“It all started in my old neighborhood,” I began. We had taken our waters and the packet of chips and gone to my room, which was probably a worse idea than leaning against the fridge with him pressed against me. But I had a feeling after I told him a little of my secret, not the whole truth, but a little hint, we wouldn’t be doing anything. He would leave and probably rescind his invitation to the ball, and we would never talk to each other again. Which would suck because we lived next to each other.
And then I would have to tell my father to somehow break up with Dane’s mom so they wouldn’t fall in love and get married, causing Dane and I to get stuck together for the rest of our lives… I took a deep breath and continued.
“I was nine years old when I first found out my dad was having an affair.”
Dane’s eyes widened. “I’m sorry. That’s horrible. What did you do?”
“Of course, I confronted him. I loved my mom. We were close until she passed away a year ago.”
He nodded. “I’m sorry about that too.”
“I know. You’ve already said. I think knowing what my dad was doing made her sicker. My dad said my mom wanted to leave so many times.”
“So what happened next?”
“This wasn’t the first time he’d had affairs. He had a habit of having them. And they were always richer than we were.”
Dane’s eyes flicked up and down, side to side. I could see him thinking. He was probably choosing his words carefully.
“So, anyway, one of the women he was having an affair with was a bit older than my dad. She was known to have some mental health issues. She would come over when my mom wasn’t there, at work or the store, and when they weren’t together, she would walk into my house like she owned the place. She used to say horrible things to me, call me cruel names. I hated her.”
“What a bitch.”
“Yep. She was, but that wasn’t the worst of it. She… did things to other children and me. She was a foster carer, you see. She thought I somehow needed saving or something. I hated her so much that I wanted her gone from our lives. So I, um… took matters into my own hands.” I fidgeted with the water glass, spinning it around in my hands. My cheeks heated with embarrassment. Oh, god. Oh, god. Oh, god.
“What did she do? What did you do?” he asked with a smirk. He also chuckled, which made me believe he wasn’t horrified. I swallowed the fear in my throat.
“She used to… tie me up when I was ‘wild’ and starve me. She used to hit me. She called me Little Witch. I called the cops and got her admitted to the local psych hospital.” I shook my head and sniffed. The threat of tears burned my throat and eyes.
“Hey, it’s okay. You did what any nine-year-old would do. She was a horrible bitch. No, she’s the witch. And people like her shouldn’t ever be around children. Plus, you said she had issues. Good riddance, I say.”
I gasped. “You’re not horrified? You don’t want to take back your invitation?”
“No. Don’t be silly.” He moved toward me on the bed and pulled me into his arms. I set the water glasses on the nightstand and leaned into him. His arms felt like safety. I wanted to lie in them forever.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
He kissed my head. “I like you, Darcie. You’re going to have to try harder than that to get rid of me.”