Page 69 of Chasing Elliott
Heading into the bookstore and walking straight toward the back for the mystery section, I started to walk down the first aisle with my hand skimming every book as I sauntered by. Hearing Nicholas cough behind me, I stopped walking and slowly turned around.
"I found Laura, his ex as it turns out, in his bed at the baseball house in her undergarments and Cooper came out of the bathroom in just his boxers. Benji told me that both of them said he threw up on her dress and on himself, but I just don't know," I whispered sadly as he put a hand on my arm. "I mean, he lied about Laura, so how am I supposed to know for sure?"
"You have to trust your gut, Red. That's all you really can do."
Nodding in agreement, I picked out a book and went to check out. Following him to thecar, we drove back to my place in silence as we listened to the radio. When we were a few minutes away, I decided to speak up.
"How's Alex been? I haven't been able to get a hold of him lately."
"Dad said he actually took over for Greene Designs," Nicholas said, his voice laced with pride. "He's officially ranked as one of the top ten designers in the country."
"Wow," I mumbled as I leaned back against the seat. A smile came to my face as Iimagined how happy he must be.
"He'd love to see you," he said as we pulled up in front of my townhome. "Maybe you and I can take a trip out there soon to go visit."
"I'd love that," I told him as I leaned over and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Thanks fortoday, Nico. I really needed this. I'll call you."
Climbing out of the car, I made my way up the sidewalk to the townhouse. Taking a moment to myself before I entered, I took a deep breath as my hand gripped the handle. I hadn't seen or heard from Kara in two days, and I was starting to get worried; it was very unlike her.
Suddenly hearing voices coming from inside, I breathed a sigh of relief and burst into the entry only to freeze dead in my tracks as dread rushed through me. Kara sat in the chair and there, sitting on the couch, was my mother.
"What are you doing here?" I managed to ask as I swallowed the lump in my throat.
"I called her," Kara spoke up and my eyes widened as my mouth fell slightly open. Taking a shaky breath, I wrung my hands together and nodded slowly as I tried to wrap my head around what was happening.
"Why?" I asked after a long pause.
Kara scoffed as I noticed tears in her eyes, and it was only then that I realized her eyes were puffy and cheeks were a bright red. Glancing over at my mom, I grew slightly irritated as Isaw a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
"Because I needed to hear it from her," she told me with a raspy voice.
"Hear what?" I questioned, not wanting to admit out loud what was happening before my very eyes. I had spent years trying my best to avoid this exact situation from occurring, butclearly my mother had other ideas.
Kara rolled her eyes as she bawled her hands into fists. "Cooper and Benji told me everything, Elliott. I know everything. How could you lie to me all these years?"
Tears instantly sprung to my eyes as I bit my lip to try and stop them from falling. My breath hitched in my throat as a million emotions flooded through me, and I felt like I was going to collapse.
"Kay, I can explain," I said with a shaky voice as I took a small step forward, my hands outstretched slightly.
"I don't want to hear it," Kara snapped as she shook her head furiously. "You had years to tell me, yet you didn't. You spent every day with me and my mom those first few months after hedied, you spent day in and day out with me, you helped me through the darkest parts of my life. Ifucking cried to you more times than I can count because I didn't understand why, and you knew this whole time."
"It's not like that-"
"Then what's it like?" She all but yelled as she looked at me, the pain evident on her face. My heart constricted as my instinct to take her pain away overwhelmed me before the realization that I was the cause of it hit me like a freight train. "Cause it seems pretty damn clear to me."
Kara didn't give me a chance to say anything else as she choked on a sob and ran past me, darting out the front door. The tears cascaded down my cheeks as I put a hand over my mouth and the other on my chest, squeezing my eyes tightly.
"I'm sorry that it had to come down to this, honey," my mother said as she stood up from the couch. "But she deserved to know the truth."
"And she should've heard it from me," I yelled as I quickly turned around to glare at her. "You shouldn't have fucking shown up here when she asked. Did you actually tell her everything or twist it to make yourself look better?"
"Don't get mad at me because you ruined the best friendship you had," she fired back as she folded her arms over her chest.
I scoffed and rolled my eyes, resting my hands on my hips as I tried to get the tears to stop. “You’re a real piece of work, you know that?It’s your fault that I was stuck in this shitshow to begin with. If you had just kept your legs closed, mine and my best friend’s life would be so much fucking easier.”
“So,you’re just blaming me for all of your problems, then?” She asked with a raised brow, folding her arms over her chest. “I thought I taught you better than that.”
“As if you taught me anything,” I told her through clenched teeth. “But damn right I’m blaming you for all my problems. Had you been a loving, caring mother, I wouldn’t be the way I am now. I’d also have my brother by my side.”
