Skylar's POV

I got an A on my Physics test.

All thanks to Blake, which I wasn't going to say out loud anytime soon. That guy was the reason why Alex did what he did. The reason why Alex had betrayed my trust. The only reason why Alex wasn't here right now, celebrating this big fucking victory with me.

If there was no Alex to celebrate with, what kind of victory was it even?

On the other hand, I was kind of jumping up at the idea of shoving the graded paper in my mother's face. Not in such a literal sense, but still. Mom needed to be proud of me too sometimes, amidst her oh so busy life.

When I got back home though, the atmosphere felt a whole lot different than usual.

"There's a wedding happening." Mom told me. She seemed extra busy with paperwork sprawled over the kitchen counter. Dad was nowhere in sight.

"Um, what?" I asked, tossing my bag on the couch and going over towards her. "What wedding?"

"With a very nice boy who has a decent job." She turned and looked at me. "And is very polite."

My lips parted in horror. "I am not marrying anyone, Mom!"

She blinked in surprise.

"I've been busy, stressing my head off, applying to every medical college out there, and this is how you repay me?" My eyes widened. "You're marrying me off to some random weirdo?"

Mom sighed before focusing back on her work.

"Mom!"

"I don't understand why you were born this dramatic, Skylar."

"Well then, why are you suddenly telling me about this boy who's getting married?" I demanded.

"I'm just mentioning him because he's a nice boy. Unlike that friend of yours--Alexander." She pointed out, still not over the fact that Alex had skipped school. "Or that boy, Caden."

I ignored the sudden giddy feeling in my chest when I heard his name. Wasn't I so pathetic?

"You don't even know Caden." I rolled my eyes, leaning back against the counter and picking up an apple. I was about to take a bite when Chicken came trotting towards me, nuzzling the side of her head against my legs. I placed back the apple and picked her up.

"Oh, really?" Mom directed a raised brow at me. "And what do you think is so nice about him?"

A really good kisser, I almost said. But I didn't. Because Mom might've actually married me off to some random weirdo right then.

"A...lot of things." I raised my brows. "You don't know him like I do." Okay, maybe I was saying a little too much.

She narrowed her eyes ever so slightly. A look that had always made me pee in my pyjamas when I was a little kid.

"He's not involved with those gangs that you mentioned earlier?"

"'Course, not." I gave her a funny look. "Why in the world would you think that?"

"Because your father and I know a lot more about this town than you do." She answered. "We know where the dangers lurk and where trouble goes around."

I let Chicken paw the black top I was wearing. "You're saying that you know him."

"I'm saying that you should focus more on your studies."

Now that, was my moment to shine. I held out my graded test paper and placed it between her sprawled papers. "See that, Mom? A big fucking A in Physics."

I was grinning and Mom seemed pissed off. Only at the f-word, of course.

"That's nice, Skylar." She flipped through the paper. "I'm glad you're working hard. What about college applications?"

I sighed and placed down Chicken. "I have been looking but I haven't...really...applied to any yet."

"What? Why?"

"Because," I trailed off. "You know, I've been thinking, why does it have to be medicine? I mean, I can..."

Mom gave me a genuinely confused look and all the rest of my words died down in my throat.

"You've been wanting to study medicine." She argued.

I licked my lips and looked down at Chicken. "Have I?"

Mom seemed a whole lot interested now, pushing her papers away and facing me entirely with her arms crossed. "Okay, what is that supposed to mean?"

"I just..." I didn't know how to speak this. We never talked about this. "I've only been looking forward to medicine because you and Dad...want me to."

I couldn't look at her and her stare was getting highly unnerving. The air had gone tense around us. Maybe I should've just kept my mouth shut and not brought up this topic. Dad would've been a better choice to talk this with.

"You're saying that your father and I pushed you into this?"

"No!" I looked up, my eyes wide. Mom frowned. "Of course, not. I just...I've always ever done what you both want me to."

She was confused, I could see that. Then she raised her brows and blew out a sigh. "I don't understand where this is coming from." She shook her head. "You've been fine with it your whole life and all of a sudden, you don't want it."

I never wanted it.

I shrugged and looked away. "Doesn't matter. We can...we don't have to talk about this right now." Then I swallowed. "What were you telling me about Caden?"

Mom frowned, stared at me, then started gathering her papers from the counter.

"Wait, where are you going?" I called after her, following her to her bedroom. If we weren't talking about college, we sure as heck were talking about Caden. "You can't hide any more stuff from me!"

Dad was in the room too, but just like Mom, he was busy with some files too.

"Skylar." She glanced at me pointedly. "I'd be happy if you stay away from Caden and all his family matters."

I looked at her in surprise. She knew about his family? "I won't do that," I whispered.

"Why won't you?" Dad asked, seeming to catch up on our conversation. I couldn't help but wonder what they could possibly know about Caden and his family. Caden had never mentioned his family to me. I doubted he'd ever answer if I asked him either.

"Because..." I trailed off, not knowing what exactly I should say.

They both stayed busy in their work, not even caring to give a fuck about the crisis I was going through.

"I like that boy!" I added.

Still no reaction.

"I told you this was happening." Mom looked over at Dad as if I didn't even exist. Dad just cracked a smile in response. What were they even talking about? God, I hated when they treated me like a third wheel.

"What's so wrong with me liking him?" I crossed my arms.

Mom shook her head and looked at me. "It would be highly appreciated if you let us do our work before the wedding." She said. "After that, we can sit down together at the table, and you can tell us what you like and don't like about Caden. Okay?"

I was baffled, to say the least. Still, I grinned.

"Whose wedding is this anyway?" I asked them, leaning back against the tall shelf behind me.

"Cole."

I wasn't so grinning anymore.

•••••

I didn't come down for dinner. Mainly because I was busy trying to look for a way to open that wooden box. The one that was stuffed somewhere inside the mess that was my closet.

It took me almost half an hour of searching on the internet to finally come across a person who was an expert in making such kinds of boxes. It was a he, and he had a shop downtown.

Not so far away from my house.

I perked up when I heard a knock on my bedroom door. Another knock followed as Dad came inside, with Chicken not too far behind him.

"You missed dinner." He was holding a tray piled with food, and I can't say it didn't warm my heart. His eyes trailed across my room, particularly at the clothes which were thrown around everywhere, and he let out a small chuckle. In my defence, I had a mini freak-out session this morning when I couldn't find any decent clothes to wear for school.

"Thanks, Dad." I gave him a small smile, eyeing him as he placed the tray on my desk.

"Why didn't you come downstairs?" He asked.

I glanced over at my laptop screen and pursed my lips. "Needed a distraction. Also, I need to find out how to open that wooden box."

He sat down on my bed, in front of me. We rarely ever had talks like such. Dad never really came up in my room with a tray of food either. I looked up at him and into his brown eyes. I'd gotten those from him. Mom had a slight hint of green in hers. Dad didn't, just like me.

"Distraction from what?"

I sighed. "Well, Cole's getting married."

"And?"

"I don't know." I scowled and flopped back down on the bed. "It's weird. I had this really wild crush on him, Dad."

Dad did not seem surprised. "I thought you left it far behind in your childhood?"

"I did." I stretched it out. "But still. Why the fuck did he not like me back?" If it was Mom right in front of me, I'm sure she would've done something for my foul language. Dad, however, just chose to ignore it.

"Maybe because you're five years younger than him?" He pointed out, and I did notice the hint of tease in his voice.

"Who cares of age-gap these days, Dad?" I grumbled. Not when Cole was the basic definition of Prince Charming. A golden boy. He'd been the one to introduce me to Alex back when I was a kid. All that made me feel a little too nostalgic, and a little bit sad.

Dad raised his brows at Chicken as she tried getting under my pile of clothes. "But I thought you liked someone else now." He said. "Caden, wasn't it?"

Caden, I thought. I liked him and I liked his touch and I liked his kisses. But how was I supposed to forget every other complication? Caden wasn't here. I hadn't seen him since that day in the janitor's closet. What if he did that disappearing act again?

"You're right." I straightened up once again. "But just so you know, I'm not going to Cole's wedding with you guys."

Dad opened his mouth but I was fast to interrupt. "And anyway, I've got this place to go when you guys will be off to that wedding."

"What place?"

I pulled back my laptop between us and turned the screen towards him, showing him what I had just come across. He took his time to read it all before looking back at me. "You think this guy is safe enough to open that?"

I just nodded in response.

"I don't think you should go there."

"It'll be fine," I reassured him. "I won't be alone. I'll take someone along with me."

"Sky, your mom's right when she said you should stay away from this." He shook his head.

"Is this about my studies? Dad, you know--"

"No, it isn't. It's about your safety, Sky. These things are complicated. Dangerous. You don't know the full story. You don't have to."

I stared down at the laptop. "Keeping that thing here with us isn't really safe either," I told him. He just went silent at that. "You know that, Dad. Mom does too. What I don't get is why we can't tell the police."

"They can't be trusted." He spoke up. "This town is too small and word spreads around fast. Wealth and revenge make people do unpredictable stuff."

I leaned back on my pillows. "Why did you get involved in this then?"

Dad didn't seem to mind the question. "It was given to us. To keep it safe."

"From whom?"

His expression tensed at that, or maybe it was just my imagination. "Whatever's inside it, Sky, it's worth a lot. And there are people who need that worth, at any cost."

Was he talking about Blake?

"We were the only ones to be trusted." He added. "You may think you can trust someone, Sky, but people are quite different from what they show."

It hurt a bit when I realized how right he was. Hadn't Alex been just like that? I had trusted him so much, with everything, but he'd been working with Blake all this time.

"How do you know the Matthews?" I asked him.

He did seem a bit surprised at that question. "They're one of our clients."

"What about Blake?"

"He's adopted by them, the Matthews." He replied, then frowned a little. "What about him?"

"What happened to his biological parents?"

Dad looked at me, then at my laptop. He was contemplating. "I don't know." And that surprised me. Did they really not know about Blake and his intentions? Didn't they know it was Blake who wanted that wooden box?

I looked down at my laptop. Blake and Caden were supposed to be brothers. But if Blake was adopted by the Matthews, that meant either his parents abandoned him.

Or they were dead.

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Crystal 🌿