Page 55 of Unravelling The Beast

I never had this issue with my parents, but then again, I never did anything wrong. My sister and I were always complete opposites in that regard. I’ve always been a good girl or so I thought until I met Arlo, and now we’re pretty much even, or maybe now I’m even worse than she ever was.

"Has she met him properly yet?"

"Well, no, but..."

"Well, maybe let her meet him if he's not bad."

"She will not like him."

"And why not?"

"Well, he has a bad boy image, is tattooed, and is a little older than me. He is nothing like dad."

"How much older?"

"A bit.."

As I become concerned, I give her a forewarning tone.

"Lily, tell me how much older than you."

"He's... He's roughly around your age."

My mouth drops open, and my eyes expand while I exhale a gasp.

"What?"

"Oh, Wren, come on, it's not that bad! You're starting to sound like mom."

"No, Lil, don't start with that shit. It's no surprise she's concerned; you're only 18!"

Arlo appears in the far distance while he advances towards me, his eyes burning into mine. Lily sighing on the phone before she resumes speaking causes me to break eye contact with him.

"He's a really nice guy.I really like this one; he's mature, and I enjoy that about him.”

I give Arlo the side eye as he heads towards the refrigerator behind me, and I speak a little more quietly into the phone.

"I don't give a fuck, Lil. He's far too old for you!"

She lets out a defeated sigh.

"For fuck sake."

"I want to meet him."

"What?"

I throw another sidelong glance at Arlo, who is now leaning against the refrigerator, clearly listening in on the conversation I'm having while unscrewing the lid of a bottle of water.

"Well, if you have nothing to worry about, let me meet him, and if he is such a nice guy, as you say, I'll try to convince mom."

"No way! You'll just have to trust me on that."

"This isn't how it works; you've already lied to me."

"How?"

"You said he was from your school, but now you're telling me he's my age when you're only 18!"

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