5

Chapter 5

Mia

I froze in the doorway.

My parents were sitting inside my dorm room like they owned the place, and judging by the looks on their faces, they hadn't come here to apologize.

They had come to confront me.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, my voice barely hiding my irritation.

Mom slowly stood, smoothing down her perfectly tailored suit. Her eyes traveled over me with the same disappointment I'd known all my life.

“Is that any way to welcome your parents?” My mother stood, smoothing down her perfectly tailored suit, her eyes narrowed.

I scoffed. If she thought I was trying to welcome them, I had news for her.

“What do you want, Mom?"

“What I want is to know why you've decided to disgrace this family's name once again.” It's like we can't even leave you alone for one second without fear of you doing something stupid.”

Scott, who was behind me, shifted.

“What did I do now?”

“For starters, I have been trying to reach you for weeks. Why haven't you picked up your calls?”

“Because I had nothing to say to you.” I shrugged.

“Your insolence is disgraceful.”

“Oh no," I murmured sarcastically.

“Don't get smart with me, girl.”

My lips thinned into a straight line.

“Apologize to your mother!”

My dad finally spoke.

“Sorry, Mom."

She sighed. “Why do you constantly choose to make everything so complicated?”

“Complicated? Is there something I did that I'm not aware of?”

I finally asked, tired of her beating about the bush.

“As a matter of fact, yes. Your relationship with Scott.”

My stomach tightened.

So they'd heard.

Mom's expression hardened. “You disappear for weeks, ignore our calls, and then we hear you're involved with Scott?”

“He's my boyfriend.”

“That's exactly the problem,” she snapped. “You could have chosen anyone, Mia. Anyone. And you chose your brother's best friend—the one person who could turn this family into a laughingstock.”

I stared at her. “So that's why you came all the way here? To tell me who I'm allowed to date?”

“We came because apparently you can't be trusted to make a single decent decision on your own.”

“Hey!” Scott's voice sharpened behind me.

I turned and found him standing rigidly, his jaw clenched.

My mother looked him up and down. “Don't make this about you, Scott.”

His expression darkened. “I'm not. But you don't get to stand in her room and insult her while I'm here.”

For a second, nobody spoke.

I stared at him.

Scott had never defended me before.

Not like this.

I turned around. “You should go, Scott. We'll talk later, ok?”

Scott looked like he wanted to say something but nodded.

“Call me when you need me, babes.”

He said, then waved at my parents as if they hadn't just called him a loser before leaving.

I turned back to look at my parents.

My dad was on his feet now, his hands folded.

“What do you have to say for yourself, young lady?"

“Nothing. You have no right to come here and start to question my choices.”

“How dare you speak to me like that?”

“How dare I?” I shot back, my voice cracking with years of anger. “How dare you come into my room uninvited, insult my boyfriend, and act like you still have the right to control my life? I don't want you here.”

The room went completely still.

Mom's expression changed.

Before I could understand what she was about to do, her hand came across my face.

The crack of the slap echoed through the room.

For a second, I couldn't move.

My cheek burned. My eyes filled instantly, but I refused to let the tears fall in front of her.

Dad said nothing.

That somehow hurt more than the slap.

Tears pooled in my eyes. “Once again, you've shown me why I don't want to be around you. I just want you both to leave me the fuck alone!”

Without thinking and needing to be away from these people, I pushed the door open and ran down the hall and downstairs. I noticed Scott waiting downstairs, but I ignored him and ran past him. Too upset to acknowledge anyone.

Plus, I didn't want Scott of all people to see me cry.

When I was finally in the dorm laundry room, I let myself cry.

I hated that once again they'd managed to make me cry, and I had let them.

It was always like this with them. Invasion of space, accusations, and the constant barking. The expectations.

“Hey, are you okay?” Scott's voice echoed in the empty laundry room.

"Go away, Scott.”

“Jeez, are you fucking crying?" He asked, bulldozing through the door and coming to stand in front of me.

“I said go away.”

“The hell I will.” He said, pulling me close.

I resisted for only a second before letting him pull me close.

“What happened?”

He asked, crushing me against his wide chest.

The tears refused to stop no matter how much I tried.

“It's okay," he cooed.

Finally gathering my strength, I pulled away from him.

“I told you to go away.”

I wiped my eyes. How embarrassing was it to cry in front of your mortal enemy?

It's like the day couldn't get any worse.

“I'm not leaving my girlfriend in an emotional state like this.”

I rolled my eyes.

“Fake.”

“Whatever. I overheard your parents.”

“Oh my God. You don't listen, do you?”

“I had no idea you were being treated like that, Mia.”

His face softened. For the first time since our rivalry. I saw a softness in his eyes I had never seen before.

It unnerved me.

“It's not a big deal.”

“Your parents hitting you is a big deal.”

Scott's voice was quieter now.

He lifted his hand and gently touched my cheek, his thumb hovering over the reddened skin.

I stopped breathing.

It was such a small gesture, but coming from him, it felt completely different.

This was Scott.

My rival.

The man who annoyed me every chance he got.

The man I had spent weeks insisting I couldn't stand.

Yet his touch was careful, almost painfully gentle.

His eyes met mine, and for once, there was no teasing in them.

“Does it hurt?”

I swallowed.

“Not as much as you looking at me like that.”

His eyebrows lifted slightly.

“Like what?”

“Like you actually care.”

His expression softened.

“Maybe I do.”

The air between us got thicker and something cracked…

I quickly looked away, clearing my throat.

“If you breathe a word to anyone about me crying, I am going to kill you.”

Scott laughed… “I am not joking.”

“Yes, ma'am.”

“Good. Bye.” I said, and with that began to walk away.

“Mia?”

“What?” I snapped.

"I'm sorry about your parents.”

“Me too.”

With that I left the building, needing to be away from everyone.

I sat in a cafe for hours, ignoring the calls and texts from my parents and brother.

It wasn't until nightfall before I made my way back to my dorm.

I breathed out a sigh of relief when I opened the door, and the room was empty.

“Good riddance.” I murmured, glad to be alone again.

I began to take off my clothes when I noticed something on my bedside table.

I got closer and realized it was an Amex card.

I couldn't but laugh.

My parents must have dropped it here as some kind of apology.

Typical.

They thought money could fix everything.

Well, not this time.

As tempting as it was to keep it, I would be damned if I took a dime from them.

So, the next day, I sent the card back home.

They didn't get to treat me like shit and make me feel worthless just because I wanted to follow my own path and give a half-assed apology.

I turned the card over, expecting nothing more than the usual name embossed across the back.

Instead, I found a small white envelope tucked underneath it.

My name was written across the front in Mom's handwriting.

My heart sank.

I opened it with trembling fingers.

There was only one sentence inside.

If you refuse our help, your scholarship will be the least of what you lose.

I read it twice.

Then a third time.

My anger disappeared.

Because suddenly, I wasn't sure they had left that card as an apology at all.

They were threatening me.

And whatever my parents were planning, I had a feeling Scott was already involved in it somehow.