web-of-lies - Tumblr blog

[web-of-lies]

Chapter list

Prologue: http://web-of-lies.tumblr.com/post/162791334592/prologue

1: http://web-of-lies.tumblr.com/post/162791596557/1

[web-of-lies]

1

One Month Later

Carter

I let out a loud groan when my alarm clock went off and woke me up. I just wanted to roll over and go back to sleep but I had to get up for my first day at my new school. I sighed, moving my plush comforter off my body, and stretched before I made my way to my bathroom so I could take a hot shower. My mother and I spent the weekend moving into our new place and it is a lot different from what I was use to. We downsized from our five bedroom house with a pool to a three bedroom luxury apartment on the other side of town. I didn't want to admit it but besides the size difference, the apartment was actually pretty nice. The living room had floor to ceiling windows and we had an amazing view of the city since we were on the sixteenth floor. The kitchen was spacious and had beautiful granite counter tops and dark wood cabinets that matched the floor. I had the same floor to ceiling windows from the living room in my bedroom and it was only slightly smaller than my old one.

After I got out of the shower, I looked around my closet for something to wear. I wanted to look nice so that I would make a good impression but I didn't want to draw too much attention to myself. I settled for a simple tan t-shirt, a pair of black leggings and a distressed jean jacket so my outfit wouldn't look too plain. I decided to wear my hair in a wash and go since it was already wet and I just filled in my eyebrows because I didn't feel like doing a full face today. I checked myself out in the mirror to make sure I looked okay and got my purse, glasses, and keys so I could leave. When I walked out of my bedroom I had to walk through the living room and the kitchen before I could get to the front door. My mom was making breakfast and I tried to ease pass without her seeing me but she called out my name as soon as my hand touched the door handle.

"Your breakfast is ready." She said, placing a plate of food on the island before she started cleaning up the kitchen. One of the many things I'll have to get use to because of this move is not being able to avoid her when I don't want to be bothered since every room is so close together. We haven't spoken to each other since our argument yesterday and if she thinks bacon and eggs is gonna make things better she's got another thing coming.

Yesterday

"Carter, are you ready to go?" My mom called from the bottom of the stairs. The day of the move had finally arrived and I still couldn't believe this was happening. As I stood in the middle of my now empty bedroom memories rushed through my brain and an overwhelming feeling of sadness came over me. I was hoping that my parents would change their minds about the divorce before this day came but I was just fooling myself. I was brought out of my thoughts by the sound of my mother's voice calling me again.

"I'm ready." I said, not believing the words that came out of my own mouth. I met her at the bottom of the stairs and asked "Dad isn't here?"

"He didn't come home last night." She rolled her eyes and I sighed. At this point I was used to him not being around but I expected him to be here to say goodbye to me. Maybe he didn't think it would be a big deal if he didn't show up because it's not like I'm never gonna see him again but he should be here to support me anyway. I followed my mom out to her car and got in the passenger seat. There were a few boxes in the back seat but the rest of our stuff was packed into the moving trucks parked outside of the house. My mother had just started her car when I heard a car pull up behind us beeping the horn. I expected to see my dad but when I looked in the rear view mirror I could see my best friends' Nadiya and Lauren waving excitedly at me as they got out of the car. I did the same, rushing over to where Nadiya's car was parked.

"I didn't think we were gonna make it here in time." Lauren said, sighing with relief.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked. I haven't seen them since the surprise going away party they planned for me a few days ago.

"You thought we weren't gonna come see our best friend before she leaves?" Nadiya asked, pretending to be shocked.

"Yeah, what kind of friends do you think we are?" Lauren added, matching Nadiya's tone. I smiled and said "I think you're the best friends I've ever had." I met Nadiya way back in preschool and we have been cool ever since then. She was the first person I called after I found out about my parents divorce and the move. She helped me take my mind off of it for a while and look at the bright side of the situation. It's something about her personality that instantly puts me in a good mood.  We both met Lauren in the forth grade when she transferred to our elementary school and the three of us have hung together ever since. There have been other girls that joined our circle but the three of us are the only one's that stuck together.

"We know," Nadiya grinned, flipping her curly hair over her shoulder. "but it's nice to hear you say it." I shook my head at her and Lauren said "You know she always has to be extra but you know we love you too." We hugged each other and my mom ruined the moment when she started beeping the horn.

"Come on Carter. We have to go." She said, rolling the window down so I could hear her. I rolled my eyes and exhaled before I turned my attention back to my friends.

"Text us when you get settled, okay?" Lauren requested. I nodded my head in agreement and Nadiya said "I'm gonna miss you girl."

"I'm gonna miss you too." I gave her another hug and my mom started blowing the horn again. "I gotta go guys." I said, easing out of our embrace. When I got back into the car I barely got my seat belt on before the car started moving. As she began to drive away, I looked out the rear view mirror and watched the image of my friends fade away. The car remained silent as we drove further and further away from our old neighborhood. Even though I know this is reality, I still have hope that this is just a bad dream that I'm about to wake up from. After twenty minutes of silence I finally spoke.

"What happened?"

"What happened with what?" She replied with a confused look on her face.

"With you and dad. Why are you guys really getting a divorce?"

"We talked about this already. I don't know what else you want me to say." I could tell she was getting uncomfortable but I didn't care. I needed to know what happened and I wanted to know now.

"I want you to tell me the whole story. All I know is that you "grew apart" and that doesn't tell me anything."

"Well you don't need to know everything. Christian and I told you enough. I don't see you questioning him about why he was never home or why he came home so late whenever he did show up." She spat.

"Don't you think I deserve an explanation? This affects me too, you know?" She was quite for a few seconds until she took a deep breath and said "It's complicated."

"How? You guys didn't just wake up one day and decide you didn't want to be together anymore. There had to be a reason behind it."

"It just is Carter!" I could tell she was getting frustrated and shit I was getting frustrated too. Why can't she just give me a straight answer?

"You know I'm 17 not 7 right? I'm almost grown, you don't have to sugarcoat stuff for me." She stopped at a red light and turned her head to look at me. "You're right. You're ALMOST grown. You are still a child and you need to stay in a child's place. I don't want to talk about my divorce anymore so we're NOT going to talk about it!"

"You can't keep treating me like a little girl Mom! I'm too old for you to be trying to hide things from me."

"I'm only doing this for your own good." I sat back in my seat, defeated. At this point I was over trying to get information out of her. If she isn't going to tell me the truth, I will have to find out on my own.

"I'm not hungry." I said quickly before I walked out of the apartment and made my way to my car in the parking garage. When I got into my car I entered the name of my new school in my GPS and fifteen minutes later I was pulling into the parking lot of Westlake high school.

After I got out of my car I locked my door and started following the crowd of students into the huge brick building. Thankfully the office was right at the entrance so I was able to get my schedule as soon as I got inside. There was also a map of the school on the back of the paper my schedule was printed on so I wouldn't have a hard time finding my classes. The first thing I wanted to do was find my locker so I could put my stuff away and luckily that information was already written on the top of the paper too. Following the map, I maneuvered through the hallways and watched as the other students reconnected with their friends and caught each other up on what they did over the summer. Seeing everyone else with their friends really made me miss Lauren and Nadiya but I pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind when I found the hallway were my locker was located and spotted a boy standing in the same section my locker was and texting on his phone. He was tall, light-skin, and his short curls were neatly formed on top of his head. When I approached the lockers the boy looked up from his phone and smiled before he said "Hey."

"Hey." I replied, smiling back at him.

"What's your name? I don't think I seen you around before."

"You haven't, this is my first day here. I'm Carter."

"I'm Dominic." He informed me, flashing his deep dimples as he smiled again.

"Nice to meet you." I said politely as I scanned the row of lockers searching for number 835.  I realized that Dominic was leaning against it but before I could ask him to move he started talking again.

"So you're a freshman?"

"Dang, do I look that young?"

"Naw, not really but I've seen girls in middle school that look like they're in college so you never know nowadays."

"I feel you, I'm a Senior though. Are you a freshman?" I asked jokingly.

"Now you know I aint no damn freshman." We both laughed just as some random girl came out of nowhere and stood in between us and she looked pissed.

"What's so funny?" She asked, placing her hand on her hip and staring me down. I looked up at Dominic and I could tell that he was embarrassed. When neither of us responded to her she turned to Dominic and said "Well aren't you gonna introduce me to your friend?"

"Uh..yeah, Carter this is Milan." He said awkwardly.

"Oh so I'm just Milan now?" She snapped, folding her arms across her chest. She turned back around so she was facing me again and said "I'm Milan, his girlfriend", making sure to put extra emphasis on her words.

"Good for you." I said with obvious sarcasm in my voice. I couldn't care less that she was his girlfriend because I didn't want him.

"Yeah, I know." Milan said with a smirk as she wrapped her arms around him. I just remembered that I still needed to get into my locker and now both Dominic and Milan were standing in front of it.

"Excuse me-" I started to say before Milan cut me off.

"Can I help you?" She asked rudely. I looked at her in shock because I was completely thrown off by her attitude. I don't even know this girl and she's already trying to get popped

"No I was just-" I managed to say before interrupted me.

"You must be new here so I'll let you slide this time but like I said before, he's already taken." She informed me, gesturing toward the Dominic next to her with her finger.

"Chill out Milan. She wasn't even doing anything." He said.

"Well I'm just letting her know what's up." She said.

"You don't have to do all that though. You always wildin." He complained.

"So you're gonna take her side Dominic?" She scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"I'm just trying to-" She cut me off again and said "Didn't I just tell you we're together? That means you can move along now". She shooed me away with her hands and it took everything in me to stop myself from punching her in the face. Milan turned her attention to her friend that I just noticed was standing on the other side of her and they laughed at the comment she made.

"Look I'm just trying to get to my locker so do you mind moving out of the way?" I said to Dominic.

"My bad ma." Dominic said before he stepped aside. Milan cut her eye at him when she heard him call me 'Ma' and I smirked back at her to be petty. I put my backpack in my locker and took out everything I needed for my first class. When I finished getting myself together they were still standing by the lockers talking to each other and Milan said "Come on Kaylee. We only have a few more minutes to get to class". They were about to walk off when Milan asked "Are you coming", looking at Dominic for an answer.

"Naw I'm gonna see if I could find Jaylen real quick."

"Okay, I'll see you when you get to class then." She gave Dominic a long, drawn out kiss before she walked off with her friend and I swear I threw up in my mouth a little. When she was out of earshot he turned to me and said "I'm sorry we had to meet like that. Mimi can be a little crazy sometimes."

"It's cool." I replied and started looking at my schedule to find what my first class was.

"You need some help?" He asked, coming closer so that he could see the paper in my hand.

"Yeah, a little." I only had a few more minutes to get to class and I didn't want to end up being late if I got lost. He took my schedule and looked over it before he said "We have a few of the same classes. I can show you where your first period is if you want."

"I thought you were gonna look for your friend."

"Nah, I just said that so she would relax."

"You sure you can help me? I don't want you to get in trouble." I teased. He laughed a little and said "You got jokes. Don't worry about all that, just come with me". I followed his instructions and we made it to class right before the bell rang. He held the door for me and when I walked in my English class I saw Milan and her minion staring me down. I sat down in an empty desk in the middle of the room and he sat two rows behind me next to another boy. Our teacher, Ms. Meekins, took attendance before she started going over the syllabus and I spaced out until Ms. Meekins snapped me out of my thoughts. Literally. She was standing in front of my desk with one hand on her hip and the other hand was snapping in my face.

"It's nice of you to join us Miss Lewis. How about you answer my question now that you're back from your mini vacation?" I heard a few people giggle as she crossed her arms, staring at me. I was completely lost because I don't even know what the question is and I haven't been paying attention so I probably don't know the answer either. I looked around the room and everyone was staring at me waiting for me to say something.

"If you were paying attention you would know that I asked what is the number one rule of my classroom."

"Um...don't come in late?" Everyone in class laughed and of course Milan and Kaylee laughed the loudest.

"No Miss Lewis. The number one rule you shouldn't break in my class is not paying attention. You should work on that." She said, walking back to the front on the class.

"Way to go Carter." Milan said, snickering with her friend. I turned my attention back to the teacher and she was explaining to us that we were having a pop quiz. Apparently the class was suppose to read 1984 over the summer and judging by the moans and groans that filled the room a lot of people didn't. Luckily for me I had to read this book when I was a freshman so I already knew what it was about. Ms. Meekins passed out the test and I began filling out the answers as soon as I got mine, eager to redeem myself from earlier. As I read the questions I started remember what happened in the story and I finished my test in no time. When I got up to turn in my test I felt a few eyes on me when I placed my paper on her desk. I guess they were all wondering how I finished so fast. Everyone else didn't finish until there was only a few minutes left of class. When the bell rang everyone rushed to get out the door and Milan made sure to bump me on her way out. Before I could react to her I heard a female voice say "Don't worry about Ms. Meekins. She's been a bitch since her husband left her last year". I turned around and noticed that she was one of the people that was staring at me earlier. She had smooth caramel skin and her long curly hair framed her face well.

"I think I already got on her bad side and I just got here."

"Girl did you see the way she looked at you when you turned in your test? She probably didn't like you at first but you might be her favorite student now. How did you finish so fast because I was struggling?"

"I had a hard time too at first because it's been a long time since I read that book but when I got into it everything started coming back to me."

"Well I just finished reading the book last week and I barely remembered who was who." We both laughed, continuing our conversation as we strolled down the hallway. "You're Carter right?" I nodded and she said "I'm Alanna by the way."

"Nice to meet you. You're the first decent person I've met today."

"I'm not surprised. A lot of people here are assholes." She informed me.

"What class do you have after this?"

"Emerson." She replied, rolling her eyes. "What about you?" I looked at my schedule and saw that I had the same teacher.

"I have Emerson next too. Is he bad?"

"I wouldn't say bad...more like the worst math teacher that ever lived." I started laughing but Alanna kept a straight a face so I know she was serious.

"What's so bad about him?"

"He's boring as hell and he goes through the material way too fast. It's like he bores you into a sleep coma and when you wake up he's five chapters ahead from where you started." She said as she led me into the classroom. The class was pretty much full but I did notice Kaylee sitting in the corner by herself and she wasn't looking at me crazy like she was last period. Guess she's not so hard when she doesn't have her Milan with her. Just like Alanna said Mr. Emerson's class was as boring as watching paint dry and all he was doing was going over the syllabus which seemed to take forever. After his class ended the rest of the day flew by and when the final bell rang I rushed outside to my car so that I could get home. My mom was still at work when I got there so I went straight to my room and plopped down on my bed. Just as I was beginning to doze off my cellphone rang and Nadiya's name and picture popped up on the screen.

"Heyyy bestfriend!" She sang into the phone when I accepted her call. I sat up against my headboard and said "Hey boo".

"Ima need you to come back ASAP because today was a struggle. I felt like I was in my classes foreva." She said in her Cardi B voice and I laughed at her goofiness. "Girl I'm forreal. I think I fell asleep a few times. I was so bored without you."

"What about Lauren?"

"That's my girl but she's not you, plus she was being dry today. How was your day though?"

"Sooo tell me why this girl tried me as soon as I got there?"

"Oh hell no! Am I gonna have to come out there?" Nadiya may be small but she is trained to go. She doesn't care who you are, if you tried her, her family, or friends you were gonna regret it. She is definitely the definition of a true ride or die.

"I'm good Nadiya. I can handle it."

"Okay, I'm just making sure. Don't forget I'm only a car ride away. What happened?"

"This girl named Milan thought I was staring at her boyfriend Dominic and called herself trying to scare me."

"She's clearly intimidated by you and the sad part is she doesn't even know anything about you. Milan better be glad you're with Levi or you could play snatchies with her man and give her something to be mad about."

"Snatchies! Gimmie him!" I joked before we both giggled.

"You didn't tell me what she said."

"Oh right. She was just telling me how she was giving me a warning because I was new and didn't know that they were together."

"She was big mad. I wish I was there because you know I love being petty. Milan would have got her feelings hurt." I laughed a little, thinking about all the crazy things Nadiya would have said "I met a really cool girl in my English class though." I said, changing the subject. After Mr. Emerson's class we met up at lunch and I found out that we had a lot in common. I'm usually not this friendly with someone I just met but we just clicked.

"I see you're trying to replace us already. I might have to come up there and fight her and that Milan chick."

"Nadiya, you know it's not like that."

"I'm just kidding Carter. We both know I'm irreplaceable."

"I don't know about that." I teased. "Alanna kind of reminds me of you."

"I need to meet this girl then because she must be the shit if you're comparing her to me."

"We'll see. I'm have to feel her out and see what kind of person she is before I'll let her meet my girls."

"Maybe we can all get together and have a sleepover like we used to do. That would be fun right?"

"Yeah, we haven't done that in awhile and that would be a good way for you guys to get to know her. I'm not gonna do that until we get closer though. I can't let just anybody stay the night at my house."

"I feel you girl. I don't want to have to bust her head in if something goes missing."

"You're always trying to fight somebody."

"Well everybody can't be a saint like you. I don't know how you do it."

"Maybe I'll rub off on you one day." She scoffed and said "Girl if that was the case that would have happened a long time."

"You're probably right."

"Okay so back to Dominic. Is he cute? I hope Milan not pressed over an ugly nigga."

"He's cute but I already have who I want."

"Aww somebody is in loveeee." Nadiya teased. I shook my head and she kept being childish as my phone began to beep, letting me know that I was getting another call. I felt myself start to get excited when I saw that it was Levi.

"I guess we talked him up. He's calling me right now."

"Call me back when you're done boo loving." She said before we said goodbye and I accepted Levi's call.

"Hey beautiful. I miss you." His deep voice came though the speaker and I instantly lit up.

"I miss you more." I said truthfully. Even though we talk everyday I haven't seen him since my going away party last week since he's been busy with football camp and this is the longest we've ever been apart.

"Did you have a good day at school?"

"You sound like my dad." I started to laugh but it quickly faded to silence when I realized that I still haven't heard from him. I barely saw him the last few days before we moved and he hasn't even called to see how I was doing. I tried to convince myself that he was just busy but it's starting to get harder for me to believe that was true.

"You always talking shit. I'm forreal though. I wanna know what happened."

"It was fine. My teachers are okay and most of the people seems nice but nothing interesting happened." I didn't want to mention what happened with Milan and Dominic because he doesn't like for me to be in drama especially if he can't be there to defend me. I can handle myself but he likes to be there to make sure I'm straight.

"Did you talk to anybody? I don't want you walking around school being lonely. I know you had the same friends since you were born but there are other people outside of y'all little bubble."

"Haha, very funny. I actually did meet someone though." I told him about Alanna and he said "Wow, you actually made a new friend? I guess anything is possible."

"She's cool but I wouldn't consider her a friend just yet. For now she's just someone I know."

"You're doing too much with these technical terms. That's your friend."

"If you say so." I said, making myself comfortable in my bed.

"So you like it there?"

"I guess...I mean it's definitely not Lincoln but it's not bad. It would be better if you were here."

"It would be better if you didn't have to leave. Have you talked to your mom yet?" I told him about the argument we had yesterday so he knows that we aren't speaking right now.

"No and I want to keep it that way."

"I know you don't want to hear this but you need to give her some time to get herself together before you start asking questions."

"Why? So she can come up with more reasons why she can't give me a straight answer?"

"You need to put yourself in her shoes Carter. She was with your dad for almost twenty years and now they're divorced. She spent half of her life with him and now she's all alone. You know that has to hurt so of course she's not gonna want to talk about it." I hated to admit it but Levi was right. He was the levelheaded one between the two of us and was always able to rationalize every situation. I was so busy being insensitive and self-centered that I wasn't even thinking about what my mom was going though. I felt horrible for trying to pressure her into talking about a subject that obviously hurt her to her core and even though I wanted closer I was willing to wait until she was ready.

"I didn't even think about it like that."

"I know you didn't. You let your emotions get the best of you but that's okay."

"I just feel so bad now because she's going though a lot already and now she probably thinks I hate her."

"She knows you don't hate her. You were just upset and now that you're over it everything can go back to normal."

"I'll talk to her when she gets home. When am I gonna see you though?" I asked.

"I want to try to come up there this weekend. Maybe we can go out to the movies or something."

"I don't really care what we do as long as we get to spend time together."

"Aww look who's being nice for once."

"Whatever, I'm always nice to you. You're the one that's mean."

"You only say I'm mean when I tell you no."

"Exactly, that's mean. You're suppose to give me whatever I want."

"In your dreams." He said, laughing at me. Neither of us said anything for a few seconds until I broke the silence and asked "Do you think we'll end up like them?"

"Like who?"

"My parents. They use to be happy like us and you see how well that turned out."

"But we're not your parents. Just because they didn't work out doesn't mean we won't either. You don't think we're gonna make it?"

"I do but everything is so complicated now. I don't even know when we're gonna be able to see each other again. You're already busy with school and sports and I'm almost an hour away-"

"And you think I won't make time for you?" Levi asked, cutting me off.

"I think we'll be able to figure something out...I just want to know if you're okay with me not being around as much as I use to be?"

"Not really, but I understand. There's nothing I want more than for you to be by my side."

"I know you don't like that I moved but...I guess what I'm really asking is if our relationship is gonna change now that I'm not as close as I used to be?"

"Do you really need to ask that?"

"Yes..I mean no..I mean...I don't know." I stammered. I believe that Levi cares for me a lot but I needed to be sure that we were on the same page.

"I'm only a car ride away. I'm not gonna let a little bit of distance ruin what we have. We worked hard to get where we are now and nothing is gonna change how I feel about you."

"You really mean that?"

"Of course I do. You're my world and I don't want to lose you. I love you Carter."

"I love you too Levi." I said sincerely. It felt good to know where we stood and that I didn't have anything to worry about as far as our relationship was concerned. I could tell that he meant every last word he said and since he has never let me down before I know that I can trust him.

A/N: Nadiya, Lauren, Milan, Kaylee, Dominic, Levi

[web-of-lies]

Prologue

Carter

When I walked through the front door of my house the smell of my mother's cooking instantly filled my nose. When I went into the kitchen to see what she was making I was greeted by her warm smile.

"Hey baby girl, I was just about to call you. I made your favorite." She said, gesturing towards the steak she was preparing on the stove. I also noticed that she had prepared loaded baked potatoes and broccoli to go along with it.

"Good because I'm starving!" I exclaimed as I sat on the bar stool next to the island.

"Well the food will be ready soon. How was your day?"

"Pretty good. Me and the girls went to the mall and then we got our nails done." I said, showing off my freshly filled in nails.

"Those look good! We're gonna have to have a nail date one day."

"I'll go if you're paying." I replied jokingly.

"Did you forget I'm making your food? It can get ugly in here real quick." She teased, placing her hand on her hip.

"I'm just kidding Mom."

"You better be. So how are things with Levi?" Levi and I have been together since our sophomore year of high school. He's the first boyfriend I've ever had and my mom is really pressed about it. I've never really been into boys so she was definitely surprised when I brought him home to meet her.

"We're good. We're suppose to go out later."

"Okay, don't have too much fun. I don't want you bringing any babies home." Ever since I started dating Levi almost two years ago my mom has been worried that I would end up pregnant. I swear as soon as I told her I had a boyfriend she made an appointment with my doctor so I could get on birth control. I haven't had sex yet though because I don't want to rush it and I want my first time to be special.

"Trust me. You don't have anything to worry about." I replied truthfully as she carefully flipped the steaks over in the pan. She was about to say something when my father walked though the front door and I felt her whole mood changed. She focused her attention back on the food cooking on the stove as he made his way into the kitchen.

"Hey daddy." I said, greeting him with a hug. He sat his briefcase down on the floor and said "I guess I came home at the right time." He said, eyeing the food. "I can't stay very long though."

"Of course." I heard my mom mumble under her breath as she took the potatoes out of the oven.

"Did you say something?" He questioned. She just shook her head and started seasoning the pot of broccoli.

"How is my baby girl doing?" He asked, turning his attention back to me.

"I'm fine. How was work?"

"Stressful as always. I have to redo an entire construction plan by tomorrow because they decided to change the layout they wanted at the last minute. I'm probably gonna have to stay at the office all night."

"As always." My mom muttered again before she walked pass him to take the food into the dining room. My dad is very passionate about his job as an architect and I can tell my mom resents him for it because he either comes home late from work or he doesn't come home at all. I would like to believe that he really is working but judging but the way his relationship has been with my mom over the past few months I can't help but think that he might be cheating on her. I'm a daddy's girl so I'll always love him no matter what but I'll never look at him the same way if my suspicions are true.

After my mom set the table I went into the dining room to fix myself a plate and my parents did the same. As we ate my mom and dad eyed each other from opposite sides of the table but neither of them spoke a word. They use to be so happy and never seemed to be able to get enough of each other but now they can't stand the sight of one another. They started arguing more, which is something they rarely did before now, and they avoid each other as much as they could. Now they barely speak unless they're yelling at each other about something so our once lively family dinners are now plagued with silence. I was almost done eating when my mother dropped her head and ran her fingers through her curly hair that matched mine.

"You okay Mom?" I asked. The stressed expression she had on her face when she looked up at me caught me off guard because she is the type of person that always had herself together or at least always appeared to be. She took one last glance at my father before turning to look at me again with glossy eyes.

"Your father and I have something we want to talk to you about." I could tell she was holding back tears as my father stayed emotionless on his side of the table. My heart pounded with anticipation as I waited for one of them to say something.

"What's going on?" I looked at both of them for answers until the sound of my father sighing made me shift my attention toward him.

"Carter, I want you to know that I love you and no matter what you'll always be my baby girl." I nodded and waited for him to say more. There was an awkward silence for what seemed like days until he uttered the words "Your mother and I have decided to get a divorce."

When he said that his words echoed in my head over and over as a lump began to form in my throat. Divorce? I can't say that I'm surprised but I was hoping their issues wouldn't lead to this. My parents have been together for nineteen years so you would think since they've spent so much of their lives together they would try to make it work.

"Why?" I replied once I had processed what he just said. My dad looked over at my mother who was still looking down at her lap. "Somebody say something!"

"We just...outgrew each other." My mother said faintly, raising her head slightly to make eye contact with me. I looked at my father for confirmation but his stone-like facial expression remained intact. I started getting frustrated because I felt like there was more to this situation but no one was opening their mouth to say it.

"We're just at different places in our lives now." He added. "I love your mother but I think we're better off apart."

"So this is it? You guys are just giving up before you even try to work it out?"

"We did try-" She managed to say before I cut her off.

"Bullshit!" I yelled as I stood up, knocking my chair over in the process. "All you guys ever do is scream at each other! You can't even stand to be in the same room for more than five minutes!" I turned towards my dad and said "And you're never here!"

"Carter Lewis! Don't you ever talk to me like that again." She scolded. My father maintained his composure as he admitted "That's exactly why we're getting a divorce. We can't even have a civilized conversation without it ending in an argument. We don't even sleep in the same bed anymore. A marriage isn't suppose to be like that."

"What about me? Did you even think about how I would feel about this?" I was fighting back tears now and my dad cold expression quickly softened.

"Of course we did. You were the most important factor in our decision. We thought you would be happier if you weren't stuck in the middle of our drama. Just because me and your mother aren't going to be together anymore doesn't mean that my relationship with you is going to change. I'll come see you as much as you want me to it won't even feel like I'm not around." He said, causing me mother to send him a deathly glare.

"Wait..what do you mean come see me? You're leaving too?" I could tell he regretted letting that piece of information slip out of his mouth.

"No honey, I was going to wait to tell you this but I guess I don't have a choice now." She replied with obvious irritation in her voice. "You and I are moving out at the end of the month."

"What?! What about my friends? My school? I'm about to start my senior year! I don't want to leave!" All of this was happening so fast and I didn't know how to handle it. First I find out my parents are separating and now I have to leave my house and my friends. This is just too much.

"Calm down Carter, it's not that serious. We're not moving far but you will have to go to a new school. You'll still be able to see your friends and you'll be able to make new ones." She tried to reassure me but I didn't want to hear it.

"When were you planning on asking me about this? What if I want to stay here with Dad?"

"Last time I checked I was the parent which means I don't have to ask you to do anything."

"Don't talk to her like that Vanessa." He butted in.

"Oh but you didn't say anything when she was cussing me out." She snapped back.

"Please don't start with me."

"You started with me. I was having a conversation with my daughter and you had something to say about it."

"Because you're being insensitive. You don't care about anyone but yourself-"

"STOP IT! JUST STOP IT" I yelled, causing both of them to stop bickering with each other before I stormed off to my room and slammed the door. I took a deep breath to try to calm myself down but I just felt myself getting more upset. I felt like my whole world was falling apart around me and there was nothing I could do but sink down in the floor and release the tears I could no longer hold back.