Chapter 63// "I think you need testing on, in a mental hospital"
"You know who it is don't you? Daniel asks Ryan forcefully.
"How could I not know, the resemblance is uncanny" Ryan laughs.
"Ryan stop joking around this isn't a game"
"You know you two are really slow, she's known for ages" Ryan casually states as he runs his finger along the teacher's desk.
She. It was a girl.
I had a half-sister. Daniel had a half-sister.
"It's a girl" Daniel states.
"That's what your future wife will maybe tell you one day. But knowing Aaron he won't let you live that long"
"Stop playing riddles with us Ryan" I speak up.
"Ryan keep going, I love watching them squirm" Aribella laughs as she sits on top of the teacher's desk while swinging her legs.
"Aribella close your legs you look even more like a slut that usual" Daniel rolls his eyes at her.
Damn Daniel.
Aribella automatically closes her legs, looking somewhat embarrassed, well that's weird. Everyone calls her a slut, even she knows it. What difference did it make if Daniel just called her that?
"Is that any way to speak to a lady?" Ryan asks raising an eyebrow.
"Let's call her that when she acts like one. She's slept with most of the football team. You know what Aribella I have a few thing to get off my chest about you and seeing as Ryan locked us in here I may as well say them" Daniel tells her
Daniel was just angry with her because she had led us on into this classroom, but I loved Daniel putting her in her place. I think I was going to enjoy this.
"You keep saying that Elliott slept with you. Slept. That's past tense showing that you will never get a guy. Look Cress got the guy you wanted and your drowning in your jealousy. I even fake dated you for you to get to Elliott and that didn't even work"
"All these years I never stood up for Cress as I was holding on to my popularity, but I'll make up for it now. Aribella your someone who will forever be alone, not because you look ugly but because you have the ugliest personality"
"I've realized that your worthless Aribella and family comes first. My sister comes before you and my popularity. Say what you want to Cress but everyone knows that Elliott loves her more than anything else in the world and that's the sort of love money can never buy"
I swear at this moment I could hug Daniel; can I please have an applause for him?
But what surprised me was Aribella's reaction.
The thing was I didn't expect her to react at all, I expected her to brush of Daniel's words as if they meant nothing to her.
But she looked stunned by him and almost hurt by him.
She nods her head and draws her lips into a line.
"Of course you'd stand up for your sister right?" she states.
"Because your sibling's always come first, no matter the situation, isn't that right Cress, you'd stand up for Daniel wouldn't you?"
"What are you getting at Aribella?" I sigh no longer understand what she was going on about.
"You two are idiotic" Ryan laughs as he picks up a book to examine it. Why did God create such a bad excuse for a human being?
"Shut it Ryan" Aribella scorns him and he actually listens.
"If you want me to answer your question then Yes Cress and I would stand up for each other. She's the only family I have, she's my only sister" Daniel says proudly.
"I'm your sister too"
Everything stops once the words were out and they couldn't be taken back. This was a fact I could never forget.
This moment would scar me forever.
I try and form some sort of words in my mouth but I had nothing to say.
Aribella was my half-sister. She was Daniel's half-sister. She was Abbi's daughter.
There were so many people out there in the world who could be related to us yet it turns out to be her. There were so many people we would accept into our family with open arms yet it was her.
The room was spinning and the words were ringing in my ears.
"No, no this isn't true" Daniel stands up quickly.
"I think I'm going to be sick" Daniel states. I look at my brother and he looked green, he has to lean back on a desk for support.
It took me a couple of seconds to understand why Daniel was acting like this until I realized him and Aribella. Or fake dated.
Whatever that was.
I think I was going to be sick too.
"How long have you know?" I ask the question both Daniel and me wanted to know.
"Let's just say after that day you, Winter and I had that big argument, I found out 2 days later"
Oh my god that was nearly 1 and a half year ago.
"Maybe once upon our time I thought that we could salvage our friendship but then I found out you were my half sister. Not only that but you stole my mother"
"It's not fucking true so stop acting like it is" Daniel shouts pushing over a chair. It clatters to the ground and makes me jump.
I look at Aribella confused about what she said before, I stole nothing from her.
I look over at Daniel and see him still looking extremely ill, he had his head in his hands now.
"Your mother died and you took her from me. She brought you up instead of me"
"That's not my fault" I fight back.
"It is" She raises her voice at me.
"That's why you made my life a living hell, I never understood how one argument could cause so much hatred, but there was something else. There was this." The realization was hitting me hard.
"You dated me" Daniel perks up all of a sudden.
"Fake dated" She adds.
"You let everyone think we were dating" He shouts at her.
"And everyone thought we were a cute couple" She replies.
"This has got to be a joke. This is some sick joke" Daniel shakes his head unable to believe his ears. I look between Aribella and Daniel and I wish I didn't see it but I did, eyes, the hair.
There was a sudden knock at the classroom door that made me jump out my skin.
"I know you're in there, open the door now" Elliott shouts. I feel instantly reassured that Elliott was here.
I let out a shaky breath.
"I'm giving you 5 second or I'll fucking break down this door"
"Open the door before he breaks it" Aribella waves her hand at Ryan.
"Are you sure?" He asks confused.
"I wasn't going to kill them all in here, that's what Aaron has planned. That's not my job" She rolls her eyes.
Ryan shrugs and unlocks the door and flying in comes Conner and Elliott, he runs up to me wrapping his arms around me securely. Until he looks at Daniel and loosens his grip on me.
"What's wrong with Daniel?" Elliott asks, worry filling his tone.
He looks back at Ryan who had that goddamn stupid grin on his face. Elliott walks up to him and grabs him by the collar of his school shirt.
"What did you do to him?" Elliott snarls.
"Actually it was me" Aribella perks up.
"I've been brought up to never hit a girl but I swear if you've done anything to Daniel"
"Calm down Elliott, I just told him the truth" She smiles sweetly. She makes me sick.
"It's not true" Daniel states looking up, it can't be.
"Has he gone into some kind of shock?" Conner asks worriedly.
Elliott walks up right in front of Aribella.
"What have you said to him?" He growls at her as he was face to face with her.
"Calm down there tiger," She tells him trailing her finger over his sharp jaw line. He pushes her away from himself in disgust.
"Well, I guess if you really marry Cress, you would be my brother in law" Aribella states, examining her fake nails.
"What?" Elliott shouts like he just misheard something.
"My birth name is Aribella Dawson, shocker right?"
Before I know it Daniel has Aribella up against the wall with one of his arms on her shoulder as he towers over her.
"Admit it you lying" He shouts at her forcefully.
"I'm not lying Daniel, do you not see the resemblance?" Daniel looks over at me then back at Aribella.
He punches the wall. I see her jump at Daniel's action. She was actually scared of him.
"That day when you asked me to help you, I didn't say no. I didn't ask any questions. I tried to help you out. Yet you knew all along" Daniel runs a hand over his face still trying to process everything.
''Have you thought maybe just maybe I wanted to spend time with you, get to know my brother"
"Don't you dare, ever, call me that again" Daniel snarls at her.
I don't know how Daniel must be feeling, betrayed I was guessing. It was kind of like finding out Carter was my brother, we never properly dated but there was something there.
Even the slight though of Carter being my brother made me want to double up and be sick, I can't imagine what was going through Daniel's head.
Thankfully I think Daniel and Aribella never kissed, even the thought of it makes me want to hurl.
"What, call you my brother, you can't deny it?" She must have some guts to continue to wind up my brother
"I said don't call me that" He shoves her hard into the wall. Someone has to stop him.
Elliott holds him back, but Daniel rages out of his grips.
"Get off me"
"Daniel don't do something you're going to regret," Elliott tells him softly.
"What would you do if you found out she was your sister, you slept with her. It's nearly the same thing" There was a sort of ache in Daniel's voice.
"Here Dan, it's okay, no one blames you it's not your fault"
"In clear words, I dated my sister" He states like it was something that was undeniable.
"You know what I'm done with everything. I give up" He puts his arms up in protest as he strides out the room, Elliott was first to run after him but soon Conner and I follow.
*
Daniel was something of a state as all he did was spend all him time in his room, only the guys would be allowed in and out.
He didn't want to even see me.
Dad tried to go inside once and let's just say there are still smashed pieces of his old alarm clock.
Mom was seriously worried about him, but if there's one persona Daniel never wanted to see again it was her.
Yet I couldn't be angry at her, yes she made a mistake, yet she still stayed in Los Angeles to bring up Daniel and I. She's been nothing but caring towards us all these years.
"What's wrong with your brother?" My dad asks forcefully as he comes into the main living room while as was switching through channels with Elliott next to me.
Everything I put on TV he would take the control from me and change it again and it seemed like we had flicked through nearly every channel.
"How am I supposed to know" I shrugged trying to ignore the fact he was standing in front of me. Elliott was equally ignoring him too and it obviously pissing him off.
Elliott grabs the control from my grip and ends up elbowing me in the boob.
"Ow, Elliott careful" I whine in pain. "Lady parts are very sensitive"
My dad leaves the room, looking angrier than usual. From what mom told me they were no closer to finding out who the child was.
When the child was practically right under their noses.
"Please male parts are way more sensitive, boobs are just cushioning" I snort at Elliott's words, I wish.
Before Aribella and I got into our huge argument we used to sleepover at each other's houses all the time. It was sad that my mom had actually met her daughter but she never knew.
And if I was right Aribella had met her birth mother but she never knew it.
I tried not to think about the whole situation but it was eating me up on the inside just as it was with Daniel.
Winter was stunned when she found out and was just as disgusted as Daniel. I thought it was just me that hated Aribella but she really was twisted.
No one was blaming Daniel yet he was still blaming himself.
The thing is that mom also thought, like everyone else that Aribella and Daniel were dating. I didn't even want to know her reaction if she ever found out.
I used to spend countless nights crying to her about how Aribella had ruined my life and how she used to hurt me. I don't think their first mother and daughter meeting will be pretty.
There was a sudden loud and repeated knocking at the front door. My dad goes to answer it. The poor person who was at the other side of the door. They were probably going to receive some of Dad's rage.
'What do you want, we don't buy girl scout cookies" My dad barks at them.
"I think you have been looking for me" A female voice states. I jump up immediately. This is not going to be good.
I run into the hallway to see who was in the doorway. To my left I see my mom standing in the hall with a tea cloth in her hands.
"Who is it?" She asks me.
I was going to tell her but I didn't need to because Daniel decided to make a sudden appearance by storming down the stairs.
"Get the fuck out my house" Daniel shouts as he stands in front of the doorframe.
"Now Daniel is that any way to speak to me," She says in her sweetest voice. She is so fake that it makes me sick.
"I'm warning you, get out my house Aribella" Daniel warns her.
"What's she doing here" Mom huffs. "I never liked that girl being with Daniel you know that"
"Are you going to let me in our what, Mr. Dawson?" Aribella asks him and my dad steps aside, which obviously angers Daniel, even more.
Aribella looks inside my house and instantly her gaze catches my mothers.
Everything was quite, no one said anything, there was no way we could hide this any longer. They were going to find out.
"Why are you intruding into our home, who are you?" Dad speaks loudly.
"I'm Aribella Dawson, I'm your daughter"
Dad looks stunned at the sight of her standing in front of us.
And mom, she had to lean against the stair banister for support.
"We need to get in contact with..." Dad begins but Aribella cuts him off.
"You can take as many blood tests as you want but that won't change the fact that my DNA matches yours"
"I think you need testing on, in a mental hospital" Daniel states.
"Daniel shut up, this isn't your place to talk" Dad yells at him.
"Don't tell him to shut up" Mom states speaking up for the first time. She looks carefully and steps forward until she is standing directly in front of Aribella.
"ABBI!" My dad shouts at her.
"You don't know anything" She hushes him.
"Hey mom" Aribella shrugs.
Bu I knew that expression on mom's face. She was holding herself back from slapping Aribella across the face.
Mom looks over at Daniel "This is the girl that dated my son..."
The look on Dad's face is so priceless that I should have taken a photo and hung it on the kitchen wall. I look up at Daniel's he looked surprised at the fact she called him her son.
"...You were my daughter's friend then you turned to bullying her"
Aribella doesn't say anything. I couldn't hold back the smile on my face.
Ha bitch in your face, karma is a bitch, isn't it?
"Your no daughter of mine, get out my house," Mom tells her.
Everyone was shocked at her, dad looked like he could fit a bowling ball in his mouth and even Daniel look stunned in to silence.
"They're not your children I am," Aribella says desperately just as my mom was just about to turn around and walk away. There was something in her voice that made me think she wasn't acting, she was suddenly really hurt by my mom's reaction
"I had you ripped from my arms when I was still a teenager, the thing I would want most is to get to know you, but not if you hurt my other children. It doesn't matter who your birth parents are, what matters is who cared for you and brings you up."
"I know Daniel hates me but you know what he can never get rid of me, I'm not him mom by default but I'm his mother in all other ways. And anyone who treats my kids like crap, well I can't forgive them"
Then she walks out the hall and back in to the kitchen. Aribella looked like she was on the brink of tears.
I know that her foster parents were the kindest and sweetest people in the world. I had met them when I was younger and they would give Aribella anything, they loved her with all their hearts.
Aribella was here to ruin my family even further, she wanted to hurt me even more than usual and for once she wasn't going to win.
"Aabriya I think we should have a chat," My dad asks her as he mimic for her to go in to the living room.
"It's Aribella"
I run after my mom and go in to the kitchen; she was standing by the cooker tossing the vegetables in the pan with a wooden spoon.
"Mom are you okay?" I ask but it was obviously a stupid question.
"I always wanted to meet her, but I stopped myself knowing it was wrong to interfere in her life. The second your father had her ripped form my arms she was no longer mine"
I hear a clutter and both mom and me turn around and see Daniel standing there.
"Daniel are you okay?" Mom asks. No matter what, even if Daniel rarely talks to her, if he always ignores her she still cares for him.
"I want you to know Aribella and me, we never dated. I pretend to go out with her so she could get close to Elliott. She said I could go with any other girl I fancied and we were just publically a couple"
"I understand" She nods not discussing the awkward matter any further.
"I want to say something else," He says loudly as if not wanting her to miss what he was saying. He uses his finger to trail the wood grain on the table.
"I've been a dic... I've been horrible lately and I realize now, its not your fault mom's gone and I am thankful for everything you've done and I'm sorry and I know you cheated on your best friend but..."
Daniel was just blabbering on now.
"Daniel," She tells him harshly.
"It's okay. We all make mistakes" She shakes her head. "Now come here and give me a hug...and you too Crescent"
Daniel was unmoving for a few moment but eventually, joins her warm hug along with me.
"Come on you need to let your future son-in-law join" Elliott bursts in and joins the hug, while I hear my mom laugh.
Suddenly I feel someone else join into our large hug.
"Well unless Daniel wants to marry me I don't think I will be a son-in-law, but I'm always family anyway" Alec states joining the hug too.
Author note:
I hope this chapter was okay and nobody is like seriously confused.
The way my Summer break is going so far is that I read one book in the morning and writing a chapter in the afternoon. This is how its going to go for me for the next month and a bit. I'm living the dream.
If your wondering the book I read for the first time today was Anna and the French kiss, where has this book been my whole life. And St. Clair, is just damn.