Rushing from class to class, my heartbeat echoing in the loud thrum of blood roaring in my veins, I ran over the song I'd put together in my head for the first round of auditions for the talent showcase which, of course, had to occur the very day after I'd found out the truth about my father.

I only hoped the judges didn't notice how quickly the song I'd created had come together, because I only had one shot, and I couldn't waste it. I wouldn't, not when so much was on the line.

I had said goodbye to Eli, and was halfway to my third class of the day when I texted my father that I wouldn't be returning home the next day due to work and that I'd be staying behind for the charity basketball game to 'cheer on' him and his first player to coach independently.

His response was glowing, not even mentioning the fact that he'd tried to get me fired and had reported my car stolen. Typical.

Everything was going smoothly, until I ran into Maddie after my last class of the day, and in lieu of drama practice, I'd be attending showcase auditions in the auditorium, which meant a wardrobe change back at my dorm.

"V? Oh my god, I almost didn't recognize you. You look really tired, are you getting sick?"

I didn't miss her friend Mia's snort of laughter while I desperately tried to walk faster than them as they'd fallen in step beside me, matching me stride for stride on my trek across campus.

"Not sick, just laundry day. I'm actually late for something-"

"This will only take a minute. Look, I'm really sorry about what I said last night at the party. It was totally out of character for me. Usually, I'm so sweet, but I've just been so upset with Patrick and me breaking up and I took it out on you."

She could've definitely been telling the truth, considering that her 'sick' jab held more weight with her appearance than mine. Contrasting from her best friend done up in dressy jeans and a flowing top and immaculate makeup, Maddie was sporting green leggings, an oversized tee, a messy bun and bare face, complete with red eyes and splotchy marks on her cheeks, it was evident that she was upset about something.

I just-wait, are you wearing...is that Eli's hat?"

Uh oh. Were the claws about to come out? Her demeanor went from half apologetic/half condescending to full on shocked/angry.

"Uh, yeah. I was having a bad hair day and he loaned it to me, no big deal. Anyway, thanks for the apology, but it wasn't needed. We're all good."

"Oh. Right. Yeah, well, I was just going to ask if you could tell Chuck that I'm sorry too, he won't answer the phone when I call and my key card won't work when I try to get into the gym, so..."

Oh, so she just wanted me to smooth things over with her boss?

"Will do."

She flashed me a smile that could only be described as fake and hiding contempt while Mia did a little one finger wave, and then I could finally breathe as they peeled away from me.

Hazel and Bea texted their good luck texts to me as I dressed hurriedly in a cap sleeved royal blue v-neck dress that fell to my knees, the material swishing around as I searched for my heels and applied the fastest glam makeup in glam makeup history, warming up my voice as I did so.

I was halfway through my vocal routine and glass of warm honey water when my alarm beeped letting me know I only had ten minutes to make it to the auditorium to check in for auditions.

It was now or never.

***

The twenty finalists for the showcase wouldn't be posted for another twenty-four hours after the audition, but considering only thirty people actually showed up to sing, I had a good shot at making it...I hoped.

Bea sang a solo, which received a standing ovation and brought tears to my eyes, whereas Leo and Hazel performed a duet, and I was more than happy to notice their social media status had confirmed their relationship status.

I only then realized just how absent I'd been in my roommate's lives, I just didn't know how to fix that with everything going on behind the scenes that I didn't know how to explain to them yet.

My turn to audition had come and gone, and while, like Bea, I'd earned a standing ovation, so did a vast majority of the other candidates, so I wasn't allowing my hopes to grow too large.

In all truthfulness, when the spotlight had clicked into place, the butterflies in my stomach were nothing compared to the nervousness that I endured barely being in Eli's presence, so dealign with 'stage fright' was a walk in the park.

My voice hadn't even cracked on the note that I had to practice over and over and over again in my room in order to get my voice to perform the vocal run effortlessly thanks to muscle memory. Hazel and Bea didn't appreciate the constant onslaught of sudden practice once I'd committed to auditioning for the showcase, but it had clearly paid off.

It wasn't until the walk back from the auditorium that I fully soaked in the weight of what was happening.

Earlier, in between classes, I'd begun transferring money to the only checking account in my own name from the account my father sent money to for my monthly food and clothing allowance, something I hadn't touched since I'd acquired my own job. It was also the account that I deposited my work checks into so that my father couldn't see what I had been making.

I was so wrapped up in my own thoughts that I didn't notice the familiar vehicles parked in the dorm lot. I didn't notice the wheelchair accessible van my father couldn't travel without, nor the shiny red Mercedes Sara had been gifted for her sixteenth birthday.

Dread settled in my gut, however, when I finally noticed the cracked dorm room door and my 'family' chatting and joking along with my roommates who had already made it back from auditions since they'd performed first and I was last.

I didn't ignore the signs, then, as his loud guffaws reached my ears and my stomach acid bubbled and rose to the surface, my insides threatening to spew all over the laminate flooring of the hallways.

I had a few options. I could've escaped and clocked into work wearing formal attire, pretended that I didn't have problems in my life.

I could've ran to find Eli, had him be my buffer for these crazy people who thought they had a right to intrude on everything I'd created away from them.

Or, I could've marched myself in there and demanded to know what the hell they were doing at my school without first informing me that they were coming.

Sara laughed at something my dad said, and when I heard Jared respond, red filled my vision and I swore steam came rolling out of my ears.

I stormed in, and they were on my bed. Sara and Jared, just chilling like they owned the damn place.

"What's going on?"

How I'd kept my cool and not asked, 'what the fuck do you two motherfuckers think you're doing on my fucking bed fuck fuck fuck fuckers' I had no idea, but from the widening of their eyes and shrinking back from me in the door frame, I realized my eyes must've conveyed the curses my mouth had refused to utter.

"Virginia. Your cousin wanted to bring Jared along to watch the game tomorrow. We were here to invite you to dinner tonight, and to let you know we will be staying in the hotel across the street so there was no need to return home tonight."

I cut my eyes to my father, teeth grinding in my mouth while my nostrils flared while I tried to reel in my emotions, and almost failing.

So many questions wanted to worm their way out of my mouth, most of them about my mother and the accident that night, but the rest were about his need to control me. For some reason, the only question that slipped out was, "Why didn't you just call me? I would've told you that I have a shift tonight at the gym."

Hazel and Bea exchanged wary glances from their spots on their own beds, eyes jumping from family member to family member while Sara seemed to giggle into her hand like a school girl. Kara looked downright uncomfortable and my father folded his hands calmly in his lap, taking a deep breath like he was going to have to explain something for the fiftieth time to an uncomprehending toddler.

"I spoke with Chuck. He told me you could have the night off. I'm surprised you still have a job there, with your work ethic..."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and storm over to him and dump him out of his wheelchair.

I would be checking in with Chuck to make sure he was being truthful and not tricking me into pulling a no-call, no-show to my job, which was surely something he would do.

"But I couldn't call you. Your phone doesn't seem to be working, Virginia. You should get it looked at soon."

I pulled my phone up and noticed that there was no signal, and that the last call I'd made had been to my grandmother the night before. What, had my father been immediately alerted when I found out the truth about him? Had he tapped my phone, too?

"I will." And I would get on my own damn phone plan, too, so that the asshole couldn't shut the service off on it like he had obviously just done with mine.

"You look very pretty. Your friends were just telling us about your audition. They think you're totally going to win. We didn't know you were even auditioning for this showcase, let alone that it even existed, why didn't you tell us about it?"

I met my father's eyes with a dead, blank stare. I wasn't going to give him anything more than an emotionless robot, shutting my feelings down before they swelled over and got the best of me.

"It was a last minute thing."

"Oh yeah, she didn't even seem interested in it until recently."

Shut up, Hazel. Please, please shut up.

"Oh is that so? And what is the prize if someone wins?"

"A hundred thousand dollars, and you get the option of three different music labels to work with. They'll decide if they want to sign you after a three month probation period of making music at their studio, but its an unspoken rule, and no one has never not been signed."

I was so screwed. My father smiled, showing teeth, but it was more like he was baring them as if he were a wolf staring down its prey.

"And why would you need money? We've got more than we know what to do with. I thought you were pursuing a business degree?"

"You know I love music. That's not a secret. I wanted the experience that would come with this, and I am majoring in business, but I won't pass up an opportunity like this."

Bea and Hazel exchanged another confused look but I ignored them, resolving to win this power struggle with my father.

Kara cleared her throat where she stood in the middle of the cramped room behind my father's wheelchair, and it was honestly the first time I'd looked her in the eyes upon entering.

"Our reservation is in a few minutes, we can continue this conversation at the restaurant. Mike?"

He blinked, and then looked behind him, up at his dead wife's sister. The love and devotion in his gaze was enough to make me want to erase every memory that held my father and mother together from my mind.

"Yes, let's go. Virginia?"

"I just need to freshen up, and then I will be down shortly. I'm assuming I will ride with you?"

Maybe that last question had been too snarky, too sarcastic, because my father's answering evil smirk was enough to make my skin crawl.

"Of course. We'll discuss your...vehicle situation there."

And then I was dismissed, as Kara wheeled him out of the room.

"What the hell was that about?" Hazel whisper yelled, eyes wide as saucers and mouth wide open.

"That was our girl getting a slap on the wrist from her daddy for not following the plan he wants for her, wasn't it, V?"

I sighed, head falling as I nodded, asking Bea to use her phone to call my boss.

"This is Chuck."

"Hi, this is Virginia Bruins. My phone is currently out of commission for a few days until I can get it fixed, but my father-"

"Don't even sweat it. Your dad came by earlier, asking why I didn't fire you yet like he'd asked. I told him that was my business and he couldn't dictate my choices. He asked for the night off for you and I gave it to you, so don't worry about coming in tonight, and you're off weekends so don't come back in until Monday at four, sound good?"

Why did I suddenly want Chuck to be my dad instead of my own actual father?

"That sounds perfect, thank you so much, sir."

"Please, call me Chuck, remember?"

I laughed, definitely remembering.

"Yes. Thank you, Chuck."

We hung up and I held onto Bea's phone for one more task.

I texted Eli's number that I'd copied from my phone, letting him know what was going on and then handed it back, steadying my heartbeat to get ready to face the gallows.

"I feel like we need to wish you more luck going to this family dinner than we did at the showcase auditions."

Bea had phrased it like a joke but she wasn't wrong.

"Just...pray they don't eat me alive."