Barrett reaches out with his free hand, setting a firm palm to my shaking shoulder. “It’s okay, Lacey.” His stern gaze remains fixed behind me.
I turn in his hold, allowing him to slide his hand to my waist in a gesture of support. Two officers make their way down our wide stone steps, but it’s the vision between them that has my heart clenching painfully.
“Dad?” My feet carry me forward. “What’s happening?” I pick up speed, racing across the cold concrete that divides us after I notice the cuffs around my father’s wrists. “Why are you doing this?” I direct my anger toward the nearest cop.
He releases Dad’s arm to restrain me by the shoulders. “Slow down, honey.”
“Lacey,” Dad calls from behind him, making his way toward the cruiser. “It’s okay.”
“Why are you in cuffs?” I cry. “Where’s Mum?”
“She’s inside.” Dad glances toward the cop who still has him restrained, offering a silent plea to be let go.
The policeman obliges, releasing Dad so he can take a step toward me. His usually bright eyes are dull, his dusty brown hair messed up as though he’s run his hands through it repeatedly. I reach out and straighten his suit jacket, setting his collar evenly over the lapels.
He sighs out his nose, chin dropping. “Everything will be fine.”
Why don’t his shaky words convince me of that, then? “What happened?”
Just last night we were discussing this winter’s holiday in Sweden. I jokingly told Dad I’d stay home if he bought me my new car early. Everything was on the up. Everything was good.
How could our lives change so fast?
I sense Barrett behind me; Dad looks over my shoulder to acknowledge him. “Barrett.”
“Mr Williams.”
Dad’s gaze drops to the ground between us, seemingly a million miles away. He snaps back to me, nods, and then takes a step back to offer his arm to the policeman again. “Your mother will explain everything, Lace.” His chin lifts, the look of pride I’m accustomed to finally returning to his handsome face. “Everything will be fine. I love you, baby.”
“I love you too, Dad.”
My feet anchor me to the spot, not a single muscle in my legs willing to co-operate as the policemen load my father into the back of the cruiser. My brow twitches, my throat thick, yet I don’t shed a single tear. The car slowly moves out of sight, lost behind the lines of expensive vehicles parked down the sides of the avenue.
This kind of thing doesn’t play out in our neighbourhood. The only time the police come here is to appease bickering neighbours. Crime doesn’t often happen in Riverbourne, and never in my house.
“Lacey?” Barrett asks carefully. “Are you okay?” His hand rests on my upper arm, his body close behind mine.
What do I say? What on earth do I tell him? How do I explain this when I don’t understand it myself?
Mere minutes ago, I was on cloud nine, believing I’d achieved the impossible by attracting the attention of a boy whose family wealth could ensure our own survives the turmoils of a first generation. Now… Now I’m a stupid girl playing pretend when the reality of it all crashes over me like a bucket of ice.
Nobody is immune to heartache and shame.
I don’t know a damn thing about what happens behind closed doors in our family. The police don’t come and arrest a person with no reason, and they sure as hell don’t wake up one morning and think to themselves, “You know what? It must be James Williams’s turn today.”
My knees buckle. Damn appearances. I bleed on the inside, and I don’t care who knows it.
The cold concrete assails my bare legs, the chill a stark reminder that I am most definitely alive and that I feel. “I don’t understand.” Leaves skitter across the empty avenue; no sign of my father remains.
He left so quickly that I need to pinch myself and ask if this is real.
I vaguely make out the metallic scratch of my MacBook as it touches the sidewalk. “Did you know he was in trouble?” Barrett crouches beside me, staring down the empty street as though searching for answers himself.
“No.” I shake my head, hair catching my school blouse and resting across my face.
Adrenalin rushes through my sluggish body, forcing languid limbs to shift and tremble uncontrollably. I’ve shown the world the perfect face for so long, and now that the real me inside broke free, I don’t know how to stop her.
“Shit, Lacey.” Warm arms encase my shoulders. I topple off balance, crashing into Barrett’s hold. “Just breathe through it.”
“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” I force through a chattering jaw.
I can’t look away from the damn street; the ostentatious trees piss me off. The perfectly shined cars feed my anger.
“It’s shock.” He lets go, only to remove his school blazer and drape it around me. “It’ll pass.” His steady hand makes smooth sweeps of my hair, his fingertips caressing the lengths behind my ear. “It’ll be okay.”
I cry—reluctant tears that leak silently from tired eyes. This isn’t how our moment was supposed to go. Snaring Barrett was supposed to be a memory I treasure forever, not a heartache I forever regret.
I don’t want to be consoled. I want the truth, yet at the same time, I don’t. I want to know how serious this is, and yet I also want to stay ignorant to the details so I can continue to pretend that maybe, just maybe, this is all a giant misunderstanding.
Tyres crunch over leaves in the gutter, the loud growl of an engine cutting out seconds before the slap of shoes on the road.
“What the hell is this?” Colt.
I tear away from Barret, his blazer falling to the ground when I gravitate toward my brother on instinct. I need something familiar. Something I know and something that makes me feel safe.
I need my best friend.
“Talk to me, sis.” Colt envelops me in his
