Chapter Seven
It was almost a full week before I left the Scott house and returned home.
Mom stopped bothering me after her initial visit. Jenny came by with the stuff I'd need, and listened, stunned, to the story of our parent's past and came up with several plausible answers as to who Nikki could possibly be. We called Lauren, who came to join us, and the three of us had had almost a wake for our old life.
It was Haley who convinced me to leave. After I'd yelled at her, I'd remained civil toward her, almost as I was in everyday life.
"Callie? Are you awake?" she asked one evening, six days after I'd arrived.
"Yeah," I said slowly. I was nowhere near sleep. She came to sit on the bed Sawyer and I were sharing.
"You know I love you, but you have to go home," she said.
"I can't," I said honestly.
"I know it seems like that, but your Mom made a mistake. And it was fifteen years ago, she doesn't deserve to be punished for it now. We all made mistakes back then. Her, me, Nathan," she said. She paused. "Jake."
"I don't know how I'll ever be able to talk to her, act as though everything is normal."
"You shouldn't! She doesn't want you to pretend like nothing is wrong, like everything is the way it always has been. She's really broken up about it. She can't think of anything else. And now your sisters are freezing her out, and she feels like the worst person in the universe. And I more than anyone understand why she might have felt like that, but more than anyone I know why she doesn't deserve to feel it know! Your Mom's an incredible person! She gave up so much for you and Jenny and Jake," she insisted.
"Why you more than anyone?" I asked, sitting up and crossing my legs.
"Okay, guess it's history week. You know how I left Nathan? It was because of my music career. I wanted to go on tour with this guy, Chris Keller and some famous singers, and he told me that if I left, we were through. Then he went out, and I packed up my stuff and went to meet the bus," she said.
"Why was Nathan being so mean?" I asked in surprise. It seemed distinctly un-him.
"Because I kissed Chris before I left," she admitted. I would have been angry and shocked, but I'd used those emotions too often in the last week for them to mean anything.
"Why?"
"Because I was confused. Because maybe I was too young. Because he was so talented. Because he kissed me and it didn't even occur to me to pull away," she said.
"After you went on tour…" I started.
"He tried for a year," she said, laughing.
"What happened to him?" I asked curiously.
"Oh-after I came back here he followed me back, and then my big sister humiliated him in front of the press and his career was ruined. You'll see him on infomercials occasionally," she said breezily.
"Oh," was all I could say.
"So if you're not mad at me, how can you possibly be mad at your mother?" she asked softly. I realized that she'd been planning that statement since she entered the room.
"I guess I have to go back," I said, swinging my legs over the bed. She smiled and pulled me into an embrace.
It was dark when I arrived in front of my house, lugging my knapsack. It was a nice house, I thought reflectively. I loved the original house more, the one I'd been born in. But this one was huge, and prettier than the Scott mansion. And it had all the nice things-a swimming pool out back, hardwood floors. I'd missed it. All the lights were on and I could see Jenny and Lauren sitting by the window in our room.
Mom and Daddy were talking quietly when I entered. Mom immediately sprung up and ran toward me. She threw her arms around me and I allowed her to. Slowly I hugged her back.
"I'm so, so sorry Callie," she said.
"I know. And I'm not going to freeze you out, and I can get my sisters to back down. But if you ever keep something from me again like this…" I warned.
"I know, I know. Do you want to talk?" she suggested.
"No, I'm going upstairs," I said quietly. I ran from the room and up the staircase, into my room.
They both shrieked when I entered and we all met in a three way hug. After a long stretch of excited chatter, we settled into our routine-we all sat on my bed in a chain from youngest to eldest and braided each others hair for the night.
