Finding My True Self | Protector 5.1

Chapter 39

Chapter 39

       Everyday, Echo was worried her parents were going to find out she left the tour early. I didn't even know what would happen if they found out she was back in Miami and had been staying at my house.

       At least Echo was back to dancing with D.A.N.C.E at the studio. I really missed dancing with her, and it always felt empty without her here.

       It was also hard for us to practice the final dance without her, because we would just have to imagine her in her positions, and I would have to do the small duet piece solo. I usually got off time there, but now I didn't have to.

       We were working on that dance right now, and it was starting to get a lot stronger.

       That was until that one person decided to show up in the middle of practice.

       We were in the middle of rehearsing the dance when Zayden suddenly stopped, which made me crash into him and fall to the ground like the klutz I was. "Thanks, Zay," I said.

       Dad stopped the music, and Zayden gestured behind him. Dad then turned around to see Echo's mom, Janelle, standing there. "Can I help you?" Dad asked. "Because I've made it a clear rule that parents are no longer allowed to walk in during rehearsals. It throws the dances off."

       Literally.

       I didn't even bother standing up. I was going to sit here so Janelle could look down at me like she already did.

       Janelle completely ignored everything Dad said. "Mind telling me what my daughter is doing here when she's supposed to be on tour?!"

       "Echo's here?" Dad asked before looking at Echo. "Oh, I didn't even see you there. No wonder the dance was looking better today."

       "I'm being serious about this," Janelle said. "I called my other daughter to tell me how Echo was doing, and I could tell she was hiding something, so I called the tour manager only to be told that Echo quit the tour."

       "Mom, can we talk about this later?" Echo asked.

       "No," Janelle said.

       "Yes," Dad said. "I'm sorry, Janelle, but you can't just march into the studio and demand to talk to your daughter in the middle of practice. This is my property, and I have authority on who steps on it."

       "Then I'm taking my daughter off your property," Janelle said. "Come on, Echo."

       "I'm in the middle of rehearsals, Mom," Echo said. "I'm not leaving."

       "Yes, you are," Janelle said.

       "Janelle, we really don't have time for this," Dad said. "You can talk to your daughter after rehearsals, but you really need to leave and stop disrupting everyone."

       "I'm not leaving without my daughter, and you can't make her stay," Janelle said. "If you do, I'll call the cops."

       "I'm not forcing her to stay," Dad said. "She's choosing to stay, but go ahead and call the cops. Ooh, make sure you ask if Officer Prince can attend the call. I'm sure my brother would love to help out."

       "Ryder, I'm serious," Janelle said.

       "No, I'm serious," Dad said. He then remembered everyone was still here, so he told us to take a five minute break.

       Everyone dispersed, but I stayed where I was because I was too lazy and exhausted to get up. Echo walked over and sat down beside me, hooking her arm in mine and resting her head on my shoulder as we continued watching our parents argue.

       "You can't keep treating your daughter like this, Janelle," Dad said. "I really don't want to tell someone how to parent their own kid because it's none of my business, and I'm no perfect parent, but....Echo didn't want to be on tour anymore. She didn't feel like it was for her. But she couldn't go back home to her own parents because she was terrified of your reaction."

       "So this whole time I thought she was on tour, she was staying at your house, I'm guessing?" Janelle asked.

       "Not the whole time," Dad said. "Just since the first week of February. Look, sometimes our children are going to do something we don't like. I mean, my son took off to England not too long ago without even telling me, and I'm pretty sure that's worse than your daughter not wanting to stay doing something that made her uncomfortable."

       "That doesn't make it okay for you to let my daughter stay with you and you not telling me," Janelle said.

       "Can you blame me?" I asked. "Knowing you, you would have just found a way to turn it all around and blame it on Rhys just because you don't like the fact that Echo is dating a Prince. I know you've been holding a grudge against because you had a crush on Nolan and you found out he was gay, but that's not our fault. It isn't even your fault. I'm sure if he was straight, he would have given you a chance, but he's not and he couldn't so you really need to get over it. You were fourteen, Janelle. That was years ago. Are you really going to let something that happened when you were a teenager take over your life? Take over your daughter's life?"

       Janelle didn't say anything for a while. She just looked at me and Echo sitting beside each other before she looked back at Ryder. "Echo can stay with your family for a bit longer," she said. "I think I have to sort a few things out because she can come back home."

       After she walked off, Dad released a sigh. "How did you do that?" Echo asked. "My mom is usually a very stubborn person."

       "Trust me, I know how to deal with someone being stubborn," Dad said. "I just say what I know they want to hear. It works every time. Believe it or not, your mom wants what's best for you. All parents do. Some just....don't know what's best for their children. I think you have to start communicating with your mom more."

       "Yeah, you're right," Echo said. "I hadn't really told her that she puts too much stress on me. I'll call her tonight to talk to her."

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hahahah Ryder is a genius (still).

I can't wait for TNS to start up again. I NEED MORE RHYS AND ECHO GIFS, AND MAYBE ZAYDEN IF OZZY EVER GOES WITHOUT HIS GLASSES.