggs didn't take our house. He had nothing to do with that."
Her dad looks at me. "Does your father know you're here?"
"No. And I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell him."
"I'm guessing that means you two had a fight."
Ella looks at me, her eyes begging me to tell him more.
"Yes," I say to her dad. "He has a bad temper. He needs time to calm down." I rub my hand over the bruise on my neck. It's faded, but you can still see it. I drop my hand and notice Ella's father looking at my neck. It's what I wanted. I couldn't tell him what my father does to me, but I could give him an idea.
Concern replaces the anger on his face. The guy doesn't even know me, and yet he shows more concern for me than my own parents.
"How long have you two been...fighting?" he asks.
"Ever since my mom left," I say. "It's been about a year."
He nods, then turns to Ella. "I need to ask you something and you need to be totally honest."
"What is it?"
"Before I even consider this, I need to know about you and Briggs. You told me there was nothing going on with you two. Were you lying to me? Have you been seeing him behind my back?"
Shit. If Ella tells him the truth, there's no way he'll let me stay.
Chapter Twenty-One
Ella
"We started to be more than friends," I say, "but then it ended."
"Why did you lie to me?" my dad asks. "Why not just tell me the truth?"
"Because I know you don't like him."
"I don't like his father. I don't really know his son."
"Well, now you'll get a chance to know him." I give my dad the smile I use for when I really want something. "Can he stay? Just for a few days?"
He looks between Briggs and me. "Are you being truthful when you say it's over between you two?"
"Yes," Briggs and I say at the same time.
"And you'll tell me if that changes?"
"Yes," I say. "So can he stay?"
My dad sighs. "I better not regret this."
"You won't." I give him a hug. "Thanks, Dad."
He looks at Briggs. "Did you bring some clothes with you?"
"No. I kind of left in a hurry."
"Could you go wait outside? I need to talk to Ella."
"Yeah. I'll be out front." Briggs goes down the short hallway to the door.
When he's gone, my dad says. "What's going on here? Why is Briggs Chadwick staying at our house? I want the truth, Ella, not some version of the truth."
"I can't say. But Dad, you saw his neck."
"And you're telling me his father did that?"
"And more," I mutter.
My dad sets his hand on my shoulder. "Honey, I know you like helping people, but this is Briggs Chadwick. His father is a very powerful man. He already took our house. I don't want him doing even more damage because we have his son."
"Then what do you suggest we do? Just let him go back there?"
He thinks for a moment. "He can stay for a day or two. After that, we'll have to figure out something else."
"Like what? Dad, please, let him stay longer than a few days. He can't go back there."
"Ella, I feel bad for him, but you're putting me in a tough situation."
"I know. But I wouldn't ask if it wasn't really important to me."
He looks me in the eye. "You sure there's nothing between you two?"
"No. Not anymore. Dad, I swear, I'm not lying to you."
"Then you're lying to yourself."
"What do you mean?"
He smiles a little. "I'm your father. I know you better than anyone. You have feelings for that boy. I've never seen you this worked up over someone who's just a friend."
"I just don't want him going back there."
My dad sighs. "Two days, maybe three. And then we'll figure it out after that."
"A week?" I give him that smile again.
"Don't push it. Three days, max. And no making out with him on the couch when I'm not home." He points at me. "And he doesn't step foot in your bedroom."
I roll my eyes. "I just told you it's not like that. Nothing's going to happen."
"I'm going to hold you to that. Now go out there and get him."
I run to the door and open it, hoping he's still there. He's standing behind the truck, looking at his phone.
I go over to him. "You can come in now."
"Is he okay with me staying?"
"For a few days. He might let you stay longer if I keep working on him." I grab Briggs' hand. "Come on."
He pulls his hand from mine. "Probably shouldn't be doing that around your dad. We shouldn't be doing anything around him."
"Why would we do anything? We're just friends, right? Nothing more?" I'm asking because I want to know. Briggs said he loves me, but he never said he wanted to get back together.
"Yeah," he says. "We're just friends."
So then why did he say he loves me? Did he mean he loves me as a friend?
We go inside and find my dad in the kitchen, making a sandwich.
"What do you guys want to eat?" he asks.
"I'm good," Briggs says. "I don't need to eat."
"You have to eat," I tell him. "You want a sandwich?"
"I'll go get something later."
As he says it, I realize this is about money. He doesn't want to cost us anything by staying here.
"Have a sandwich," my dad says, handing his plate to Briggs. "I'll make another one."
"Thank you," Briggs says, looking down at it. He seems embarrassed, or maybe ashamed. He's probably never had to ask for help, so taking it doesn't feel right to him.
The three of us have lunch, then my dad goes in his room to change back into his work clothes.
"I should go," Briggs says, getting up from the table.
"Go where?"
"Anywhere. I don't feel right being here." He's pacing the floor, rubbing his hand through his hair.
"Briggs, stop." I grab his arm and get in front of him. "You're not going anywhere. You don't even have your car. Just stay. You're safe here."
My dad comes out of his room. "I'm heading out," he says, giving Briggs and me a look like he doesn't want to leave us alone. "I don't know when I'll be home. It could be any time."
That's code
for he might make a surprise visit so Briggs and I shouldn't do anything because there's a chance my dad will catch us.
"Bye, Dad," I say, urging him to leave.
When he's gone, Briggs smiles. "He didn't believe you. He thinks we're still together."
"We were never really together, were we?" I ask, sitting on the couch. "I mean, we did stuff, but it's not like we ever went on a date."
"Yeah, I guess." He sits on the couch but a few feet away from me. "What I said yesterday..." He doesn't finish, but I know he's referring to when he told me he loves me.
"Don't worry about it. I know you didn't mean it. It was a stressful day and sometimes people say things they don't mean when they're stressed."
He nods, then glances at me. "So what do you want to do?"
"We could work on the assignment. I haven't started it."
"I really don't care about school anymore. What's the point?"
I turn to face him. "We don't know what's going to happen. We can't just give up."
"I'm not. I just don't see the point of killing myself to get good grades. There's no way I could catch up with you to be valedictorian and I've already been accepted to college so my grades don't really matter."
"What college did you get accepted to?"
"Stanford."
"Really?" I smile. "I'm going there too."
He turns to me. "You got accepted?"
"Yeah, I just got the letter."
"I won't be going there," Briggs says, sitting back. "I only applied to Stanford because my dad forced me to. It's tradition. It's where my dad went, and my grandfather."
"Then where would you go?"
He shrugs. "Haven't figured that out yet. I'll probably just get a job. I won't have money for school."
"I thought you said you've been saving money."
"I have, but it won't be enough for school. It'll get me an apartment and maybe a cheap car, but that's it."
"What about your mom? Could she help you pay for college?"
He shakes his head. "She gave up money and all her possessions. She said it's part of her spiritual growth." He rolls his eyes.
"So she's not getting anything in the divorce?"
"I don't know. I stay out of that shit. Asking my dad about the divorce got me this." He points to a scar on his arm.
"What did he do?" I cautiously ask, knowing he doesn't like to talk about it.
"Threw a vase at me. A piece of glass sliced through my arm."
He says it casually, like he's so used to getting abused by his father that it doesn't even faze him anymore.
I scoot closer to him, facing him while he looks straight ahead. "Was yesterday the first time you fought back?"
"Yeah."
"What made you do it? Why yesterday, and not all the other times?"
"Because he hit you," he says like it's obvious.
"But why is that any different than him hitting you?"
"It just is."
"You don't deserve that, Briggs. You didn't do anything wrong. No matter what he says, it's not your fault."
"Yeah, got it," he says, sounding angry. "I don't want to talk about this. Talk about something else."
He doesn't believe me. There's a part of him that believes what his father tells him, which is probably that he's worthless, or not good enough, or bad and has to be punished. My words won't convince him his dad is wrong. He needs to figure that out on his own.
I hear the front door open and bolt up from the couch. "Dad?"
"It's me," Susan says, appearing from the hallway, carrying grocery sacks. She smiles. "Did your father tell you I'd be coming over?"
"No."
She goes in the kitchen and sets the sacks on the counter. "My neighborhood lost power so your father offered to let me come over here to work. I thought I'd make dinner later to thank him." She starts unloading the groceries into the fridge.
"You're going to be here all day?" I ask Susan, glancing at Briggs.
"Yes. Is that a problem?"
"No." I sit back on the couch, knowing my dad did this on purpose. He doesn't trust me with Briggs so he sent his girlfriend over to babysit us.
"Maybe we should go," Briggs says to me, his voice lowered.
"Oh, don't go," Susan says, closing the fridge and rushing over to us. "I didn't mean to impose. I just needed a place to work. You can watch TV or do whatever you'd normally do. Just pretend I'm not here." She smiles at Briggs. "I'm Susan, Roy's girlfriend."
"Nice to meet you," Briggs says, standing just briefly to shake her hand.
Her brows rise. "You're Ella's boyfriend?"
"He's just a friend," I say. "From school."
She looks back at Briggs. "I don't believe I got your name."
"Briggs Chadwick."
"Chadwick," she says. "So you're the son of Briggs Chadwick, owner of the investment firm."
"That's me," Briggs says, sounding like he wished it wasn't true.
She smiles at him. "Is he already grooming you to take over someday?"
"He's trying to."
"Meaning he takes you to the office?"
"Yeah. Sometimes." Briggs glances at me, probably wondering why she's asking so many questions. I'm wondering that too.
"Have you been there recently?" she asks Briggs.
"Last weekend, but we weren't there long. He's had a lot going on at work so he doesn't have time to go over stuff with me."
Susan pauses, her eyes on Briggs. "You look very familiar. Have we met before?"
"I don't think so."
"Your friends with the Kingsley boy. Is that right?"
"Finn? Yeah. Why?" Briggs glances at me again, like he wants me to get her to stop questioning him, but just as I'm about to say something, she starts in again.
"As you probably know, Finn has had several run-ins with the law," Susan says. "Your name has come up several times when we've asked who we should call to give him a ride home."
Briggs nods. "When he's drunk, he doesn't like calling his dad."
"And there was another boy." She taps her lip. "What's his name?"
Briggs keeps quiet.
"Parker," she says. "Parker Sterling. He's the other name he's asked us to call. I assume you're all friends?"
"We should go," I say, getting up. "Briggs and I were just heading out to get something to eat."
"I could make you something," Susan says.
"We already planned to go out. And this way you can get your work done." I smile at her. "See you later."
She watches as Briggs and I leave. We get in my truck, not saying anything until I'm driving down the road.
"What the fuck was that about?" Briggs asks.
"Remember that day she was asking me about Finn's Range Rover? Maybe she thought you'd tell her more than I did since you're friends with him."
"Or she thinks I'm a suspect in the hit-and run." He shakes his head. "Fuck."
"She was just asking you questions. It doesn't mean anything."
"She was gathering evidence. Why else would she be asking me about Finn and Parker? And did you see the way she kept looking at me?"
"Yeah," I say with a sigh. "You're right."
"About what?"
"She knows something she's not telling us, or she suspects something. She wasn't asking you stuff like she wanted to get to know you. She was asking like she was interrogating you."
"Exactly, so what the fuck that does mean? That she knows it's us?"
"If she did, she'd arrest us, not ask us questions."
"What else has she said to you?"
"About the case? Nothing. I mean, nothing I haven't already told you." I pull over to the parking lot where I met Briggs that night we made out in the back of the truck.
"What are you doing?" he asks.
"I didn't know where to go." I shut off the truck and turn to Briggs. "What if she knows?"
"If she does, she can't prove it."
I lean back in the seat, closing my eyes and taking deep b
reaths. "What if this is it? What if today is the day they arrest us?"
"Then it'll finally be over."
I open my eyes and look at him. "You're acting like you want this to happen."
He shrugs. "I don't, but I'm tired of this. Waiting for a text from some asshole who thinks it's funny to play with our lives like this? Thinking the cops are going to show up at my door? I don't want to keep living this way. If it's going to happen, I just want to get it over with."
"I don't. I want it to go away. I want to stop it."
"We can't. That guy's got a video. He has proof we were there."
I tip my head back on the seat. "This is really going to happen, isn't it?"
"I'm afraid so."
We sit in silence for several minutes and all I can think about is how these might be my last minutes of freedom. What if Susan already has the evidence she needs and is waiting to make the arrest? What if she does it when we get home?
"Maybe she doesn't know," Briggs says. "Maybe your dad put her up to this. Maybe he asked her to find out more about me because he's not sure he can trust me to stay at your house."
"And he's using Susan to see if he can," I say, feeling a little better as I realize he might be right. "My dad's super protective of me. I could totally see him sending Susan over to interrogate you."
"We should talk to Finn and Parker," Briggs says. "Let them know she was asking about them."
"Why? You just said Susan was only asking you that stuff because of my dad."
Briggs looks at me. "What if I'm wrong? If this is happening soon, I need to remind Finn and Parker to keep their mouths shut and to only talk to their lawyers."
"Go ahead," I say. "Call them."
Briggs notices my hand shaking as it rests on the steering wheel. He reaches over and takes my hand in his, looking me in the eye. "It's going to be okay. I know you're scared, but you didn't do anything wrong. The cops will see that and let you off."
"You don't know that."
"I'll tell the cops you tried to get us to stay. I'll say I talked you out of it."
"But you didn't. Finn and Parker are the ones who wanted to leave and go to the party."
"I wanted to leave too. You're the only one who was willing to stay. I'll tell the cops that and they'll let you go. You won't have to worry."
"You really didn't want to stay with that guy? Even when you found out he was still alive?"
