Page 22 of Rescued By the Marine

“Do you want to call your parents on your own?” she asks.

“No, I want you here with me if you want to be.”

She nods and curls up next to me on the couch. I’m going to need her comfort to make this phone call. I hit my parents' number and put the phone on speakerphone. My dad answers after three rings.

“Hey, Kane.”

“Dad.” My voice cracks as I try to remain stoic.

“Let me sit down and then you can tell me what’s wrong. Should Mom get on the call too?”

“Yes, I think Mom needs to hear all of this at the same time.”

My dad yells for Mom to come into the room and puts me on speaker. “We’re both here. First, are you okay?”

“I’m okay. I need to get all of this out without any interruptions and then you can ask questions.”

They agree and I tell them about Zoe being behind the stalking. How she was trying to frighten Violet into hiding to get movie parts.

“Right now, she’s being evaluated at the hospital. There’s enough evidence to arrest her, but both Violet and I asked that she be put on a psych hold first.”

“Is she okay?”

“She was fine when we left. Zoe didn’t seem to think what she’d done was wrong. I’m not sure if it’s a breakdown or something more serious,” I hate having to tell my parents their child isn’t well.

“Is Violet okay?” my mom asks.

“I’m fine, Mrs. Devereux,” Violet answers. “I know that what Zoe has done is terrible and serious, but she’s not a bad person. She’s been my best friend for so long and I won’t believe that she’s felt this anger toward me the whole time. I want to think that it’s some sort of mental break brought on by the kill-or-be-killed lifestyle here in LA. That with therapy and help, she’ll be okay.”

“It’s very kind of you to not be angry with her.”

“I’m angry with her, Mom. She made Violet live in fear. Violet thought this stalker was getting into her home and capable of hurting her. She ran to protect herself and Zoe expected her to just stay hidden.”

Violet wraps her arms around my body as I practically vibrate with anger. She places a sweet kiss over my heart.

“I know, son, but she also brought the two of you together. That’s a big positive out of this whole situation.”

“It’s the best thing,” Violet says. “And it’s no one’s fault except for Zoe’s that this happened. Kane holds no responsibility for what his sister did. I need him to understand this.”

“Of course he doesn’t,” Mom agrees.

“Get your head out of your ass,” Dad says.

“Thanks, guys.” I laugh and it feels good.

My parents agree to let Violet fly them out the next day and stay with us at her house. We will face this as a family. We get off the phone and I kiss the top of Violet’s head.

“Thank you for being you.”

She leans her head back and smiles at me. “You’re welcome.”

“Do you want to talk about future plans tonight or wait till tomorrow?”

“I think we should talk about it tonight. Get everything out in one day and start tomorrow as the beginning of a fresh start.”

“Sounds pretty fucking amazing,” I say.

“I want to go to school.” Violet waits for my reaction.

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