half/closer

half / 14 [2/2]

.........

For some reason, Quinn didn't question my relationship with her half-sister. She was completely normal about it as if she didn't witness anything that morning. However, I had no idea if it was a good thing or not, since she was a shady person. She could expose us to Bailey and especially, to Arisa but she seemed she had no plan on doing it. Khloe told me her sister just didn't want to impose whatever we have right now. Either way, it was absolutely fine with me but Khloe looked like she wasn't considering it.

Because who would understand our odd relationship?

I was in the middle of doing my homework in my room. It was a relief that my parents had no suspicion that I wasn't exactly in a group study last night. However, my strict Dad had advised me again about where should I focus on and that was my grades.

It wasn't like I was failing. In fact, my GPA was enough to be considered by a medical school. They just wanted me to pass my entrance exam smooth and clean. There should be no room for mistake as they would always tell me, which was exaggerating.

Obviously, I was having a doubt about applying for medical school because Khloe had convinced me a bit last night. And to be certain that I was still dedicated to art, she invited me tomorrow afternoon to continue working on in her tree house. Of course, I couldn't refuse her invitation because 'duh!'

But Khloe was right, I should follow my heart but I just couldn't deny my parents' feelings about this. So I've decided to talk to them later at dinner and I hoped they would allow me to do what I loved.

The ringing tone of my cellphone brought me out of the trance. Reaching for it, I frowned at the screen, confused on why Alec was calling me during this time. It was almost seven in the evening and if he was planning to invite me to a party, I wouldn't risk it for now.

"Hello," I greeted as I answered his call in hesitation.

"Hey, Ry! We have to talk like right now," Alec almost shouted and I could hear him struggling on the other line.

"Alec, I can't right now. I'm doing my homework," I replied in desperation. Although I missed hanging out with him, it wasn't the right time at the moment. Yes, I considered him my big brother already but I bet my Mom would freak out once they see how punky his style was.

"Too late now. I'm coming up, Princess Rapunzel. Open your balcony," he exclaimed, letting out a princely-tone.

"Wh-What?!" I started to panic as I stood up from my chair, recalling that I'd opened the door of my room balcony a while ago. Alec used to climb in my room if I wanted to hang out with him but too lazy to go out. But in this situation, I wouldn't want to risk my parents finding out I have a boy in my room because I was certain they would ground me forever.

However, it was already too late, seeing Alec was already on the process of climbing over the rails of my balcony and in my horror, the door of my room opened at the same time, revealing my Mom in the middle of telling me that 'dinner's ready' but was halted in shock.

It was like fate is playing tricks on me.

And before I could even explain, my Mom and Alec both shrieked at each other like two women in labor. It was a funny sight if only this wasn't my life and this was only just a 3D rom-com film.

Unfortunately, my Dad heard them from downstairs and I could hear his hurried footsteps already, sinking me down into the pit of hell further. I was dumbfounded at my own spot, only to be brought back to reality when Alec started to chant profanities while my Mom started screaming ,"Burglar!", repeatedly.

"Sh!t! Sh!t! Holy f*ck!" Alec yelled out loud in panic and seemed he had no idea where he would go while I was internally shouting that he should climb down already before my father sees him but still beyond stunned.

Once my Dad arrived, my heart stopped in terror as my eyes widened at the shotgun he was holding. He aimed the gun at Alec quickly and my body finally moved as I jumped between them.

"No, no, Dad! Please don't shoot him! Don't shoot him. He's my friend," I shouted out loud, raising my arms up.

My Dad immediately raised up the muzzle of the gun with wrath in his eyes as he looked back at me. "What!!"

I glanced over my shoulder, pleased that Alec had already escaped. As for me, I didn't know how I could explain all about this to my parents. On why my friend would sneak into my room in the evening so easily.

I stared back at my parents with fear growing in my eyes. "Alec is my friend."

The veins on my father's head popped out, obviously in fury. "Living room, now!! You better explain all of this or else I'll call the f*cking police and make them arrest your friend for trespassing!!" he yelled, his voice was booming and this was the only time I'd heard him curse my whole life.

My Dad made her exit while my Mom glanced at me in sympathy before she followed his trail. Once I was left alone in my room, I just realized that my whole body was shaking. Of course, I was afraid and at the same time, mad that I ended up in this situation when in fact, it wasn't entirely my fault. I'd decided to lay low and be a better daughter to them, considering I had a favor to ask. And that was, to allow me to go to art school instead of following their daughter's dream.

And given the situation, I doubted they would contemplate my wish anymore, especially my foster father.

Alec better explains himself for messing it all up for me. Not that he knew what he had done. He unintentionally stole the chances of my lifetime.

With a problematic sigh, I headed downstairs with a heavy heart. I heard Mom soothing my Dad down but it was all in vain. He was pacing back and forth in the living room with an angry expression on his intimidating face. He just stopped moving when they realized I'd entered our living room, scared and uncertain.

"Sit down, young lady," he hissed and even though I was glad that he wasn't shouting at me anymore, I was still damn nervous.

I sat on the love seat across from them. I could feel their piercing stares aiming at me as I dropped my head down.

"Why did you do that?" my father asked sharply, forcing me to look at him. I could feel my eyes were already brimming with tears. "You could be dead right now! Why would you jump for that boy if he's just your friend? I could've fired the gun and shoot you by accident, are you aware of that?!"

"But Dad, y-you're gonna kill him! Alec is my friend, he's like a brother to me," I stood my ground, not surprised he would kill for us. It was his instinct as an ex-military man. If Cassie didn't turn out to be ill, he would continue his service to the country.

"No, I'm not going to kill him. I intended to scare him out to keep all of you safe and call the police but not kill him," he claimed otherwise as he towered over me, dark ocean eyes on mine. "But still, you shouldn't jump straight away like that. If you're telling me that that crummy boy is just your friend, why would you let him sneak into your room just like that? How many times did he enter your room?! He could've just knocked on our door and ask for our permission to hang out with you if he's just your friend! Respect, Hilary. We want respect and you failed to give it to us for letting that worthless boy in your room without us knowing!"

"But I doubt you'd let him be friends with me in the first place!!" I retorted, standing up in fury as my heart burst out due to the bottled up anger from the restriction they had given me my whole life. "You guys choose my friends, you decide what you think is best for me when in fact, I don't want any of it!!" I saw a flicker of pain in my mother's eyes but still blindly continued, "I'm grateful that you took me in but I just want to be myself. I want to make friends without any of your judgment. I don't want to be a doctor. I want to go to an art school and live my dreams. Yet you guys treat me like I'm Cassie's clone but I'M NOT HER! I'm not your dead daught—"

Slap! My words were cut off by a hard slap. Holding my throbbing cheek, I turned back to my father who had slapped me on my face. My vision blurred due to the tears streaming down on my cheeks. He was fuming, glaring at me like I was a stranger. Mom enveloped his body in her arms as she wailed, trying to stop my Dad.

"Don't call my daughter that way! Don't call her as if she's not your own sister!!" he screamed, pointing his finger at me.

His venomous words were more hurtful than his physical attack. Needing to get away, I ran as fast as I could away from them, out of the house. I heard my Mom calling me but I couldn't face them anymore. I was so distraught for betraying her memories, for tainting my sister's worth when I called her 'dead'. I deserved the stung on my face as well as the aching in my heart for insulting Cassie.

How could I be selfish? How could I let the anger take over me?

Wiping the tears out of my face, I realized that I was going nowhere, walking without any sense of direction. The hushed dusk of the evening was listening to my loneliness. It was tragically peaceful compared to the internal screaming inside me. Desperate of warm, I needed someone to hold me or else, I might collapse in the middle of the street. And knowing she would always be there to help me, I turned and ran towards the direction of their mansion, which was also on the same estate we live at.

I would fall right into my Klo's arms but I didn't want to take advantage of her anymore. She'd done enough for me and I didn't want her to think I was some damsel-always-in-distress. And in the first place, I didn't have my cell phone with me. I was only wearing my Vitruvian Man printed white sweatshirt and jogger pants with Beanie Boo plush slippers. In a nutshell, I looked stupid walking alone in the autumn night.

Once I reached their gate, I pushed the doorbell thrice. After a couple of seconds, their butler, Enrique Romano, opened the side gate for me. At first, he was confused on why I would be coming there without my car but once he'd seen my state, he immediately understood and let me in without question.

"Come in, Mademoiselle. Signorina is in her room. Let me lead you there," the butler in his thirties said with a warm smile on his kind face.

"Thank you, Enri." I awkwardly followed his trail until we halted in front of A's room. He knocked twice and then he pushed open the door when we heard Arisa's voice, allowing us to go in.

My captain was standing in the doorway of her walk-in closet while frowning at me in confusion. I entered her room and my eyes intently shifted to Quinn who was sitting on the bed, back against the headboard.

"Sorry for intruding. I guess this is not a good time," I mumbled, stepping back but Enrique was blocking my way.

"Oh, I was not aware you were here, Miss," Enrique seemed surprised as he acknowledged Quinn.

"Sorry, Enri. I came in from the balcony," Quinn said bashfully which earned a chuckle from the gentle butler. And what's up with people sneaking in from the balcony?!

Arisa approached closer and tugged me further inside. "You're not intruding, Ry. What happened? Your Mom called not long ago asking of your whereabouts," she revealed, worry laced in her voice. I remained quiet and my captain immediately sensed that I was too uncomfortable to answer her question. "Enri, have her send a set of dinner and a cup of chamomile tea after, please."

"Will do, Miss," he obliged, leaving us in privacy.

"Would you like me to go out for a while? So that the both of you can talk?" Quinn questioned but then, I shook my head, stopping her from crawling out of the bed.

"It's fine, Quinn. It's not like you're—"

My words were interrupted by the buzzing and vibration of the phone.

"It must be your Mom," Arisa said, moving away from me and took her phone from her desk. She raised her eyebrow as she stared at the screen. "It's an unknown number."

"Answer it," Quinn prompted, sitting up properly in concern. "It might be important."

Arisa decided to answer the call and I tried to listen who was speaking on the other line but my captain's face was more distracting as she creased her brows together. "A-Alec?! What... What about Ry? W-Wait... Relax, I-I can't understand you," she grumbled, then she dropped her phone from her ear and put the call in speaker mode.

I skipped the gap between Arisa and me, then listened to the guy who was speaking on the other line.

"— fvcked up, Arisa. Can you— can you please check on Hilary if she's okay? I've been calling her nonstop but she isn't answering!"

Arisa glanced at me before she rolled her eyes. "I think she's fine. But first of all, where did you get my number?"

Of course, Arisa's contact details were strictly private even from her other friends.

"I got it from Xander."

My captain tilted her head slightly in wonder. "And why Xander has my number?"

I heard Alec sighed in defeat. "He got it from Khloe and Khloe took it from Quinn and your girlfriend got it from you."

Quinn snorted behind me.

"Which means Khloe's giving my contact details without my permission. Again?" My captain gasped in disbelief.

"That's not important right now," Alec hissed in desperation. "Hilary is in trouble because of me."

I released a heavy outbreath, arching my head back in distress. You got it good, Alec. Great!

"What have you done, Alec?!" Arisa eyed me suspiciously and motioned me to speak to him but I shook my head. I had no energy to talk to him anymore after what happened even if it wasn't entirely his fault.

"I sort of sneaked into her room. Her Mom caught me, then her Dad came in with a shotgun and he pointed it at me. He f ucking tried to shoot me but I managed to escape and sworn to myself that I won't go back there anymore. But I got Hilary into trouble and I'm calling now to ask you to check on her if she's fine or not. Oh god, I hope she forgives me!"

My captain scoffed at the exposé. "You're a dumbass, Alec!"

"I know!"

At least, he admitted it.

My captain clicked her tongue. "Don't worry... I got it covered. I'll just call you back to give you the updates," Arisa said in finality as she hung up on Alec straightaway. Then again, she looked at me firmly. "You were crying, Ry. Did you and Alec had an argument?"

"No, Dad and I had an argument and few painful words were uttered. I wanted to get away from the house so I came here," I answered, averting my eyes away.

Arisa shook her head then dragged me into an embrace. "I'm sorry. He caught Alec slipped in your room so he's obviously going to get mad at you," she pointed out, "Ry, an appropriate lady shouldn't let someone snitch in her own room just like that."

Her girlfriend cleared her throat, heaving our full attention. "Quinn is still here and Quinn came in from the balcony. Quinn sneaked into her lady's room. So Quinn's lady is not appropriate."

Pulling away, my captain playfully narrowed her blue eyes at the sarcastic blonde. "Shut up, love. We're completely different," then she turned back to me, eyes scolding. "Anyway, what I mean is, you guys shouldn't do it while your parents are home."

Oh no! She was obviously thinking that Alec came into my room to have s*x with me.

"Oooh, playing with fire, huh?" Quinn teased, wiggling her brows at me. Our conversation so far was making me dizzy and it astounded me that all of them misunderstood what Alec and I had, especially, the situation at hand. And it instantly occurred to me that Quinn was not only referring to Alec but also directing the word 'fire' to her half-sister, Khloe.

"No!" I grumbled in frustration, "That's not it, A!"

"I completely understand, Ry!" she retorted, pulling out a distressed look for me. "Your household is very stern and Alec looks somewhat wildly different so both of you decided to hide your relationship from the public eye, from your parents. But you guys should've been more careful. Really, Ry? I can't believe you haven't thought of this first before you let Alec come into your room with an unlocked door."

"Awwww! It's Romeo and Juliet all over again. Who's Prince Paris?" Quinn teased, giving me a lop-sided grin. What a sly!!

"Shut up! Can you let me explain my side first?!" I refuted angrily and they seemed surprised at my sudden outrage. "How many times should I tell all of you that Alec and I are not in a relationship?! He's just like a brother to me! Nothing more than a brother and a friend and he's clearly aware of it! Nothing is going on!"

Arisa's eyes widened while Quinn was strangely disturbed at my claim. What was she thinking about?

"Well, if that's the case, do you think your Dad would believe you after what happened?" Arisa asked and she was right. Dad wouldn't believe me even if I explain myself again and again because we were too suspicious and too defensive. However, that wasn't the main problem.

I groaned. "It doesn't matter if he believes me or not. That's not I'm worried about. I'm concern about our last argument. Because of my uncontrolled anger, I-I insulted Cassie on their faces, A. You know how I feel about them treating me like I'm my sister's shadow."

"I'm sorry, Ry." My best friend hugged me closer to soothe me down. I rested my chin on her shoulder, embracing her back, needing her warmth. My eyes instinctively shifted to Quinn and I froze at the look on her face.

After tossing me a penetrating glare, Quinn moved her forest eyes from mine and her reaction oddly formed an obscure feeling inside me. I had no idea how to explain it but her whole demeanor changed as if she'd found the prime shadow of darkness.

Arisa stepped back, breaking me out of my frozen state. She stroked my hair softly and then spoke, "Look, your Mom is worried about you and you should talk to her about your feelings. I believe she will listen to you as long as you guys talk properly. How about I call her and tell her you'll be having your dinner here then she can pick you up after? Is that good?"

I frowned, wondering if it was a good idea but nodded anyway. "Yeah, I guess... Thanks, A."

My best friend softly smiled at me. "Anytime, Ry. Wait, I'll just check your dinner first. It's taking so long. I'll leave both of you here for the meantime."

That set my heart in a nervous mess but before I could even refuse, Arisa was already out of the room, leaving me with Quinn.

I awkwardly turned to the blonde. And all my nerves shivered as I stared at the sweetest smile I'd ever seen in my entire life.

Quinn hopped out of the bed and skipped the space between us. She stood confidently in front of me and put her hands on my shoulders. I gulped at her rough touch and tried not to sway from the strength of her sharp orbs. Those deceptive and demented smile was still on her alluring face.

"Everything will be alright, Ry," she whispered, her voice was making my skin crawl. "I'm probably shouldn't say this because I knew that you've been through enough today. But Ry, I don't really care about what's going on with Alec but I'm deeply concern about your relationship with my sister. Tell me, what's exactly your relationship with Khloe?"

I swallowed the lump in my throat. There was a definite answer to her question. However, if I confirmed to her that Khloe and I were 'playing with fire', I knew that she was going to be angry with me. Quinn shouldn't interfere with my connection with Khloe because it was not entirely her business. I would do anything to continue this chaos Khloe and I started, just to keep her with me. I would take any risk for my Klo... I would do everything to secretly call her mine even if it was just for a while.

I wouldn't let it end here because Klo was the only one who could understand the tragic abstract in my heart.

With a solid gaze, I laughed lightly at her. "Of course, Khloe and I are just friends."

In fear, I watched as her lips dropped down into a thin line before she clicked her tongue, her eyes intensified. "Wrong answer, Hilary. And for that, maybe I should warn you."

I clenched my jaw as she unintentionally tightened her hold on my shoulders. She truly didn't even know when to be soft or hard.

There was a pause for a second before Quinn spoke again in venom, "You shouldn't start a fire without expecting for any explosion, Hilary. Don't play too much, a piece of advice, alright? Or else someone might get hurt in the end."

With Quinn's warning, I just realized I already had taken a risk a long time ago. I knew that I had already played with fire too much and eventually, everything was going to explode. And once they do, someone will get hurt.

And that someone was definitely me.

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