"Gracie?" My father prompted. "What's wrong, baby girl?"
My eyes smarted with tears. No matter how bad it had gotten—the constant teasing, pushing, name-calling, rumor spreading—I had never, not once, told my family what was going on. Even at my lowest point, I still refused to breathe a word to them.
"I -" My voice cracked, and I tried again. "I was bullied," I admitted, biting my lip to keep from blubbering. "And before you think it, it wasn't the good-naturedly, that'll-toughen-her-up kind of bullying. It was constant, it was cruel, it was relentless, and it was…" I stopped when tears threatened to spill over.
"It was bad. It was so bad, and I was in such a dark place, especially during my Junior and Senior years when I started to stand up for myself a bit. It got so much worse then."
"Jesus," Teddy breathed as my mother covered her mouth with a choked sob. My brother's face darkened. "Names," he growled. "I want fucking names." For once, our mother didn't censure him.
"I do, too," my dad snapped, his face tight in anger. "How dare they hurt my sweet baby girl. I'll fucking give them bullying." Okay, so we were all swearing now.
"It doesn't matter."
"Of course it matters!" My mom cried. "These people need to be held accountable."
"Well, you just gave the ring leader a big ole hug. So next time, if you wanna strangle him instead, I'll provide your alibi." I jokingly supplied.
"What?" My mother gasped.
The waitress, with ever impeccable timing, placed our hot plates in front of us. Keeping my head down, I forked a sausage and took a hearty bite, groaning in pleasure at the spicy saltiness. I grabbed my tall iced tea and drank it greedily, the refreshing coldness quenching the heat I felt from the weather and the unfortunate inquisition I had found myself in.
The rest of my family were not touching their plates. Instead, they watched me with impatient expectancy.
Giving up the pretense, I sighed and placed my fork down. "Look, if you want to know. It was Harrison and his crew. Jessica and her gang. And before you ask, no, I didn't do anything to them. It was like they woke up one day and decided to be complete assholes."
"Grace!" My mom glared.
I threw my hands up. "Oh, sure.Thatyou pick up on."
"I can't believe Harrison did that to you," my dad said, shaking his head. "He's always been such a fine young man." He reached across the table and grasped my hand, squeezing it tightly.
"I am so gonna kick his ass the next time I see him!" Teddy pounded his fist in his palm for effect.
"No!" I snapped. "Teddy, don't you dare! He's friends with Amelia and Liam now, too. Apparently, he's changed." I just about stopped myself from rolling my eyes.
"But I don't understand." My mom slowly shook her head, a befuddled expression marring her features. "I thought you two were friends? Didn't he used to come over-"
"That was for school stuff," I quickly explained. My pulse thrummed, and my throat felt thick as I roughly buttered my toast.
Luckily, she didn't push me further.
"Well, I agree that he has changed," my mom slowly conceded. "I always thought him cocky and arrogant as a youth, but as he grew into his twenties, he changed. He became so polite, helpful, and kind." Mom shook her head. "I just can't believe he would do that to my baby. Why didn't you tell us? We would've done something."
"Because I'm not fucking five years old, Mom. I can fight my own battles."
Thankfully, my mom didn't bother reprimanding my language, sensing that the moment was wrong. "Still..." She looked down at her burger, her throat bobbing in distress.
Glancing around the table, my dad and brother looked equally despondent.
I sighed and picked up my fork. "I didn't mean to bring the mood down. I just didn't want you thinking that I was being purposely rude to Harrison even though I still think I was perfectly respectful," I added moodily.
Teddy seemed to have regained his appetite as he picked up his fork and stabbed at his waffles. "I can't believe he picked on you.You!The worst thing you've done was force us to watch aStar Warsmarathon." He shuddered at the memory.
I rolled my eyes. "You said I could do anything I wanted for my birthday."
"I'm still gonna kick his ass," Teddy promised before shoveling a huge piece of waffle into his mouth.
"I admit it. We have become close to him. Your mom adores him, and I've spent a lot of time with him and his father." My dad shook his head. "In saying that, I'll be demanding he apologize to you."
