“Stella, don’t!” Bradley interrupts.
But I keep going. I shouldn’t be alone facing this… this interrogation. This is his fault anyway. “The reason I broke up with him was... he, um, he was cheating on me with my roommate, Brooke,” I say quickly.
“What?” my dad shouts.
“Oh, Stella, you don’t know what you’re talking about,” says Mom.
Unbelievable. “Mom, I caught him coming out of my bathroom wearing only a towel. His tongue was down her throat.”
“I’m sure what you saw was just a little indiscretion. I’m sure he wasn’t sleeping with her.”
“Mom, I heard him say, ‘Come on, baby, let’s go get dirty again.'” I repeat his words in a mocking deep voice.
“That’s enough,” my dad yells. “I’ve heard enough. Stella, is this true?”
“Yes, Dad, it’s true. He was in my dorm when I got back from helping Lily move into her new room. He didn’t know I’d had to move into Shepard because he wouldn’t return any of my calls or texts. Actually, he hasn’t replied to any of my calls or texts since July fifth. I gave up expecting him to contact me.”
“I was busy,” whines Bradley.
“Bradley, I am ashamed of you,” says Dad. “You’ve always been like a son to me. I expected much more from you, especially with regards to my daughter.”
“I know. I’m sorry, sir. It’s not what you think. Brooke means nothing to me.”
“That’s neither here nor there,” my dad snaps.
“Jim…” My mom’s voice is weirdly cautious. “Let’s give Bradley the benefit of the doubt here. I mean?—”
“You mean what, Candy?” I’ve never seen my father this angry before.
“I mean, Stella shouldn’t be rash. Who else is going to take her on?” Mom always thinks she’s the voice of reason.
“Take her on? What does that even mean?” Dad asks.
“Well, look at her?—”
That’s when I interject, “I know it’s hard for you to believe that anyone would want to date me, Mom and Dad, but I’m not lying when I say that I have met Alex Emerson and he wants to be my boyfriend.”
“Yeah, I’ll bet!” scoffs Bradley.
I turn to him and glare. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Well, he’s just telling you that to get you into bed. He feels sorry for you because he was there the day everything happened with us,” scoffs Bradley.
“I thought you said she wasn’t seeing anyone, Bradley,” my dad queries.
I ignore my dad’s comment. “You didn’t want me inyourbed, so what’s it to you?”
“That’s not true,” he snivels.
“Yes, it is, and you know it. Besides, I’m not having sex with Alex… yet. But we have feelings for each other. Not everyone thinks I'm ugly and disgusting, you know. It is possible for someone to like me just like I am! Alex thinks I’m beautiful,” I say the last part quietly. That’s it, I can’t hold them back, the tears start, and I let them.
“We don’t think you’re ugly, sweetheart,” my dad says.
“Of course she’s not ugly, just overweight,” Mom pipes up.
Yeah, like that makes it better.
“Candy, enough!” Dad yells. That gets everyone’s attention. Number one, my dad doesn’t yell, and number two, he never talks back to my mom. He lets my mom do whatever she wants and always has. “I’ve heard enough from both of you. Our daughter deserves better than a cheating boyfriend.”
