Aria

25- Aria ( NEW )

Hard times seem to be put in our way, not to stop us from living our lives but to call out our courage and strength, to which I owe Walter and Gunner for working with me over the years to help bring out the courage and strength I never thought I had.

After learning the truth a little over a week ago about what happened between my parents, how my father was the one who took and raised my sister since she was born, and how my upcoming fight will be against the one sister, I've despised since learning who she was. I've been a mess because I've thought this entire time that she and Stacey were the reason for my parents split and the cause of my mother's depression.

I'm unsure of what to think or how I should feel. I'm also hesitant to forgive my parents and forget about the pain they both caused both Justin and me. And I've also wondered if it would be best if I were to throw my arms into the air and walk away-being content with not having my parents in my life because of this newest test they laid out in front of me. I'm done taking tests, and I don't feel like trying to pass this one.

To me, walking away and not looking back is strength and courage right there because it's difficult to turn your back on the two people who gave you life. The way I see things, and that's if I were to change how I look at these twenty-plus years of dark times, they'd change for the better.

And since my heart and mind tell me I need to let the past go for good and that there are far better times to look forward to, I should probably listen to them. Because if I don't, I'll most likely end up living like my mother has been my entire life. And I refuse to live in confinement-a white padded room dealing with doctors and therapists daily. All while living without the two most essential loves in my life-Gunner, and Wyatt. And that's something I will never allow to happen.

After learning my father and his wife were the ones who raised Stella as their own and lived in Seattle all this time, my curiosity about the woman, my ex left me for grew. I was curious to know if the Stella he was seeing was my sister, and if she was, I wanted to know if he knew who she was to me, hoping to hurt me more than I already was. But now that I'd like to move on with my life, I decided to cancel my trip to Malaysia to visit Cole in prison.

Visiting Cole wouldn't have changed anything. All it would have done was upset me more if Cole rubbed it in by admitting that he was seeing my sister. And if I want to continue moving on with my life, then that means I need to cut ties with everyone who hurt me, even if that means ending any relationship I have with my parents. I have Wyatt, Gunner, Walter, and Justin. That's all I need.

I tell myself this, yet here I am, sitting in the driveway at my father's house after he had called Gunner, asking that he talk me into coming to see him. At first, I was adamant about not giving him the time of day, but after Gunner mentioned it was because Stella wanted to meet me, I caved-another reason I canceled my Malaysia trip.

Finally, after twenty minutes of sitting in my car, I got the courage to knock on my father's door. I expected to see him answering the door, but instead, it was a younger boy who was his spitting image of my father. His eyes widened; he looked behind him and then back at me with a confused look on his face, studying me before asking, "Can I help you?"

"Ah, yeah," I hesitantly breathed, unsure if he knew who I was or if I was coming, so I enlightened him further. "My name is Aria, and I'm here to see Vince. Is he home?"

His eyes remained glued to me, and he looked at me like my father did when he first saw me-like a ghost.

Is there something I don't know? Like, am I dead and the reason behind these ghostly stares? Or maybe it's because he knows who I am and wasn't told I was coming over-especially since I'm the one fighting against his sister in a couple of days.