Chapter 25: Chapter 25

Lauren slapped me, that has never happened before. It wasn't that my cheek hurt, but my self-esteem hurt the most.

Tears sprung down my eyes and I covered my cheek with my hand. It was so hard to search for my confidence that shattered into tiny million pieces on the ground.

"I---," I was afraid, scared so badly that none of the words could slip off my tongue. This had never happened to me before. I've never been interrogated and accused of that kind of stuff before. Imagine your worst fear stand in front of you and stares you in the eye.

"DO NOT SAY A SINGLE WORD," Lauren warned me, her finger pointing at my face with rage. "YOU RUINED EVERYTHING." she shouted, pushing me further away from her. With Ivory kept crying, Lauren yelling at me, and my body shivering, I had no idea what to say to make things better. My back hit the wall as her hands roughly pushed me onto it. I covered my chest to prevent her from pushing me again and bit my lower lip from howling.

"Don't you touch the girl?" Just when Lauren tried to approach me again, Mr. Ben interrupted, I did not see him joining us. He briskly came between us, pulling me behind him, he covered me.

"Do you even know what she has done?" Lauren wasn't being Lauren, or was this the real Lauren?

"ENOUGH!" Mr. Ben Eyed her angrily and turned around to face me. "Tell me what happened?" He asked softly, his voice very fatherly.

"She is sleeping with that guy Steven Lock." Ivory, who no one asked a damn question, shouted again, crying and sobbing.

"Are you Giselle? I asked her not you." Mr. Ben gave her a shut-up call and turned his attention to me again. I was now stammering in hiccups.

"I--- I was-- left alone--and He---helped me---get home." I was shivering beyond my control with hiccups in between. "I swear not--hing --else." I cried more. None of this would have happened if my parents were alive. Parents are your shelter, they keep you above in their priority lists, go and hug them.

"Where is Tucker?" Mr. Ben shouted at Lauren after listening to me. I didn't want Tucker to get in trouble, but because of him, I was in trouble today. I had to clear my name in order to be with him.

"He must be with his friends." Lauren shrugged her shoulders, "but what does he have to do with all of this?" She defended him like a mother would do see, that's what I was talking about, I wish I had a family that considered me one of them.

"Isn't he supposed to give her a pick and drop? And who dropped you, Ivory?" Mr. Ben was pissed, Ivory's face fell in fear and she refused to answer that. "We should be thankful to Mr. Lock for driving her back home safely when your son should be doing his duty." He was going on at the two of them, none of them said another single word. "For a mother who has no idea about her kid's doing, you are too loud to talk about right or wrong." His comment made Lauren's jaw to stretch onto the floor. I was no longer crying, there was a sense of father figure before my eyes and that gave me comfort.

I could not believe I witnessed Lauren's that side, the side she had hidden away from me.

"And you, do not disrespect her ever again." He pointed his finger at Ivory who quickly nodded her head to avoid being questioned any further.

"You hit her again, and you are out of my house." His threat to Lauren shook us all. She couldn't believe her husband said that to her, for any woman that was a big insult. She covered her mouth in amusement and kept staring at her husband, who didn't really bother her stare and swirled to watch me. "Go to your room." he gave me a weak smile and I walked away from them. As soon as, I entered my room, I locked the door after me and sat on the floor. I face in my hands and my heart beating loudly, what the hell just happened?

All my life I thought Lauren cared about me and Mr. Ben were awfully strict, but the fact that he gave me so much importance today made me realize who among them was someone I could rely upon.

I couldn't sleep for the whole night. Nobody informed me that Tucker got back home and Mr. Ben kind of went off on him for his irresponsible behavior. Now there was one thing going on in my mind, what does Tucker think about me now? I mean he didn't approach me or ask me if I was okay, was he mad at me?

I pulled my phone out and texted him.

Me: Tucker you know what happened today?

It was surprising that he didn't waste a second to answer me back, but it wasn't up to my expectations as well.

Tucker: about the part where you betrayed me by going out with Steven or the part where dad hurt my mother because of you?

That just killed me instantly. How was I responsible for all of that? And how about he considers his irresponsible behavior to be the reason behind Steven dropping me home. How can they be so ignorant? All of a sudden, I was so triggered that I just wanted to go off on them, but then held back my anger. I tried to convince myself that Tucker was this mad because he cared too much about me, because he thought Steven might use me to mock Tucker.

Me: he only dropped me home, I don't even have his number.

Me: and I didn't tell uncle Ben anything, he heard everything himself.

Tucker: I just can't believe you would do something like that to me.

His text gave me shivers down my spine. What does he mean by that, wasn't he the one with his ex in the woods? I wanted so badly to say that, but my condition was already weakened by today's incident and I can't risk it by taunting him or arguing with him.

Me: No Tucker I don't even talk to him. I would never do that to you.

I don't know why I was explaining myself, but really it should be him explaining himself.

Tucker: you did what you have to do now I'll do what I've to do.

I literally rolled my eyes because he was just making it seem like he will now hang out more with Monica because of me which he was doing it already.

Me: Tucker just try to understand me, please.

Tucker: Giselle if you don't like me to come to your room and yell at you and also delete my number from your phone, stop texting me.

The way he said it all really hurt my already dying self-esteem. I didn't text him after that, at least he should have been a little nicer to me instead of blaming me for things he was doing these days. Also, the threat he made didn't only hurt my self-esteem, but made sure he has no respect for me. In the morning, the family had their breakfast while I stood in the corner since Lauren and Ivory kept glaring at me in hate. I was not used to Lauren being this rude to me so it definitely was shocking and painful at the same time.

Tucker, Ivory, and I walked to the car silently. I knew the drive was going to be the most awkward one. We sat silently for five minutes when Ivory moved and I knew she was about to do something.

"You should date Monica again; she really cares about you." She said in a bi*** tone and even the thought of that slowed down my heartbeat. No, this can't happen, he can't do this to me. I have waited so long for him and now when he had finally started to notice me, I was going to lose him again?

"I feel too. At least she is not the one to betray me as others do," he commented and glared at me through the rearview mirror. But wasn't he the one who told me how Monica and Steven messed around in that classroom?

"I didn't do anything seriously," I said, when I shouldn't have spoken. I interrupted because they were talking about me, Ivory knew I did nothing wrong and so did Tucker.

"DID I OR NOT TELL YOU TO NOT TALK TO ME AGAIN?" it was a surprise when Tucker yelled, stopping the car and getting out of it. With my eyes wide open and my jaw wide open, I saw him slamming the door and then opening my door. Ivory too was shocked; it was all happening in a very quick pace too. After being exposed to him when he opened the door, I slid away a little to stay out of his reach but failed. Tucker grabbed my arm, and pulled me out of the car. This was the first time that he touched me and that too in pure hate and anger. He didn't probably realize his strength, but he left a bruise on my arm. His touch didn't feel good or made me happy.

"I have never seen a girl so disobedient before. You won't listen to me no matter what I say." He shouted in my face and I had to hug myself and fear engulfed me. What was he talking about? I have always listened to him, more than I have ever listened to myself. My vision got blurred and I secretly looked around for help. The feeling of being miserable was the worst one after being treated like an unwanted guest at their home.

"Now go and ask Steven to drop you school." With that being said, he jumped in the car and started the engine, leaving me behind all alone, scared, and crying. I should have known he would do that to me when he did the same to his own sister. Was that his way to show who had the power? Who was the boss? Because sure enough, I was dependent on them for food, shelter, and even protection. How can someone be so heartless, I thought he was mad because he was hurt, but it just felt like he was trying to hurt me in any case.

I cleaned the tears and begin walking to school. After Lauren slapped me, my cheek was bruised too, and I failed to cover it with my awful makeup skills so I knew people were going to notice it or even mock me.

I entered the school and kept walking while keeping my head down when I heard someone calling my name.

"Giselle!" I finally stopped and turned around to see Steven approaching me, his eyes narrowed at me with every passing step. He was probably looking at my cheek, making sure he was seeing it right. "WHO THE F**** DID THAT?" he questioned, gritting his teeth in anger. The flood of anger in his attire surprised me. Why would he care? Why would anyone care?

"No one," I murmured, and hugged myself, my head drowned and my eyes lowered. I felt like a loser when my eyes began to itch with tears.

"Tell me which one of the Arch did that Giselle and I swear to G---," He made tight fists and bit his tongue in rage. He was taking steps backward and forward uncomfortably, why was he so concerned about me?

"They were mad because they saw me with you," I said it and closed my eyes, why was it that easy to talk to him?

"What? What the f***, tell me the name." he kept on insisting and when I didn't make eye contact with him, he silenced, staring at me blankly. "are you ashamed of being seen with me?" He whispered, hoping I would say something that will make him feel good, but how can I when I was so hurt myself? It was nice to enjoy his care for two minutes, but then it to stop. I remained silent while he didn't look away for a single minute. I was living with them, the progress was so bad that now they were getting physical with me, what next huh?

My silence gave him a hint and he continued to ask me, "Do you want me to stay away from you?" He inquired in an utter, he sounded hurt too. His body bent ahead and he matched his face to mine, trying to make an answer out of my expressionless face. He was waiting for my answer and I took a minute to answer him.