Fate's Return (Twisted Fate, Book 2)

Chapter Sixteen

On Thursday I woke without remembering a single dream. I closed my eyes against the familiar wave of nausea and took deep, calming breaths. In and out. Slow. Easy. Calm. Don't move or blink, or let a single thought penetrate your serenity.

Find your inner peace, I commanded myself.

It wasn't immediate or, for that matter, complete. But five minutes passed, and then ten. The dizziness and nausea faded. Finally, I could stand without swaying, which allowed me to get ready without fear of my parents hearing me throw my cookies for the sixth day in a row.

I pulled on jeans and a black sweater to match my black boots and hurried to the kitchen for breakfast. My stomach growled to remind me of my skipped supper the night before as I stepped through the doorway, as though timing it to announce my presence. My parents looked up from the table where they sat reading the newspaper and sipping morning coffee. They regarded me as though the year of dealing with David's death on my own didn't count. The moment they learned the truth, it was like they saw me for the first time over the past year. Like... they suspected razors to be hidden in the pockets of my gray petticoat so that I could slit my wrists from the sadness of it all as soon as I was alone.

"Hi, Sweetie," my mother said and forced a cheerful smile. "How are you feeling?"

I shrugged. Funny how a simple revelation made after the fact can make you visible. It was kind of like a messed-up version of those movies where the geeky or unpopular girl gets a makeover and becomes instant eye candy. All the boys want her, and all the girls want to hate her, though everyone wants to be her friend just so they could be seen with her. Just like Suzie. But in the end, your only true friends are the ones you always had, the ones that didn't care about your social status. Again, Suzie was the perfect example, though she was never geeky or awkward.

This was the complete opposite of that.

My parents loved me. They didn't care about how I looked as long as I was happy. Well, maybe if I got piercings and tattoos, but that was irrelevant because ew. But if I was happy and had friends, and didn't get into trouble, they were happy to let me be me. My 'issues' were invisible.

Now that they knew about me and David? Not so much.

Why didn't I keep my mouth shut?

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Aww. My dad was so cute when he was awkward, like a great big teddy bear that could do curls with me in one arm and Suzie in the other, but still. I shook my head and walked over to the fridge.

"Nope." I poured myself a glass of OJ and sat at the table to eat the bacon and eggs with toast my mother had prepared. I didn't dare look up to meet their gazes, knowing one glance would crumble my resolve.

"Why didn't you tell us?"

I shrugged and ate nearly a half a slice of toast with just one bite, my mouth so full my cheeks bulged.

"Alyssa, answer your mother."

"I'msorrywhatdidyousay?" I asked, and crumbs flew in the air to land on the unclaimed portions of food at the center of the table.

"Alyssa."

"What? Dadmade..." I swallowed. "Dad told me to answer." I ate the other half of toast, shoving it in before another question could be lobbed at me.

It was unlucky that my dad thought just like me—or did I think like him? Instead of dealing with the problem, he bypassed it. With one swift movement, the food in front of me disappeared.

"Why didn't you tell us about David, Alyssa?"

Slowly counting to ten in my head to avoid saying the first thing that popped into my mind and later regretting it, I looked up to meet his watchful gaze. Hurt and confusion, regret and sadness. But not anger. No, he just wanted to understand. Why hadn't I told them when it happened? Why had I waited a year?