The Bad Boy Stole My Notebook

Chapter 17

*Lilah's POV*

"There's nothing else I can do for him right now," my dad repeated. "And you can't do anything for him either, now let's go home," he said with finality in his voice.

I sighed. "Please let me stay," I pleaded for probably the hundredth time.

Jeff placed a hand on my shoulder. "I'll be here, Lilah. You can go home," he reassured me.

I sent my father one last hopeful look but he simply shook his head. I sighed in defeat and headed out to the car.

We drove home in silence for most of the way. 

"Would you like to explain to me why I just bailed out some boy I don't know?" my father finally spoke.

"I'll pay you back," I told him. I would just have to sacrifice some of my studio time.

He sighed, clearly noticing that I wasn't really in the mood for a discussion. "Alright," he said as we pulled into the driveway. "We don't have to talk about this now. Let's go inside. I'm sure your mother is very worried about you."

We walked inside and Logan looked at me warily. A look that we usually gave each other when we were concerned about the other one getting in trouble.

"What happened?!" my mother ran over. "What did you do?!" she asked, her eyes narrowing on me. 

"I was there for a friend," I said simply before heading to the stairs, suddenly feeling very exhausted. But I stopped and turned around. "You know, I really don't appreciate how you just automatically assume that I did something wrong," I said angrily as my voice started to rise.

"Don't you use that tone of voice with me, young lady," she scolded.

"You know what Mom? Just save the whole act. You've never treated me like a daughter before so why start now?" I said before storming up the stairs. 

"Well, no daughter of mine is a delinquent!" she shouted.

I was really close to flipping her the bird when Logan spoke. "Just stop, Mom."

I shut the door behind me. Tears threatened to spill over when there was a soft knock on my bedroom door. 

"Hey, can I come in?" Logan asked, slowly cracking the door open and sticking his head in.

I nodded and he entered. I tried to keep my composure as he came closer. 

"Just ignore what Mom said. She doesn't know what she's talking about."

I stiffly nodded but a sob wracked through me and managed to escape. I'm usually not a hugger but in that moment I really needed it. I had a full night.

"You wanna talk about it?" he asked and I nodded. And I told him everything.

I mean, what else is a twin brother for?

*****

After I had calmed down, Logan and I played cards until we both grew tired enough to sleep. It was something that we had always done as kids to get our minds off of things.

The next morning I rushed to school, ignoring my sleep deprived body telling me to go back to bed. I was anxious to see Reece and finally get some answers. When I pulled into the school parking lot I saw him near the entrance talking to Carter and Devon. He looked tired as well.

I hesitantly got out of the car and started walking towards him. Carter saw me first and nudged Devon and they both started backing away. Reece looked up at me and a pained expression came across his face. I wanted to hug him. But I didn't. I wanted to give him some space.