Broken

• Chapter 4 •

"I'm gonna have a burger. What do you want?" Brandon turns to mom.

"You."

I grimace as dad breaks into a smirk. "Smooth, you can have me for dessert, baby," he tells her.

"Can't wait."

"Ew, stop!" I scrunch my face up in disgust.

Mom and dad break into amused laughter as I pull the menu out and pretend to scan over it. "I think I'm gonna have—"

"Pizza. We know," dad interrupts with a roll of the eyes.

I giggle, "I can't help it."

"I'm surprised you're not sick of it by now," he gives me a full-bodied shrug and tears a piece of bread in half.

"Tell me just how does one get sick of pizza?" I'm offended, "That's actually insane."

We spend an hour talking about the most random topics, and I'm happier than I have been in months. Still. A pit sits at the bottom of my stomach, anticipating their news. What if they do ship me off to Zimbabwe? I'm irresistible, I just know the mosquitos will be all up in my shit.

"And then I found out the audition was for the sequel of 50 Shades of Grey."

I snap my attention back to my mom, who's telling us about all of her unexpected auditions. "You said no, right?" dad furrows his eyebrows at her.

"I said I'd think about it," mom teases him.

I retract in horror, thinking about my mother acting in 50 Shades of Grey is a disturbing thought.

"Okay, guys. Out with it. What's the news?" I can't hold it in anymore.

"Just tell her," Brandon nudges her.

Mom sighs and turns to me with a huge smile, "We're moving back to LA!"

I blink. What? "Um... What? Like we as in you and dad, or we as in all of us?" my heart trudges.

"All of us, silly. I got an offer to be on an upcoming TV show and they're shooting in LA," she tells me.

I'm confused. "So, where am I going to live? My job? Is Mr. Knobhad going to come to LA? Are you getting me a new teacher?" I have so many questions.

"No, sweetie. You'll live with us. We're telling people that you decided to stay in New York. You've saved up enough, Minty. But if you like, you can find a job in LA. And yes, Mr. Nobhad is the best ivy-league educator around. Besides, it's too risky having another professional know your identity there," mom tells me excitedly.

I. Am. In. Shock.

My stomach tangles up even tighter at the realization of how close we are going to be to him. The entire reason we left LA was for a fresh start. And I love our house, but it also brings back horrifying memories. Ones that I've sworn never to think about the day we packed up and left.

But he's in jail, Clementine. You're safe.

Suddenly, the pit in my stomach is replaced with an emotion I recognize as excitement. I've missed LA, I've missed the warmth, the sun, Benji, Emoni, Ella, Daario, Maya...

And Eric.

I muster up some courage, "Can I ask you guys something?"

Mom and dad look at me expectedly. "Can I... Do you think maybe I could go to a real school?"

I see them grow rigid, then exchange knowing expressions. "Baby, you know why you're homeschooled..." dad starts.

I sigh, "I know... I know. I just—" I click my tongue in irritation. "He's locked up! We're letting him control my entire life. I barely have any friends, I rarely go out other than for work, we had to come in separate cars to this damn restaurant so we wouldn't be seen together!" I sigh deeply.

"It's tiring. I'm safe, now. Like you said, everyone thinks I'm staying in New York... No one knows what I look like. So why can't I just have a normal high school experience? I mean I'm going off to University in a year anyway, I'm gonna need some sort of experience with the outside world—" I stop when I realize I'm rambling.

Wow, I didn't even know I felt this way until just now. I guess I did, deep down. But it's the first time I've admitted it. I hate him, and I am tired of running and hiding. I want to start living.

Mom and dad exchange torn expressions and turn back to me with crestfallen eyes. I know the answer before they even say it.

"It's okay," I wave my hand up to stop them before anything comes out of their mouths, "I understand."