Chapter 20Song for this chapter:Dollhouse - Melanie Martinez“You don’t hear me when I say mom, pleas

Chapter 20Song for this chapter:Dollhouse - Melanie Martinez“You don’t hear me when I say mom, please wake up, dad’s with a slut.”Vivian’s POV ★☆★ Math was anything but fun. Since Luke and I were absent for two days neither of us knew what we were doing. Luke caught on easily though, it was no surprise. His intelligence makes me like him even more. He know’s he’s smart, but he doesn’t shove it in other people’s faces like some people do. It’s a good trait in him. “I’ll help you understand it later,” Luke mouths to me, from across the room. I still sit by Kenzie, and she’s been glaring at me, and making huffing noises for the whole period. I just ignore her, but she makes it so hard to concentrate on what Mr. Hensley is saying. I feel slightly bad for being so rude to her, but I had to make a point. I’m done with her using my money and being a horrible friend. The bell rings, ending first period. I take my time gathering my things and putting them away. Next period is French, and I have it with both Kenzie, and Trent, who I haven’t seen since my birthday party. “Hey, what do you have next?” Luke asks, standing next to my desk. I sigh, and stand up so I’m facing him, “French. With Kenzie, and Trent.” “I thought you liked Trent?” Luke looks extremely confused. What he says makes my eyes go wide, “Like, like like?” “Yeah, you’re always around him, and he always has his arm around you,” Luke explains, and we start to walk out the door. I laugh, “No! I don’t like him at all. He’s nothing but a steroid using meat head that can’t take a hint.” “Oh…” He looks away, and his cheeks turn slightly pink. He looks up at me and I can see that he looks relieved–I have no clue why–but he smiles at me. “Well, if he gives you too much trouble, tell me and I’ll deal with it. I don’t want you worrying about being uncomfortable and everything,” He says sincerely, and earns a smile from me. “I will, promise. Now get to class before you’re late!” I laugh, and push his chest so he has to back away from me. Luke smiles, then turns around and walks towards his next class. I sigh, and do the same, heading to my french class. I walk in the room, and sit down in my seat, which happens to be next to Trent. “Vivian! I haven’t seen you since you kicked everyone out of your house last week, what was all of that?” He asks, putting his arm around my shoulder. I move his arm off of my shoulders and move my chair away from him, “It’s none of your business.” “Wow, why are you being such a bitch Viv?” He scoffs, and gives me a look. I ignore him, and focus on what my French teacher is saying. Throughout the class period, Trent keeps trying to talk to me, and when I tell him not to, he always calls me a name. I ignore him, but can’t help but let the some of the names get to me. Eventually the bell rings, so I head to my next period. No one that I’m too close with is in it, so I don’t have distractions from what the teacher is teaching. Lunch comes by quickly, and Luke meets me at my locker. “You can sit with me and the guys if you want,” He smiles sweetly at me. I nod my head, “That sounds nice.” We walk to the lunch line together, and talk about random things. I notice people giving us strange looks, but I ignore them, and focus on what Luke is talking about.  “So then Molly jumped up and stole the baby’s bear, then took off running! Oh my god it was so embarrassing!“ He laughs, and I can’t help but notice how cute he looks when he smiles. "That’s hilarious!” I grin up at him, then notice that we’re at the front of the lunch line. Luke gestures for me to go in front of him. I quickly thank him, then pick up a tray and start to place what looks good on it. After I pay for my food, I follow Luke to the table where Ashton and Calum sit. “Hey Viv! It’s nice if you to join us!” Calum exclaims through a mouth full of pizza. I laugh and sit next to Luke, across from Ashton, “Pleasure to be here.”Ashton smiles at me, but doesn’t say anything. I still think that he feels bad about how he judged me so quickly. I’ve forgiven, and forgotten about the whole situation. I smile back at him, and it’s a true smile. If I’m going to have these friends, I need to be truthful with everything I do.★☆★English rolls around, and I’m extremely nervous. Annie delivered pizza to Luke’s house and saw that I was there. I’m afraid that she assumed that we were together, which we aren’t by any means. “Everyone take your seats, and pull out the paper we started last week,” Our teacher instructs as the bell rings. Thankfully I was there for the start of this, so I’m not too far behind. “Vivian!” Annie whispers, trying to get my attention. I take a deep breath, before looking over at her with a–fake–smile, “Yeah?” “I was just wondering how you are. You disappeared at your party, and I only saw you for a second at Luke’s. Are you alright?” She looks genuinely concerned, and a wave of relief washes over me. I’ve spent so long lying, and focusing on my own problems, that I’ve forgotten that people can be kind, even when you’ve been nothing but mean to them.“I’m doing okay, I’ve just had some family problems lately,” I answer truthfully. She frowns slightly, but reaches out and sets her hand on mine, “I’m sorry. If you need someone to talk to, I’m here.” I smile at her, and this time it’s completely real, “Thank you.”With that she nods, and goes back to working on her assignment. It’s going to take me a while to fully trust people again, but I think that Annie is going to be someone I can trust, and open up to. I’m still figuring out myself, and dealing with all of my problems, but now that I have true friends to help me deal with it, it’s so much easier. The rest of English goes by fairly quickly, and I work on my paper as much as possible. When the bell rings, I go to my next class, and so on. Finally, when the school day is over, I meet Luke at my car, and we drive to Ashton’s house. I work on homework as they practice for their upcoming concert. “Hey Viv, do you mind getting us some soda’s from the kitchen?” Michael asks. I nod, “Sure!” I set my homework down and start to head for the stairs, and notice Luke glaring at Michael. As I walk up the stairs I hear laughter, but can’t make out anything of what they’re saying. I shrug off the curiosity, and walk into the kitchen, grabbing five soda’s, then I make my way back downstairs. I hear them talking, but only understand parts of it. “..have to tell her Luke!” Calum says. “No…… doesn’t feel the same way,” Luke replies. I enter the room, and it takes a second for them to notice me. “How do you know Vivian doesn’t– Michael is interrupted by Ashton elbowing him in the side. “Like Mountain Dew?” He quickly sputters, but I know he meant to say something else. Who are they talking about? “Thanks Viv,” Ashton says, taking a cold can from me. The rest of the boys copy his actions, then they start talking about the concert again. As I make my way back to the couch where my things are, I make eye contact with Luke, who looks flustered. He immediately looks away, making me even more confused. What was all that about? ★☆★The rest of the week goes by fairly quickly.  I’ve caught up in most of my classes, and Luke has been helping me understand our math. He’s been acting really weird around me lately. He’s back away from me whenever we got too close, or leave the room in the middle of a conversation. I have no clue why he’s acting this way, but I want to know. Liz has been more of a mother to me within the week I’ve been spending with them, than my mother has been to me in nearly ten years. She’s so kind, and listens so well.  I’m so grateful for her, and Luke taking me in for a while. I don’t want to overstay my welcome, so I’ve told Luke that I’m going home today, just to see what’s going on there. I can already guess that it’ll be just the same. My mother fixing all of her problems by drinking, my father no where to be seen, and Julian going out and sleeping with every girl he can. Julian promised that things were going to be changing, but I’m not sure if I believe him. He called Luke the other day, and asked him to have me go home today, because our mother had news for us. I’m nervous for what the news will be, but I want to hear it anyway.“You ready?” Luke asks from the driver’s seat of my car. I take in a deep breath, and nod, “Yeah, will you come in with me though?” “Of course,” he smiles at me, and turns of the car. We both make our way to the front door, and I can’t help but get the same feeling in my stomach as I always get when I’m about to walk through the door. I glance over at Luke, and he gives me an encouraging smile. I take in a breath, then open the door. The smell of alcohol is gone, as if it never existed. Instead it smells like vanilla, and my body relaxes slightly. “Viv, is that you?” Julian’s voice echoes throughout the house. “Yeah,” I reply. Luke and I make our way into the kitchen, where Julian, my mother, and a man in a suit sit all in a row. “What’s going on?” I ask, extremely confused.My mother looks up at me, and there are no signs that she’s been anywhere near alcohol recently. “I’ve got some news for you Vivian, some private family(italics) news,” she looks at Luke.I shake my head, and grab his arm, “He’s staying.” I see her sigh, but she nods. I sit down, and give Luke a look that says he can sit too. He gives me a small smile, and sits down next to me.“So, what’s the news?” I ask, and my mother sits up straighter. “I’m leaving your father,” She replies quickly, causing my jaw to drop. I feel Luke’s hand on mine, causing a different feeling of confusion within me, but I push that feeling away. “Recent events have made it clear that this house is full of lies. We’ve been pretending for years that we’re the most perfect family, and I’m done lying about it, and I’m sure that you both are tired of it as well. I’ve hired a divorce attorney, and am going to try my hardest to get as much money from Richard as possible, so we can keep living how we have.” I let out a scoff, “That’s all you’re worried about? Money? Seriously? No thoughts about how your husband has been cheating on you for years now, or how he brought home his slut when everyone I know was home, or how when I confronted him about this, he hit me? No, because all you care about is getting money so you can buy all of the jewelry, and booze you want!” I exclaim, squeezing onto Luke’s hand extremely tightly. “Vivian, I know this is hard, but please hear me out,” She says, after taking a few moments to take in what I said. I don’t say anything, but nod in reply. I’ve loosened my grip on Luke’s hand, but I still hold onto him tightly. My mother takes in a deep breath, and looks at her lawyer before continuing to speak. “Because your father is CEO of his family company, it’s going to be very difficult to get any money from him. Technically this house is his, and by leaving him, it means I have to leave his property as well. Julian, since you’re eighteen already, you can choose whoever you want to live with, but Vivian, since you’re technically still a minor, there will be a custody battle for you. Right now, you can choose who to live with, and if you choose to live with me, it won’t be here. My younger sister has so kindly offered to let us stay with her while we’re going through all of this. I know this is all so sudden, and hard to deal with, but I wanted to tell you this when I figured it out. I don’t want any lies between us anymore.” I breath in deep while I take everything in. Custody battles, moving in with my aunt, the actual divorce, I never thought that she had enough guts to do it. “Is that all you needed to tell us?” I ask, my voice strained. My mother nods, “That, and I wanted you both to know that I loved you, and that I want us to be closer.” She reaches out across the table, grabbing Julian’s hand, and tries to take mine, but I stand up. “Thanks for filling me in. I’ll gather my things later, tell aunt Meg that I’ll be to her house sometime next week.” I say, and pull Luke up as well. My mother protests, but I walk to the front door, and out of the house gripping onto Luke’s hand the whole time. ★☆★ Author’s Note: Okay first of all, I know that the song doesn't go perfectly with this chapter, but I love it, and it’s what this entire story is based on, so I’m using it for this chapter. Also, yes, Vivian has two chapters in a row, because she needed an extra one. Tell me what you think by giving it some notes. Hugs & Kisses-Hannahxx -- source link

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