Sorry this took longer than expected and sorry about the length. I'm gonna try and have the next update up by Monday. Only three chapters left. :)
Enjoy...
Chapter 28
Ashley's POV
As I make my way down to Kyla's room, I keep trying to come up with things to say. Things that might lessen the blow a bit. Anything that could make this situation a little less painful. But I can't think of anything. All I know is that I have to tell my little sister, not only that I'm leaving her, but that all these years the man who she thought was her father in fact isn't.
"Knock, knock. You got a second?" I ask peeking through Kyla's door. She's on her bed doing homework. She's always been studious. Well, when she's not skipping class that is.
"Yeah, sure." She says with a smile, sitting up.
"Where's your roommate?" I ask as I glance over at Jennifer's bed and see she's not in it. Come to think of it, when is she ever in her room?
"I don't know." Kyla shrugs.
"Oh." Is all I say as I take a seat on Kyla's bed.
"So what's up?" Kyla asks and I rack my brain on where and how exactly to start this.
"Um..." I say.
"Ash." She says, dragging out my name. "What is it crazy? Did you get in trouble or something cause Spencer told me that you went somewhere with Ms. Heevy today but when I asked where she said to talk to you about it."
"Ky, um..." I trail off, looking at her smiling face. Thinking of how it's going to change in a matter of seconds.
"Ash what is it? You're scaring me. Did something happen? Something bad?" Yeah, something really bad happened. Rachael learned how to read and led me to the guy who only fathered me and now that guy wants to take me away from here.
"Do you remember that time when the Sterling's wanted to adopt me?" I ask and she gives me a confused look before her face breaks out into a small smile.
"Yeah, but you told them that you weren't leaving without me and that you didn't give a shit what they thought about it." She says laughing at the memory. "Ms. Heevy was so mad that you'd done that. She said she didn't understand why someone would want to stay in foster home and you told her that you had all the family you needed right here."
"Yeah." I say giggling at little.
"But then she gave you on janitorial duty for a week for your language." She says and chuckles. "Wait why are we..." She trails off and looks up at me. "You're getting adopted aren't you? That's why you were gone all day with Ms. Heevy isn't it?" She says jumping up from the bed.
"Kyla please just listen..." I try and explain the situation to her.
"You promised Ash." She says cutting me off.
"I know, but the circumstances are different now. I don't have a choice Ky. You know that I would never leave you voluntarily." I tell her, joining her on my feet.
"You don't have a choice? How could you not have a choice Ashley?" She asks confused.
"Sit down Ky please." I tell her, trying to sit her back down on the bed.
"I don't want to sit down, I wanna know why you wanna leave me. Did I do something wrong?" She asks sadly.
"No!" I say firmly. "You didn't do anything Ky. You're my little sister, you know that I wouldn't care if you did anyways. This has nothing to do with you. This is my fault. I should of just left it alone." I say softly, taking a seat back on the bed.
"Left what a alone?" She asks scrunching her eyebrows. I remain silent for a moment, thinking about my next words carefully. "Ash what is it?" She asks sitting down on the bed next to me.
I take a deep breath then start. "The other day Rachael was reading the newspaper and it was talking about some guy named Raife Davies..." Her breath hitches when I says his name. I think she knows where this is going but in truth she has no idea. "He was this really poor guy turned rich record producer and it talked about how he was from Ohio. So I did some research on him and I called his office in California, not even expecting him to call me back but he did and then he came here and we had lunch."
"You had lunch with a stranger!" Kyla scolds me.
"I know it was stupid and I wish I could take it back but that's not even the bad part."
"What do you mean?" She asks confused.
"Just let me finish k?" I ask and she nods her head. "So we had lunch and we talked and we realized that it was a great possibility that he could be my dad." I say and she gives me another confused look.
"What do you mean your dad?" She asks and I sigh.
"Ky he says that um... that he hasn't been back to Ohio in fifteen years so there's um... he can't be your dad Ky." I say through a sigh. "I'm sorry."
"I don't understand, Ash." She says in a tiny voice. I have to turn and look away as my eyes water up. She's only fourteen years old and she's been through more stuff than a fourteen year old should at her age and now... now I have to tell her the some really bad news, followed by the worst news she'll ever probably hear in her life.
"Ky," I say turning back to her.
"Ash you're crying. What's wrong?" She asks wiping my face. I grab her hand and let out a small smile. Kyla always has been the more affectionate of the two of us.
I wipe my face and start again. "Kyla, Raife is only my dad. Mom lied to us when we were kids. She wanted us to believe that we had the same dad but we didn't." I shake my head. I see Kyla's eyes glass over as she opens and closes her mouth, I guess trying to figure out what to say. "Today he had his lawyer do a blood test on me to um... to prove that I was his daughter so that uh..." I trail off, not wanting to say the next words, like that would suddenly make them too real.
"So that what, Ash?" Kyla asks as a single tear drops down her cheek. I know she knows what's coming. Kyla may be only fourteen but she's never entirely acted her age, having a mom like ours and having to fight to survive like we did, we both had to grow up a little before our time.
"He's gonna take me away." I breathe out. I shake my head as my tears begin falling again. "He wants me to go live in California with him." I say and Kyla shakes her head.
"No." She says standing up. The tears falling freely now.
"But he's not giving me a choice in the matter. Ms. Heevy says that he has every legal right." I tell her.
"But you can't go, you can't leave me here Ash." She says through her tears.
"I know. I'm sorry, I don't want to leave you but I don't have a choice. But legally Ky, he has the right to do this." I tell her, through sobs of my own.
"Fuck what's legal." She yells out as she paces the room. I think that's the first time I've ever heard Kyla curse.
"Ky, you know that I would never leave you if I had a choice." I say walking up to her, grabbing her to stop her from pacing.
"What am I gonna do without you? You're the only family that I have." Kyla says sadly.
"I know. And this kills me." I tell her, laying her head down on my shoulder. "I'm gonna figure something out, I promise." I assure her. She doesn't say anything, she just keeps her head on my shoulder and continues to cry. For the next half hour we stayed that way until I realized she'd cried herself to sleep and I put her in bed. I made my way back up to my room to see my roommates still awake.
"What's going on?" I ask, shutting the door behind me.
"Spencer told us." Stacy says softly.
"Oh." I say, making my way over to Spencer's bed and taking a seat next to her. She lays her head down on my shoulder. "I leave in the morning." I tell them.
"Ugh!" Rachael grunts out. "Why'd I have to get all smart and shit and decide to read the newspaper." She scolds herself.
"It's not your fault." I assure her. "I'm sure that this would've happened sooner or later."
"Later would have been great though. Like when you're old enough to make your own legal decisions." Spencer says softly next to me.
"Yeah, but it's happening now so..." I trail off. Everyone sits quietly, not knowing exactly what to say.
"Rachael are you crying?" Madison asks and everyone looks up at Rachael who's wiping her eyes.
"No." She says quickly. "I just had something in my eye."
"Aw babe." Stacy says hugging her girlfriend.
"I'm gonna miss you too Rachael." I say getting up and hugging her. "I'm gonna miss all you guys." I tell my friends.
"It won't be the same here without you." Madison says softly. I turn to look at Spencer but she won't look at me. I think it's all becoming too much for her.
I walk over to her and kneel down in front her, grabbing her face to make her look at me. "I love you." I tell her firmly. "I'm so sorry that this is happening, but I love you Spencer and I'm never gonna stop loving you. I'm gonna come back for you, I promise." I tell her and she finally looks me in the eyes.
"I know." She nods.
"K, good." I say lifting up from my knees, but before I can get all the way up Spencer grabs my face and kisses me. And I mean like really kisses me, in a way that she's never kissed me before. Like she wants me, needs me, craves me, loves me, and misses me all at the same time. The kiss lasted longer than our normal ones, I could hear our friends whistling, laughing and hooting and hollering in the background but Spencer and I didn't care. The only thing that mattered in that moment was us...
I was totally okay with that.
