“What’s going on?” I ask, trying to keep from jumping to conclusions.
“Your friend was at the gate, but we wanted to let you finish surfing,” Dad says, and I can see the questions hanging in the air. There’s no doubt who Luna looks like. She’s the spitting image of Kiera.
“Hey, B,” she says, trying to smile. It falls almost instantly,causing the hair on my arms to stand up. “I’m sorry to just show up. I-I thought I could get here to warn you before it aired. I swear, I didn’t know until this morning, but you didn’t answer any of my calls earlier.”
I’ve never known Luna to stumble over her words.
What would she need to warn me about?
“Um, shit. It’s probably still on the charger from this morning,” I say, assessing the situation as my parents stare at Luna. “Lu, what aired?”
I glance at Kaitlyn, and I wonder if I should’ve explained more about my friendship with Luna, but it’s too late now.
And then Luna moves so suddenly I don’t have time to process what’s happening until she’s throwing her arms tight around me in a hug.
“I’m sorry,” Luna whispers, and I don’t understand what she’s apologizing for.Why is she here?What could have possibly aired that warrants her showing up?
“Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s fine,” I say, but it’s more for my benefit than hers. “Just tell me what’s going on. I’m happy to see you, but you’re making it sound like the world is ending.”
I’m not used to her skirting around the truth. Lu’s always said what she’s thinking, regardless of who we were with. Would I prefer she’d be discreet about some things at the current moment—specifically about her mother, who she looks exactly like?Yes. But I’m not going to lie to anyone.
I’m keenly aware that everyone in the room is listening intently to our conversation.
She fidgets with her dark hair, looking away as she lowers her voice. “I-I made a mistake. Carter, he, um, called me one night, and I had just gotten back from a frat party, so I was a little drunk. He asked how you were, and it was after you said he hadn’t reached out. I was so mad at him and my mom that I exploded. I never thought he’d tell her. I never thought shewould do any of this, but I was wrong.I’m so fucking sorry, B.”
“What did you do?” I ask, unable to hide the panic in my voice.
Luna’s eyes are shining with unshed tears. She’s the only one who knowseverything.
“Bailey?” Kaitlyn gasps my name, only it’s in a way that scares the living shit out of me. I tear my eyes from Luna to look at her, noting the phone in her hand. “Is this true?” she asks and I take the phone, my eyes scanning over the screen as my stomach drops with every word I read.
Bailey Walker, youngest child of Thalia and Sebastian Walker, former quarterback for the Charlotte Blue Panthers, reportedly ran away from home after lighting his family’s house on fire almost three years ago. This was previously unknown information, but it’s been heavily speculated upon with their son’s abrupt disappearance from the public eye. The infamous arson case, which had remained unsolved, has now been explained by Kiera Davis, the ex-fiancée of Sebastian. The end of their engagement was breaking news twenty-five years ago when Sebastian Walker left his pregnant fiancée to begin a relationship with his current wife, Thalia. The couple now share four children together, most notably Mirabelle Walker, a decorated Olympian who is married to Henry Walker, the current quarterback of the Charlotte Blue Panthers.
Ms. Davis describes in detail in this record-breaking interview, how Bailey came to live with her family, believing her oldest child to be Sebastian’s from their failed engagement. After discovering this wasn’t the case, he chose to be homeless instead of returning to his family’s home. Ms. Davis explains how Bailey confided in her daughter that he would perform sexual acts in order to have somewhere to sleep at night. To find out more, plea?—
“B, say something, please,” Luna begs, pulling my attention from the article. I can feel myself pulling away, dissociating to protect myself. It’s a handy trick once you learn how. Sometimes I don’t even know I’m doing it.
Dad puts his phone down, and I think I’m going to be sick. I never wanted them to know.
“We can file a suit, demanding they take it down because it’s not true. We can sue Kiera for defamation. I can’t believe she would try to get back at me after all this time by going after you! It makes me sick to see this shit said about you.” Dad scoffs, quieting only when my mother rests a hand on his knee, her eyes locked on me.
“Bash.”
It’s too much. I don’t—Ican’ttalk about this yet. I can’t look at them. “Bailey?” Kaitlyn prods, her fingers pulling the phone from my tightened grasp.
“I . . . I can’t—” I choke out, feeling caged in by the expecting eyes of everyone around me. They want me to deny it and tell them it’s lies.
How can I explain all of it’s true?
Is this what animals caged in the zoo feel like?
“Bailey,” Kait says. The change in her voice—the horror in it—telling me she knows why I can’t breathe. She doesn’t want to believe it. She’s going to hate me. I knew it.
It’s the horrible, ugly truth I’ve been hiding.
Luna’s presence here to explain her mom’s decisions is, in itself, proof that there’s a basis for what’s been said.
This isn’t how it was supposed to go.
