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Stacy snorts. “Most of that was an illusion.” Her words surprise me. “If you knew what my life was really like, you wouldn’t want to live it. In fact, I’d rather have lived yours.”
“Seriously?” Now, I am baffled. “Stacy, you’re the most put together, don’t give a damn, badass I know.”
“Again, an illusion,” Stacy admits. “A disguise I put on to hide who I really am.”
“I’ve known you since we were born,” I remind her. “You’re my invincible friend, Stacy. I grab her hand. “My superhero.”
“Trust me, Bells, I’m not.” Stacy shakes her head, and her eyes are surprisingly bright with unshed tears. “I’m a frightened, broken kid inside. The only reason I’m still sane or learned to push back is because of a woman with a hard shell but a big heart on the inside, my best friend, Davey, you, your brother, and…”
Stacy swallows before continuing, “This is going to sound strange, but also your father.” I start to pull my hand away as that cold feeling hits me again, and I’m thinking she’s a fucking mole. But she grabs my hand. “But not in the way you think.”
“Then enlighten me because, to be honest, Stacy, I’m beginning to feel uncomfortable,” I tell her honestly. “Like my father is going to charge through that door at any minute because you’ve been giving updates these past six weeks.”
Her eyes widen in surprise, then fill with anger. “Not a fucking chance would I do that for your asshole of a motherfucking father.“ Her eyes narrow. “And trust me when I say mother fucking I mean that quite literally because your father and my mother used to fuck on a regular basis.”
“What?” My eyes nearly pop out of my head, and I choke on my spit.
“Shit, Bella.” Stacy grabs the bottle of water on the table, handing it to me before patting me on the back as I go into a full-blown choke. “Here, drink.”
Eventually, I get my choke reflex under control after glugging down the water, hoping that it won’t lead to another bout of vomiting. “Jesus, Stacy. Why didn’t you ever tell me?” Another thought hits me. “Does your father know?”
“I don’t think he gives a shit.” Stacy shrugs. “They haven’t slept in the same bedroom since I was about thirteen. Or maybe even sooner than that.” Her brow creases. “I only found out by accident when I mistakenly went to my parents for help. My father was with some whore he’d picked up at the Velvet Lounge, and my mother… she was in the room across the hall from him.”
“You see,” I point at her with the lid in my hand, “I should know that.”
“Trust me, if I could’ve told you, I would have,” Stacy tells me. “At first, I was so shocked. Then, even more so when my mother and father shat me out for disturbing them and didn’t believe what I was telling them. They accused me of telling tales because I was jealous and trying to get my brother into trouble.”
“What did your brother do?” A prickling sensation started to creep up my spine.
“He came home from a party drunk,” Stacy says. Her eyes drop, and she starts to fiddle with her hands. The cold feeling inside me starts to intensify. “You know how you always had a crush on Harry?”
I nod. “Yeah.”
“Ever wonder why I never encouraged the relationship and always tried to have you avoid him?” Stacy looks at me, and her eyes are even heavier and tormented now.
“I thought you didn’t want me to be with him because he was your brother, and it would be weird for us if anything bad happened between me and Harry.”
“No.” She shakes her head. “It’s because I didn’t want him to hurt you.”
“Stacy, what are you trying to tell me?” A ringing starts in my ears.
“That night, I went to find my parents. Harry had come home drunk from a party and climbed into bed with me.” Stacy closed her eyes, and I felt a massive wave of shock dump over me. “He started touching me and telling me how beautiful my young little body was starting to look. How I’d been teasing him by flaunting it with my tight jeans and short little shorts.”
“Fuck, Stacy!”
“I managed to get away that first night. I locked myself in a guest bedroom.” Her eyes are closed. “A month went by, and I thought maybe it was because he was drunk.”
“My parents went away for a weekend. The weekend of your thirteenth birthday.”
I remember that party. That was the first time I noticed Harry looking at me. I can remember feeling so thrilled.
“I went to him and told him to stay away from you. He was like an old man compared to us as he was seventeen.”
“Is that why he left so abruptly?”
Stacy nods. “That night.” Her jaw clenches. “That was the first night…”
I can see she’s struggling, and my mind is reeling. Jesus, she was going through all this, and I didn’t know! How fucking self-absorbed was I?
