Page 10 of It Was Always You

I gave my sister one last hug before making my way downstairs.

Mom was waiting for me in the living room. "I'll call you when Paul calms down. Just give him a week, okay?"

I hitched my duffel bag higher on my shoulder and huffed. "Just make sure he keeps his fists away from you and Brielle. If anything happens, you have to leave."

She nodded slowly. "I will. But everything will be fine. He'll get the promotion, and everything will be great."

For my mother and my sister's sake, I hoped she was right.

I droveto my dad’s house on the hill—a massive brick home—where he lived with his new family. Just when I was about to knock, my half-siblings burst out the front door, startling me. Mason, who was ten, and his six-year-old sister Paige dashed toward the family’s big SUV parked at the end of the driveway. I didn’t think they even noticed me.

My stepmom, Tracey, was rushing down the hall with her fancy purse slung over her arm and her blonde hair flying behind her. She speed-walked to the door in her high heels. Tracey had been a model before she met my dad, and I didn't think I'd ever seen her without heels on.

"Oh! Hi, Noah. Sorry we're in such a hurry. Mason has a karate test today and we're running late."

"Is my dad here?"

She nodded as she sidestepped past me and continued on to the car. "He's just inside putting on his shoes," she called over her shoulder.

"Can I go in and talk to him?" I yelled after her. She was already halfway down the path that led to their driveway.

"Make it quick." She waved her hand at me in dismissal before opening the passenger door and climbing in.

I shoved my hands in my pockets and stepped inside, wondering where I should go first.

My dad came down the staircase a minute later, fastening his Rolex to his arm as he did so. "Hi, Noah." He peeked up from his watch for a moment but didn't really look at me.

"Hey, Dad." I chewed on my lip, not knowing what to say. "Um—can I talk to you for a minute?"

He was at the bottom of the stairs now, pulling his coat out of the entryway closet and shrugging into it.

"I'm actually in a huge hurry right now, Noah. Mason has this karate thing and we're going to be late if we don't leave now."

"I just need somewhere to stay for a few days. Mom and Paul kicked me out."

He went still and really looked at me for the first time. Then, after taking in my face, his eyes hardened. "Looks like you're getting into trouble again."

Of course, he would blame my swollen lip on me being up to no good, instead of asking what really happened.

"This—" I pointed to my face. "—is not my fault."

"Sure, Noah." He nodded, like he thought I was full of crap. "I thought it was because of football, but football is over. Are you in a gang of some sort?" He shook his head and took a few steps toward the door. "I can't have you around Mason and Paige when you're getting into fights. It's not good for them. I can't have you bringing that sort of stuff into my house."

"Really? You can't have your own son be around your new kids?" I scoffed. This was just the same as it always was. I was the bad kid, always getting into trouble. Hisother kids were the perfect little angels who he didn't want anywhere near my bad influence.

"I really don't have time to talk about this right now. And I won't have your friends targeting me for drug money."

He thought I was into drugs? What the heck did he think I was doing with my life?

He glanced at his watch to check the time. "Thesenseigets upset when families walk in late. Come back later tonight and we'll talk after the kids have gone to bed."

And that was how it always was with my dad now that he had his new perfect family. Any other day or time was more convenient for me to come over than when I actually needed him to be a parent.

My temper flared and I didn't try to hide it. "You know what? Never mind. I can see that you're too busy with your perfect replacement family to care about the one you started with."

He reached out to grab my shoulder, but I shrugged his hand off. He drew in a deep breath and gave me an annoyed expression—something he always did when he had to actually do some parenting. "Noah, you know I didn't replace you when your mom and I divorced."

"Yeah, whatever. I've heard the joke you always tell. 'Kids are like pancakes, if you mess up the first one you can always just throw it out and start over.'"

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