that was going on. Cally, on the other hand, couldn’t believe any of this. It seemed like it was all planned out and everyone had worked out all the details months ago and these were just the final details being ironed out. Yeah, they were all officially nuts or she was; it was getting hard to tell anymore. And considering what was happening, she wasn’t all that sure she wasn’t the one losing it.
When dinner was over, Dakota said they were going back to her house to tell her parents the news. Her heart started pounding and sinking deep into her stomach again, and they wondered why she didn’t want to eat. At that point, she just gave up, because no one was going to have time to kill her. Her own heart was going to give long before anyone had the chance to do it, or she was just going to throw up on everyone—she wasn’t sure which.
She had all but given up at that point and was surprised as he leaned down and kissed her before she got in the car. Cally just let the heat and fire take over. She was done trying to deal with her erratic feelings at this point. Besides, this was one of the few things that she didn’t mind him doing today. Especially considering that every time he kissed her, the world seemed to right itself for just a few moments before it flipped upside-down again.
The ride back to her house was quiet, for the most part. She was too preoccupied with everything that was happening to really care about anything else. The sun was starting to set when they pulled up, and the lights in the house were on. She could clearly see her mom walking into the living room through the large picture windows. Okay, now her stomach was truly starting up again, and this time, she was almost positive there was a hurricane brewing in the pit of her stomach.
Cally didn’t want to go in the house, let alone get out of the car. She wasn’t all that surprised when Dakota walked around and opened the door for her. He was truly a gentleman in every way. She just looked at the house that now seemed like a gas chamber waiting to take her last breath away from her. She could only hope that her death wasn’t waiting for her in there.
Dakota wrapped his arm around her waist and almost pulled her in the house, because she was sure that she wouldn’t have gone in there any other way. Cally didn’t want to go in, but she knew there was no way out of this. She cringed as she opened the door, feeling the icy glares from her parents, looking at them, accusing them of something. She looked down at her baby sister sitting on the floor, playing, and then to her mom and knew something just wasn’t right.
Her face in that moment told Cally everything. She knew! And she knew everything that he had done today. Her shock was only hidden by the fact that her only way out was gone. Her mother wasn’t going to help her get out of this mess; no, her mother was going to give him everything he wanted with no questions asked. She was done for; everything was done. There was no way she was going anywhere but where Dakota wanted at this point.
They sat down on the love seat, and from what she was seeing, she had nothing to say to them. This was a setup from the start; he had manipulated everything, everything except for her saying yes. That was the only thing he couldn’t have controlled. And yet, she had agreed, even though she didn’t want to; or she did, but she didn’t want Seth to get mad at her over this. Her life was no longer her own. It was Dakota’s, and he was controlling it in every way.
Her treacherous mother asked, “What did your parents say?”
Dakota smiled. “Their happy for us.”
She didn’t have to ask, but she just couldn’t hold back the accusation “You knew? You knew he was going to do this and you let him?”
Her mother laughed at her. “He asked us last week.”
“And you agreed?” she demanded, anger starting to fill her.
“He’s a good guy and he’s got a good job. I didn’t see why not.” Her mother shrugged it off like it was nothing. But it was her face that gave Cally the answers she needed. She was out of control, hanging with “the wrong crowd,” and they had two other kids to deal with, so one less wasn’t a big deal to them. The truth was there, and it hurt worse than a knife stabbing her through the heart; they didn’t want her anymore and they were getting rid of her.
Cally just shook her head, angry, disappointed, and broken from the truth of what they were doing. She stood up, and Dakota took her hand, and she looked down at him, wanting to run away from all of this. “I’m going to the bathroom. I’ll be back.” Maybe, she added silently.
This house had a strange layout; she had to give it that. She could easily see down the main hall, but halfway down was a second hall that led to the bathroom and the back door. She was very tempted to just walk out the door, but she didn’t, because she really did have to go to the bathroom…first.
Once the door was shut, the tears starting falling. The truth that they had planned everything—every single detail had been planned out, and no one had told her anything about this—stung. Yeah, Dakota had said something on a midnight phone call a month ago, but how was she supposed to remember all of that? How was she supposed to deal with any of this? She was fifteen, still a kid, and there was no way she was ready to get married.
The tears fell, and she just wanted to stay in the bathroom forever. But her downfalls were that there were no locks on the doors in the old house and she had a three-year-old baby sister that didn’t know the meaning of privacy. She tried to wipe the tears from her face and started redoing her makeup the best she could. If she was going to have to face anyone else, she was going to do it looking her best, even if her eyes were now a little swollen and red.
She picked Kaylee up just as she heard the front door open and she couldn’t help but freeze next to the backdoor. Something wasn’t right, and she wasn’t going back out there. She heard her mom saying, “Hey, Jay, she’s in her room.”
Okay, Savannah’s boyfriend was here. She could deal with that. He had always been really nice to her, for the most part. But when the front door opened again, Cally took a step back, knowing that something was seriously wrong about this.
Her mom said cheerfully—a little too cheerfully for her mom—“Come have a seat.”
Her hand was on the doorknob at her back when she heard Dakota’s mother ask, “Where’s Cally?”
Dakota was saying, “She went to the bathroom.”
Jay was heading back to Savannah’s room when he saw her and stopped to stare at what had to be a “deer ready to run” kind of scene. He looked at her hand on the back door but didn’t say anything. More than anything, she just wanted to run, and she knew he would out her the moment she opened the door, but she really didn’t care at this point. She wanted out of here, out of this mess that Dakota had made of her life. One set of parents she could deal with, but two was too much. Why were they all ganging up on her? What had she done to deserve this?
Savannah’s voice pierced her own panic. “What are you doing?”
Jay didn’t take his eyes off her, and he didn’t have to, because Savannah came around the corner to see what had to be an interesting sight. Cally could hear Jay’s quiet tone as he informed her, “His parents are here.”
Savannah just shook her head and headed toward Cally. She pulled the door open and started backing out with every step her sister took. But with Kaylee in her arms, she was put off-balance and stumbled just as Savannah grabbed her arm and ordered, “Get in there. You have to deal with this. Have you told him yet?”
She didn’t have to say anything else. Cally knew what she meant. Had she told Seth about Dakota’s proposal? “No. I haven’t had the time.”
She held her breath as her sister pulled her back in the house. Savannah was going to kill her, but hopefully not right now with a baby in her arms. Then again, the last time they had really fought, it hadn’t mattered if she had Kaylee in her arms or not. Savannah had pushed her down the hall, and she knew she wasn’t going to win this time, so she just went along to keep from starting a fight in front of both sets of parents and Dakota.
As she walked by, Jay absently offered, “Congratulations.”
Yeah,