10. Anne Jacobs

"My taser?" Dad asked, raising a brow. He'd finally come back from his never-ending business trip, dragging along his newest girlfriend—Yesenia—who, thankfully, could cook. So at least dinner tonight wouldn't be awful.

"Yeah. How much is it?" I asked casually.

He narrowed his eyes. "Why are you asking?"

"Just wondering," I said, avoiding eye contact. I couldn't exactly tell him it was because Victor, my walking red flag of a classmate, was obsessed with me.

"Don't mumble. Just say what you want."

I exhaled. "How about you just let me borrow it?"

"How about no?" He punched me lightly in the arm, trying to play it off, but I could already see the gears turning in his head. "Who do you want to zap? Why do you want it?"

"I might need to use it on someone."

"Why? Are you being bullied?" His tone sharpened instantly. "Yesenia said the school called today. Something about fights lately. Who's bullying you?"

"No one!"

"Bothering you?"

Yes. "No!"

“Your face?”

“It’s nothing.”

"You're pissed at someone, aren't you? You're asking for the taser because you're mad! Bullying's all over the news lately! I'm going to that shitty school—"

"That's not it!" I snapped. "Do I look like someone who gets bullied?"

In his head, I wasn't even a teenager. He still saw me in pigtails holding a juice box. 'Yes.'

"Dad—"

"I'm going with you to school."

"Dad, I swear, it's not what you think!" I stood, desperate to escape the lecture before it escalated.

'She should just let her father go with her. Poor kid doesn't know how much he worries,' Yesenia thought, watching us from the kitchen.

Shit.

"I'm going to get some fresh air," I mumbled, and stepped outside into the yard, letting the cold air calm the panic brewing in my chest.

My phone rang.

Unknown number.

I picked up—stupidly.

"Hello?"

"Hey, why're you outside?" Victor's voice slithered into my ear.

My skin broke out in goosebumps. He sounded cheerful—like this wasn't deeply unsettling. How did he even get my number?

"Um..."

"I'll be right there. I want to see you too."

"That's not—" Click. He already hung up.

I spun around, and—

"Dad?!" He was standing behind me like a ghost. "Why are you out here?" I barked. "I told you, it's not what you think!"

"Something bad definitely happened. That's why you're jumpy, right?"

"It didn't!"

"Don't worry, I'll be very rational."

"Anne!" Victor's voice called as he rounded the corner.

Fuck.

Dad moved like lightning, grabbing Victor by the shirt and lifting him a few inches off the ground.

"Who are you?!"

"Dad, put him down!"

"You know him?" Dad growled.

"From school," Victor said, eyes wide but oddly calm.

"So it's you! You dared to pick on my babygirl, you motherfucker?!" Dad shook him like a ragdoll.

"You said you'd be rational!" I yelled.

"Not only do you bully her, but you make her feel so unsafe she's asking for a taser?! Do you know how expensive those are?!"

I kicked dad in the knee. He let go of Victor, stumbling.

"How many times do I have to tell you—it's not what you think! I wasn't going to use it on this guy!"

***

"So this guy was just trying to help you out." Dad chuckled at the dinner table, fork in hand.

Somehow—somehow—Victor had weaseled his way inside and was now sitting across from me. He even had a plate of food.

"You little bastard," Dad said, "how many times have I told you to handle your shit without dragging people into it?"

"What?" I gaped.

"Aww, what do I do now? I was so rude to your friend. My apologies, Victor."

"It's okay," Victor replied with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Anne and I have gotten super close lately."

Dad nudged me. "Anne's always been a sharp judge of character."

Victor nodded. 'This is perfect. They already like me. I'll fit right in like a son. Now I have the perfect excuse to always be close to my love.'

I stared at my food, appetite gone. Victor laughed at Dad's dumb jokes, complimented Yesenia's cooking like he'd always been a part of this household.

"So, Victor," Dad asked, "why the sudden interest in Anne?"

"It already feels like we've known each other forever," he said, eyes on me like a spotlight.

'Soon they'll see it too. How natural we look together. Maybe I could stay with her while her dad's away.'

I felt my lungs shrink.

I smiled.

Because what the fuck else was I supposed to do?

Tell them?

Explain that the boy buttering his way into my family's good graces was a walking storm of delusion?

Dad couldn't hear his thoughts. He just saw a good kid who liked his daughter.

And me?

I was supposed to sit here and pretend the food didn't taste like dread.

I don't know what else to do.

***

After dinner, I tried my hardest to break away—to slip upstairs, to hide in the bathroom, to just get anywhere that wasn't near Victor. But he made that genuinely impossible.

He stuck to me like glue, always half a step behind, so casual and confident you'd think this was his house and not mine.

Dad and Yesenia were in the kitchen, cleaning dishes and laughing. Loud, carefree laughter. They were laughing with him. With Victor.

That was when it happened.

Dad turned to him, grinning like they were already best friends. "Are you seeing anyone, Victor? Bet the girls at school are all over you."

Victor didn't even pause. He didn't look embarrassed. Didn't act like he was putting on a show.

"Actually, I'm dating Anne."

The words hit me like cold water to the face.

Yesenia gasped behind her hand like it was the cutest thing she'd ever heard. My dad raised his eyebrows in surprise, then nodded—nodded, like he approved. Like he already bought into it.

Meanwhile, I just stood there, frozen. My throat dry. My pulse loud in my ears.

We weren't dating.

We hadn't even had a real conversation.

But Victor said it like it was just some forgotten fact I hadn't gotten around to announcing.

And why wouldn't they believe him? To them, Victor was perfect. Polite. Respectful. Charming. All-American boy.

Me? I probably looked like the awkward, overly quiet daughter who never brought anyone home.

'I said it. It's real now. They know. They accept it. She'll see once she gets used to it. We're together now,' his thoughts purred.

I forced a dry, brittle laugh. "Is it like that?"

'Mine. Mine. Mine. My sweet Anne.'

I stared at the glass of water next to my plate, still untouched. No one was going to ask me if it was true. It didn't matter.

Victor had already decided it was.

And just like that, I was trapped. Inside a story I never agreed to. A nightmare dressed up like a fairy tale—and no one else could hear me scream.

***

He finally left two hours later.

Two agonizing hours of pretending I was fine, smiling while he basked in my family's approval like he'd earned it.

After the door shut behind him, I didn't move. I stood there like a puppet that had its strings cut, wondering if it was even worth trying to undo the damage.

In the kitchen, Dad and Yesenia were still laughing, loading plates into the dishwasher, talking about dinner like they hadn't just welcomed the monster under my bed into the living room.

"Dad," I said, stepping forward. "About earlier, I need to tell you something."

"Yeah, I'm all ears," he said, cheerful as ever.

"I'm not... dating Victor," I said clearly. "He kind of just said anything."

There. That was it. That should have been enough. Any sane person would ask more questions. Any father should—

But Dad just exchanged a look with Yesenia—and then they laughed.

"Anne, there's no need to be embarrassed," he said. "Victor's a good kid. If you two are seeing each other, I'm fine with that."

"We love Victor," Yesenia added. "He's so polite. And you looked really happy next to him."

I stared at them in disbelief. "I'm not—"

But I cut myself off.

Because I could already see it in their heads. They thought I was just being shy. Or that I was trying to avoid some awkward parental talk. Or that I didn't want to admit I liked him yet.

They didn't hear the things I heard. They didn't see how he looked at me.

They didn't know that Victor wasn't giving me a choice—and now they'd swung the door wide open and let him walk in.

Swallowing the bile rising in my throat, I forced a smile.

"Right... guess I'm just nervous."

Dad patted me on the back, and I let him.

Because what else could I do?

Victor was already inside my life—and he'd just made sure I couldn't lock the door behind him.

So now?

I either embrace this lie... or kill him.

Neither option felt survivable.