"Two weeks." Mom stated as Seth and I walked into the kitchen.
"Sorry?" Seth responded.
"Two weeks, it's unbelievable." She continued. "Who would believe it? I don't believe it."
"Oh, so Tourette's flaring up again." He quipped. Both of us glared at him. It's really not funny to make fun of mental illness. "It happens every now and then, but it's fine."
"Julie and Caleb are getting married in two weeks." I explained as I read the wedding invite on the table.
"Wow, they're really doing it." Seth replied. I imagined that Kaitlin had a similar reaction to her. "An unfortunate image just leapt into my mind."
"I don't understand just what is the rush?" She asked.
"Honey, it's the gruesome twosome, what do you expect?" Dad quipped as he entered the room. "It's the shock and awe approach to courtship."
"Julie Cooper's getting married to my father and you're being flip?" She asked him in disbelief.
"Me being flip about Caleb?" Dad retorted. "No I'm kind of softening on the guy. He's not nice or ethical, or a million laughs…"
"But he is…?" She asked, probably where he was going with it. I was pretty much wondering the same thing.
"Generous." He finished. "Either that or he's in love and delusional because he threw out a ballpark figure for what he's offering Jimmy and me for the restaurant. It aint chump change."
"So he's bought your acceptance." She summarized.
"But at a very high price." He said before looking to me. "Hey, how's Kaitlin dealing with her new stepdad?"
"Yeah are she and Marissa alright with all of this?" She asked.
"Well I'm pretty sure that Kaitlin's taking it better than Marissa." I answered. That was true for most things. "They're both going to be Julie's bridesmaids at least."
"Are you going?" Dad questioned. What kind of question was that? I couldn't help but wonder why Seth was being so silent. He seemed like he had commentary for everything.
"I've never been to a wedding before, but I want to go." I answered.
"Soon you'll be singing from the treetops." Dad quipped.
"No, you don't want to hear her sing." Seth responded. "So have you talked to Theresa lately?"
"No, and I'm hoping you haven't either." I remarked.
"Well it's time to untangle the incestuous web of the Julie-Caleb union." Seth replied. "Those knots are so tied it's confusing."
"Kaitlin and I already did this." I explained. At that moment, the phone rang.
"Hello." Dad answered. "Yeah, she's here. I'll get her. Are you alright? Sure, you name the spot. You got it. I'll see you then."
He didn't say what the call was about. I decided that it would be a good idea to meet Kaitlin. I put on a grey long-sleeved tee shirt and a blue cotton miniskirt.
"My mom's going crazy with the wedding planning." Kaitlin explained before giving me a kiss. That was unsurprising. "Also she wants to make your mom her maid of honor."
"I guess that Marissa said no." I stated. "I am interested in seeing what you look like in a bridesmaid dress."
We went to school and met up with Marissa.
"A couple's shower?" She stated before she hung up.
"What's a couple's shower?" I questioned.
"Something that I'm not throwing for my mom." Marissa answered as we went to get cream. "That was Caleb who wants me to help Kirsten throw a shower for my mom."
"So have you told Dad that you're moving in with us?" Kaitlin questioned.
"No, but I will." Marissa replied. I had a feeling that it that she wouldn't do it.
"Look if you don't want to throw this shower, you don't have to." I remarked. "Stand your ground."
"Standing my ground is not something I'm good at." She quipped.
"So I have a problem." Anna stated as she came over to us.
"What is it?" I questioned.
"I think Summer's nervous about introducing me to her dad." She explained. "Do you think I look like too much of a lesbian? Is my hair too short?"
"I don't think your appearance has anything to do with it." I replied. "I think Summer's just nervous about it. Do you even know if she's told him yet?"
"No." She told us.
"Well just say that you want to meet him." I suggested before Anna walked away. "So my dad got a mysterious call this morning."
"Do you know who it was from?" She asked me.
"Note the use of the word mysterious." I pointed out.
"Are you going to try to find out?" She questioned.
"I don't know if he'll tell me." I replied.
"Hey guys, I just news of a hot Newport wedding." Taylor declared. "I was just wondering when you were going to invite me."
"I don't know if my mom wants me to bring a date." Marissa lied. Had Taylor done something?
"I'll make sure that you're on the guest list." Kaitlin replied. "I want to go over after school to invite my dad."
That led to us going to Jimmy's where we found him and Hailey making out on the couch.
"Hey, Hailey was just over to help me fix my faucet." Jimmy lied.
"You guys do know that we know you're together, right?" I questioned. "Also seriously, that was one of the lamest excuses I've ever heard. Hailey doesn't know how to fix anything."
"What are you doing here?" Jimmy asked nervously.
"I came to give you this." Kaitlin replied as she handed him the wedding invite.
"I don't know if me going is such a good idea." Jimmy remarked.
"You're fucking her." I stated pointing to Hailey. "Her dad is getting married. You're going."
"It would be a lot less awkward if you were there." Hailey agreed. "Plus she has a point."
"Okay I will see you there." Jimmy agreed.
"Have you talked to Marissa yet?" Kaitlin asked.
"No, why was there something that she needed to talk to me about?" Jimmy replied.
"Don't tell her that you know, but she's moving back in with us and Caleb." Kaitlin explained.
"I wasn't expecting that." Jimmy stated.
That night we invited everyone over and we sat in the living room.
"So you're doing it?" Marissa asked Summer.
"It can work. It won't be a disaster." Summer stated.
"I can be great with parents." Anna stated. "I have a lot that I can talk about. So what should I say to a plastic surgeon?"
"You could also say that you need a new rack." Seth suggested before Holly hit him. "I was kidding."
I then walked into the kitchen.
"Sammie do you need something or a soda?" Mom asked me nervously.
"I've got it." I replied with a laugh. "What's going on?"
"Nothing." Dad answered suspiciously. Mom said the same thing.
"If you say so." I responded as I left the room.
"My parents are hiding something from me." I remarked as I reentered the living room.
The following day, Kaitlin and I were making out on her bed. She put her hands under my top.
"Are you sure that we should do this?" I questioned. "We do have a lot to do today."
"My mom is over at your place." She pointed out. "We have time."
"Marissa could catch us." I pointed out. "You know she's avoiding your mom."
"Do you not want to have sex with me?" She blatantly asked.
"I'm sorry. I'm just really distracted by this secret that my parents are keeping from me." I admitted.
"If it's bothering you so much, tell them that you want to know." She suggested. "But do think we can have sex first?"
"I don't know if it's such a good idea unless I can be totally into it." I replied. "I just wish that they weren't busy."
"Hey Kaitlin, can you call Aunt Cindy?" Marissa asked as she walked by the room.
"Who's Aunt Cindy?" I questioned.
"I'm gonna call her." Kaitlin replied.
When we went back to the house an hour later, there was a woman with my mom.
"Aunt Cindy!" Kaitlin replied with a smile.
"Kaity, it's so good to see you." Cindy remarked before giving her a hug.
"So this is my girlfriend, Sammie." Kaitlin introduced.
"Cindy's been telling me some priceless stories about your mom." Mom explained.
"Yeah I was telling her about Julie's Def Leppard phrase." Cindy added. What was wrong with Def Leppard? "So where is the belle of the ball anyway? Doing yoga? Getting Botox?"
"Do you and Julie talk often?" Mom asked.
"Sure if you call once every seven years often." Cindy quipped. "Look I was shocked that she wanted me here."
"You were?" Mom asked in surprised.
"Yeah, last time that I saw her, I'm pretty sure she told me to get lost." Cindy explained.
"Kaitlin, can I talk to you in…" Mom started before the door opened and Julie came in.
"Oh hi, I don't mean to interrupt but…" She remarked before noticing her sister. There was definitely some animosity between the two of them. "What are you doing here?"
"Kaitlin called me." Cindy replied.
"It was Marissa's idea." Kaitlin said quickly grabbed her bag with one hand and me with the other. "You guys have a lot to catch up on so I'm gonna go."
"Yeah, we need to get a cake." I added.
"Have fun." Kaitlin declared before we rushed out.
"That went well." I commented. "I guess that explains why I've never met your aunt before."
"You know we forgot to ask your mom what she was hiding." Kaitlin remarked.
"Well I don't think now is the right time." I stated.
"You'll never know if you don't be assertive about it." She pointed out.
"What if it's something really bad?" I questioned nervously. We met Marissa at a café.
"So what did Mom's face look like?" Marissa asked us.
"She was definitely stunned." Kaitlin explained as we went inside.
"This is going to be so fun." Marissa gushed before she went to the counter. "Hi we're here for a cake…for Cooper."
Kaitlin took one of the sample brownies.
"Oh my god, this is amazing. You gotta try this." She stated as she shoved it into my mouth. We continued to struggle before we noticed Theresa…with a black eye.
"Oh my god, what happened to you?" I asked. "Did Eddie do this?"
"I didn't want you to know about this. Definitely don't tell Seth." She remarked as she tried to leave. "I guess Sandy told you."
"What are you talking about?" I questioned. That must have been what they were keeping from me. "You told my dad about this?"
She then walked away, leaving me very confused and hurt.
Needless to say, I was very pissed off in the morning. I was pissed at Eddie, I was pissed at my parents, but I wouldn't tell Seth because I knew that he might do something stupid.
He came into the pool house where I was watching TV by myself.
"I know you're pissed off." He stated. "I wanted to explain things to you, but I couldn't until Theresa gave me the okay. Have you told Seth?"
"Of course not, he'd get himself killed." I remarked. "How could you not tell me?"
"I'm a lawyer. She asked for privacy and she's entitled to it." He explained. Even if that was true, it wasn't the right decision.
"She's getting beat up and you keep it from me?" I asked him.
"What would you have done if I had told you?" He challenged. "Would you have gone to Chino and gone to the hospital or to jail. Theresa was protecting you and Seth."
"You should have told me." I said through clenched teeth.
"I didn't because I knew that you might do something stupid." He declared. "And now that you do know, I sure hope that you don't prove me right."
"Ugh, I feel so helpless." I replied as I held my head in my hands. "I know that there's nothing I can do, but it sucks that this thing happened. What's Theresa doing?"
"She's on her way here." He explained. "With people that care about her, she's less likely to go running back to him."
"Seth's going to be worse than I am." I pointed out.
"That's why I'm going to go talk to him next." He stated. "Do we understand each other?"'
"Yes." I answered. "I need to find Kaitlin."
We went outside and that was also where I found Theresa.
"Look, I know that I've never really liked you, but you can't go back to that douchebag." Kaitlin told her.
"You really should have told me." I said to her. "I know I said that I wanted to leave that life behind me, but this is too big for me not to know."
"Well you clearly would've taken the news well." She stated. "You would have tried to kill him."
"Why does everyone think that I'm a violent person?" I questioned. "But if I was, he would deserve it."
"I didn't tell you because this is my problem, not yours and not Seth's." Theresa remarked before Seth came downstairs. "Don't start."
"I'm going to kill that guy." Seth replied. I tried to refrain from laughing because he seemed serious.
"Seth, I'm the one who has to figure this whole thing out." She declared.
"What is there to figure out?" I asked. "You can't stay with him."
"I'll take some self-defense classes." She remarked. "And Eddie and I will live happily ever after."
"No, you are not fucking staying with him." Seth declared. Kaitlin and I both gasped. I'd never heard him swear before.
"I'm tired of running." Theresa stated.
"How about something to take our minds off of everything?" I suggested. "Kaitlin, do you or Marissa have a dress she can borrow? We'll put some concealer on your eye and you will look absolutely perfect."
"You have changed." She noted.
The shower was out near these cliffs. I wished that they hadn't put it so close. I never told them about my problem with heights.
I was hanging out with Kaitlin and Summer and Anna and while some random chick was congratulating the Coopers. The party was just weird.
I noticed that Theresa was walking away from everything and I decided to follow her. I had a feeling that there was something else that she wasn't telling me.
"Maybe bringing you here wasn't the best idea." I stated.
"It wasn't that long ago that I was having one of these." Theresa told me. "Part of the reason that I didn't want to tell Seth is because he seems really happy with Holly and you had your life here. You didn't need me dragging you down."
Suddenly, her phone began to ring and I had a feeling that it was Eddie.
"Is that him?" I questioned.
"Yeah, he's just calling to apologize again." She explained. I thought OneRepublic's 'Apologize' would be a great ringtone for him.
"You need to stop talking to him." I declared as I took the phone and clicked block. "Theresa, you cannot go back to him."
"Samantha, it's not that simple." She explained. "You know Eddie. He's not a bad person. He made a mistake."
"Are you seriously trying to rationalize it?" I questioned. "Stop acting like a victim. You need to be getting Miranda Lambert on this guy or at least have him arrested."
I then walked away and toward the parking lot. I was pissed off. I had to do something, even though I wasn't sure what. I found my knocking on the window.
"Get out of the car." He told me. "Theresa has to decide on her own if she's going to leave him."
"But I've seen this before." I replied. "This is the life that I had growing up. My mom was in this relationship. He hit her, he hit Trey, he hit me, but none of that ended up being what he went to jail for. I can't just do nothing."
"You are going to do nothing!" He ordered. I sighed.
"Sammie, get out of the car." Kaitlin told me. "I know that this sucks, but please don't do anything."
"I don't want to see Eddie." I stated. "But I need to see Theresa again. I need to talk to her. I have to find out why she would want to be with Eddie. I know that she's hiding something else."
We went to the Mermaid Inn where she was staying and I found that she was packing her stuff.
"Theresa, tell me what's going on?" I questioned. "I know you too well and I know that you're hiding something from me."
"I'm not hiding anything, but I can't wait for some rich family to adopt me." She stated. "I don't want to stay with you or your girlfriend. I don't want to be near Seth either."
"Just come with me." I begged.
I took her back, agreeing to sleep in the guest room for a little while so she could have the pool house. I still wondered if I was making a mistake, but she was my oldest friend and I cared about her. I got a text from Anna saying that things weren't going well. I saw that Seth was talking to Holly from outside the window. They had a difficult situation, but I was pretty sure that they would get through it.
"You know the downside of you being here is that I can't stay the night." Kaitlin told me.
"Well, I'll see you tomorrow." I declared. "I'm feeling a lot better now. I know that we can't right now, but next time that we get the chance, I will be ready. I love you."
"I love you too." She reciprocated.
So the bombshell will be revealed soon and the end is almost here. How will things be affected? Will Sammie and Kaitlin stay together? Will Seth go to Chino because of the baby? Wait about Anna and Summer? Please don't forget to review.