Stef's POV
The second I got off the phone with Lena, Lux comes out of Mike's apartment and steps into my car. Sure, she was ten minutes late. And if I didn't know any better, I would assume it was just to tick me off even more.
But to be honest, those thirty minutes allowed me to calm down a lot before I could get to talk with her, which was beneficial to both of us. However, she wasn't going to get away with the obvious.
She had stayed out all night against our permission, while she was grounded, without saying one word to either of us. She broke at least two of the rules we gave her, and even grounding her didn't prevent this from happening.
Still, I too realized that all we have been doing lately is yelling at her and telling her what to do. And somehow it feels as if I've yelled more at Lux in the past few days than I have at Brandon throughout his entire life, so I could imagine just how bad this could get if I didn't think things through first.
But I was running out of options too. She was deliberately disobeying Mike and I, after promising that she'd try harder and I couldn't understand why.
I attempt to mentally assess the situation in my head on our silent ride toward Anchor Beach. Not wanting to yell at her, but not wanting her to think that this behavior was' perfectly okay' either. She knew what she had done was wrong and for some reason, she thought that a simple 'sorry' would make everything better.
Once I pull into a parking lot in front of the school, she immediately grabs her bag from the floor of the car and tries to leave. But once she pulls on the door handle to get out, the door doesn't open.
Of course, this doesn't come off as a surprise to me, since it's my fault. But she still tries a second time and then lets out a frustrated sigh. "Your door is stuck, Stefanie," she says in an annoyed voice and with an emphasis on my name. And I know that she's just calling me Stefanie instead of Stef, just to upset me even more, but I don't take the bait.
"It's not stuck," I answer calmly.
She flips the lock up and down and tries to open it again, unsuccessfully, "Uh, yes it is. I can't get out," she replies as she pushes the door harder with her shoulder while trying to open it.
"Relax," I tell her, "Let's talk."
Lux squints her eyes at me as if I had gone insane, "Did you put the child-lock on the door?" she asks exasperatedly. "That's your plan? To lock me in a car with you?"
I wait a few seconds before I respond, "I just want to talk before you go in there."
"You had the whole ride over here to talk," she says matter-of-factly.
"Lux, please don't make this difficult," I try to say calmly but it comes off as a warning instead. Immediately, I change to a much softer tone, "Look, I need you to know that your father and I aren't trying to be the mean ones here. I know that that's what it sounds like and I promise you that we're not always like this—"
"Uhuh," she mumbles right before she sighs again and sinks back into her seat.
"We were honestly worried about you, Lux…And I'm not going to lie, we were mad too. But we just want to understand why."
"I told you why."
"No, not why you showed up at Mike's the next day, but why you would do something like that when you just promised us you wouldn't. How can you tell us one day you're going to try and you're going to listen to our rules, and the next day just do the exact opposite? You told us that you wanted to try and make things work, but this isn't trying."
"And I apologized—"
"That's not good enough, Lux… What you did to Mike wasn't okay. He tried to meet you halfway, tried to give you a little bit of freedom, and this was how you repaid him?"
"Well, then maybe I'm not good enough," she retorted.
"That's not true," I shake my head. "You're not trying hard enough. That's the issue."
She shakes her own head as if I'm lying or she doesn't want to believe me and makes a hissing sound.
I take that as my cue to change the subject, "Mike said you were crying yesterday? Is that what this is about? Did something happen?"
Lux gives a short fake-laugh as if my sincerity wasn't even real.
"Lux, I know that right now it might look like we don't care about what's important to you, but we do. If we didn't care, we wouldn't be trying so hard to—"
"That's hilarious. You chased one of the only people that I loved away, because you care? You're right. That makes so much sense. You're trying sooo hard," she responds sarcastically.
"What? Who are you talking about? Bug? …Lux—"
"He got tired of dealing with your crap and left me, okay. Are you happy?" she yells. "Him and Tasha are all that I had, and…now you chased him away and then try to ground me so that I can't see Tash, who's the only person I have left!"
"Lux, I will talk to him and I'll—"
"You won't find him. What part of he's gone don't you understand? And you've done enough already."
"Lux, you cannot honestly blame me for this..." I start, but she shakes her head with defiance. "Lux?"
"Why not huh? Bug has never done this…like ever. Not in the five years that I've known him has he ever left me. And what? A few days after I meet you, he's gone. Without a single word."
"That's not my fault, Lux…Bug left you. Not me. And even if it was my fault, why would you want someone like that in your life, huh? Someone that will just leave you at the drop of a hat?"
"Whatever," she says as she turns away from me to look at the school building.
"No, it's not whatever. You say that he's your family, that him and Tasha are all you have but family doesn't run out on family."
"Look who's talking…" she mumbles.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It doesn't matter. I'm already late," she turns to face me, "Are we done? Are you finished arguing?"
"No we're not done," I raise my voice because her constant ignoring my input is really started to get on my nerves. "Lux, I didn't run out on you…Bug did. And I'm tired of you treating me and Mike like that's what happened. How is that fair?"
"Oh. My. God! Are we back to this again? It's not fair to us, Lux. Why aren't you doing what you're supposed to, Lux? You have to go to this new school, Lux. You have to start living wherever we tell you to, Lux. When are you going to start acting like our daughter, Lux? That's all I hear from you! News Flash: I'm not your daughter! You already have two so try bossing them around. I already have a family and you taking them away from me, one by one, isn't going to make me want to join yours so just stop already! Geez!"
"Oh, they are your family? This Bug guy, the same guy who left you without saying a word. He's your family? These are the same people who tried to coerce you into getting emancipated? The same people who helped you get thrown out of the Gilberts, the only decent family that Callie and Jude have ever lived with since before us? And now they're the same reason you're trying to pull away from us?"
"You don't get to talk about them like that!" Lux snaps. "What the hell do Callie and Jude know about the Gilberts, huh? They were only there for like what? Less than a week? They should've tried living there for two years like I did and see if they still felt the same way," she gives a short and fake-laugh. "Those kids should count their blessings that I got them kicked out of that house when I did."
"What does that mean?" I ask her.
"What do you care?"
"Lux, I do—" and before I can finish, Lena is knocking lightly on my side of the window and I know that this conversation has come to an end. I sigh before I roll it down. "Hey, honey," I greet as Lena bends over to give me a kiss on the cheek.
"Hey, babe. Hi, Lux. Are you ready?"
"Well, not y—"
"Yes," Lux responds without hesitation, which causes me to hold my breath. Lena looks at me for verification and I just nod and smile, because I know that there's no way in hell I'm going to get any more out of her now.
"…Okay," Lena responds skeptically, because she can sense that there's something going on.
"Lena can you," I pause and I gesture toward Lux's door and receive the look from my wife, when she realizes that I put the child-safety lock on it.
"Uhuh," she says to keep the conversation to a minimum, before she walks around to the other side to open it.
The second Lux is out of the car, I remember something, "Oh wait!"
She rolls her eyes and whips her body around, "What?"
I pull out a phone from the center console, "Here, we want you to have this."
"Um, I don't think s—"
"It's not up for discussion," I stop her, "We don't want a repeat of last night happening, so your best bet is to take the phone. All of our numbers are already programmed on it, so if something comes up, which it shouldn't, but if it does, you can shoot us a text or call. I have my phone on me pretty much 24/7 so here," I lean even further so that she could grab it, but she stares at me angrily as if she has no inclination of taking it. "Lux, please don't make this difficult…"
Lena grabs the phone from my hand, "I got it, Stef." At first I'm not sure what to think, but I sigh as I try to trust my wife's instincts. However right now, Lux obviously hates me, so it wouldn't hurt if Lena tried, even though I still don't feel comfortable about letting my wife deal with her, when I can't.
"Okay… I'll see you two later then?"
"Yes," Lena answers.
Then I hear Lux mumble, "Do I have a choice?"
I attempt to respond back but Lena begs me not to with her eyes so I don't, "Love you too!" I yell as I pull out of the parking lot.
Lux's POV
As soon as Stef leaves, I'm almost grateful until I see Lena standing besides me. It's like I can't even get a break from these people.
They're freaking everywhere.
"So, I'm glad you could make it," Lena says as we start walking toward the school.
"Really? Because I'm not," I answer as I keep my gaze away from her and toward the entrance.
"You know… she means well," she tries to defend. "She really wants this to work out. We all do."
"Yep," I answer in a flattened tone. That's all I needed. Another person telling me how badly they wanted this to work out…
"I know that it may not sound like it right now, but…it'll get better. We all just need some time to adjust to all of this."
"Oh come on… It's obvious that you don't want me here just as much as I don't want to be here..."
"That's not true."
"Uhuh. Can't you just like… tell her that me being here is a bad idea or something. Make something up or convince her that I don't belong anywhere near here. I mean we all know it, right? Her and Mike are the only two who actually think that this is going to work for whatever reason. I don't even know. It's like they have this blind spot because I'm biologically related to them… But you're her wife. She values you're opinion and everything, right?"
"Um, Lux, I…I can't do that…"
"Why?" I ask as I watch her stop in front of her office door.
"Because that isn't something that Stef wants."
"Well, what Stef wants isn't something that I want," I respond in a harsh tone, but try my best to lower it, "Look, it's not like I'm asking for the impossible, okay. She doesn't even know me, and you guys already have like ten kids so…"
"That's not the point," Lena answers as she opens the door to her office and tries to hold it open for me, but I don't go in.
"Then what is… Look, you and I both know that this isn't going to work. I haven't had parents in 14 years and to be honest, I don't need them. I don't even want them. If you would just help me, things can go back to normal for everyone. Isn't that what you want? For Callie and Jude, your real kids, to feel safe again? You're acting like what I'm asking for is a bad thing."
"Lux, Stef and Mike would be devastated."
"Oh, because angry Stef and Mike are so much better?" I retort.
"They're only angry because—"
"I'm not who they want me to be," I finish for her.
"No, because you lied... They're not going to stay angry forever. We're all just trying to figure this out and I know it's confusing, but—"
"So does this mean you're not going to help me?" I interrupt.
"It means I can't help you," she lets out a frustrated sigh. "Look, why don't we talk more about this later, when we've all have a chance to calm down some, okay? Are you ready to take this test?"
I take a deep breath and keep quiet until I hear her last question, "Uh, no. It's my first day here and you want me to take a test?"
"It's a placement test. It lets us know where you are academically, so that we know where to place you."
"So…let me get this straight... I can't even start as a freshman. You're going to force me to take a stupid test to determine which grade I have to start in?"
"It's mandatory for new students. Ever since the new principal took over, we—"
"Fine, whatever," I stop her. "Where's the bathroom around here?"
"Um, it's down the hall to the left. You'll see it."
"Okay," I answer, but before I open the door Lena stops me.
"Which reminds me, your phone," she says as she hands it over.
I give her a fake-smile and a "Thanks" before I take it from her. Because I realize that I'm going to need it more than I want to turn it down.
And as soon as I'm down the hall and in the bathroom, I don't waste any time before I dial Fern's cellphone number. I had memorized it by heart and I rarely ever called her. But this was an emergency, so I couldn't help but breathe a huge sigh of relief when she answered.
"Hello, this is Fern."
"Fern, thank goodness you picked up. It's Lux."
"Yes, Lux. Hey… Is everything okay?" she asks in a worried tone.
"No. I'm calling to tell you, that I need another placement…"