***
On Tuesday, I woke up to Oakley shaking my arm. A few days had past since Oakley’s disastrous party, and we were going to tell everyone about us today. Her parents were watching us closer, Mia was dropping more hints, and Jasper was dropping fucking bombs. We’d run out of time. Keeping the lie going would only make things worse in the long run.
“Morning,” I mumbled, grabbing her hand and pulling her down on the bed with me. She laid her head on my chest and sighed. This was harder on her, and I didn’t want to think too hard about why.
“It’s gonna be alright, Oaks,” I said, knowing I was in for a slap for calling her that. Her hand slammed down on my chest with a thud. It didn’t hurt at all. I laughed and grabbed her hand. “Sorry.”
She looked like she was going to fall asleep.
“Nice try,” I teased, gently nudging her. She frowned and looked up at me. “If you fall asleep, you’re just putting off telling everyone.”
That was probably the idea. I tried not to laugh as she sighed and sat up, pouting. I wanted to bite that full lip.
“We should just get this over with. I’m gonna shower, then we’ll tell them, okay?”
She nodded, frowning nervously. I got out of bed and kissed the top of her head. Whatever happened when we told them would be fine. Nothing was going to stop me being with her.
“It’ll be fine, babe. I promise.”
After taking the quickest shower I had ever had, I threw on some clothes, and we made our way downstairs. Her parents were drinking coffee in my kitchen with Mum and Dad. Good. We only had to do this once.
“Hey, guys, can we talk to you for a minute?” I said as Oakley and I sat down on the small sofa opposite them. Jasper looked up from the floor where he was sitting and a huge grin spread across his face. Great.
“Why, Cole, of course, you can,” he said enthusiastically, throwing down the stack of pictures from holiday that he was holding. Mia also had a shit-eating grin on her face.
Sarah shook her head at Jasper, grinning slightly at his…uniqueness. Then, her attention was on us. “What’s going on?”
Oakley visibly tensed beside me, and I took a deep breath.
Please take this well for her sake.
“Me and Oakley. We’re… We’re together,” I said.
Everyone fell silent. Jasper gasped theatrically and slapped his hand over his mouth. He looked between his parents and then back at us. I rolled my eyes. Idiot. “Would you believe it?” He shook his head.
“And how long have you been together?” Sarah asked, looking at Oakley who was chewing on her lip.
Max looked angry, and my parents looked happy. Well, that was two out of the four at least.
They probably all wondered why we didn’t tell them before because, let’s face it, it was obvious that this hadn’t happened since they asked us at Oakley’s party.
“Since Italy,” I replied.
Max stood up, his face hard and his eyes tight with anger. Veins in his neck poked through the skin. He looked like he wanted to strangle me with his bare hands. “So it is true?” He spat through gritted teeth.
Oakley looked lost, and tears welled up in her eyes. She grabbed my hand, squeezing tightly for support. Hang in there, baby, I’ll fix this.
“No, it’s not. We are together, but nothing like that has happened,” I said, lying smoothly. Jasper raised his eyebrows. Say something, Jasper, and I swear you will lose your balls.
Max turned around and started to pace the room, deep in thought, obviously trying to figure out if he should believe me or not. “She’s fifteen!”
Oakley’s hand tightened around mine until I winced. Shit, she’s strong when she wants to be.
“Max, calm down. She’s sixteen,” Mum said soothingly.
“Not when they first got together,” he growled.
Oakley shrank back, pressing the side of her body against mine.
Sarah came over. “Are you sure this is what you want, honey?”
Oakley nodded at the same time I snapped, “What the hell does that mean? You think I’d take advantage of her?” I actually felt sick that they would think that. I would die before I let anything happen to her.
My parents jumped in to defend me while Sarah tried calming everyone down. The room was buzzing with tension.
Max glared at me, his jaw so tight he looked in pain. “You’re seventeen, Cole! What on earth do you want with her anyway? You know how she is!” He shouted, making everyone flinch.
I felt my blood boil; I wanted to punch him so badly. ‘How she is.’ What the hell was that supposed to mean? Oakley sobbed, letting go of my hand, and she ran.
I turned to follow her, but my dad held me back. “Let him go,” he said in my ear as Jasper ran after her. “You need to sort this out, Cole.”
“I didn’t take advantage of her,” I whispered to Dad. Jesus. I didn’t ever want anyone to think that.
“We know that. All of us.”
Dad pulled me back around, and I locked eyes with Max again. Looks like I’m still enemy number one. Sarah held his arm, sobbing quietly and pleading with him to clam down.
I shook my head, gritting my teeth. “You know I would never hurt her.”
He took a deep breath, closed his eyes and nodded. “I know, but she’s not like other sixteen-year-old girls, is she?” There’s nothing wrong with her. “Why her?”
That one was easy. “I love her,” I replied. I wanted to be with her, and I wanted to make her happy. “She’s not a little girl anymore, Max. Just because she doesn’t speak doesn’t mean she’s a child. There are plenty of mute people out there who have everything everyone else has,” I reasoned.
I was so fucking angry. Angry at Max’s reaction and angry with myself for promising her it would be okay. This doesn’t look okay. Max laughed humourlessly and shook his head. Sarah let go of his arm and wiped away tears that fell down her cheeks.
“If you love her could you not wait until she’s got everything sorted out?” Sarah asked.
“What do you mean?” I asked, frowning.
“Well,” she started, dipping her head. “I think maybe you should wait until we’ve sorted out her speech problem.”
“Sorted out her speech problem? When are you going to realise there’s nothing wrong with her not speaking? If she wants to talk, she will, but until then, back off!” I ranted, tensing my muscles so much they started to ache.
I was so pissed off with everyone thinking that she had to be fixed. As if she was a broken doll that needed a spare part to make her whole again. I would love her to speak again, of course, but if she never spoke it wouldn’t change a thing in my eyes.
“And you say you love her!” Sarah scoffed, shaking her head at me.
“You know what? I think I might be the only one that does. You don’t see her how you used to, do you? She’s not your perfect daughter anymore.”
Sarah started crying harder. She shook her head vigorously. “I love her.”
“That’s not what I asked, Sarah.”
Her face suddenly fell, eyes widened, and she gasped. No. I spun around and saw Oakley standing by the door, looking at her mum with so much pain in her eyes it sucked the air from my lungs. She’d heard everything.
Sarah shook her head. “No, honey… I…”
Oakley’s eyes flicked to me for help. I made the few steps over there and wrapped my arms around her waist. She gripped my t-shirt and started pulling me backwards, trying to get out of the house.
Jasper glared at his parents hatefully. This was such a huge mess, worse than I ever imagined. Everyone was crying and trying to tell Oakley that she had misunderstood, but she hadn’t.
She tugged my shirt harder, and I knew I had to get her out. She was done. We should probably stay and talk so Sarah could explain, but Oakley clearly needed to leave.
“We’ll talk tomorrow,” I said over my shoulder as I slammed the front door behind us. We practically ran to m
y car. I locked the doors on the way, and we jumped in. The front door flew open as I tore out of the drive.
Oakley’s body shook as she cried silently, leaning against the window. Her feet were up on the seat, and her eyes were closed.
“I’m so sorry, baby,” I whispered, stroking her arm. What the hell have I done? “We’ll go to a hotel tonight, okay? I’ll sort all this out tomorrow. Everyone was upset, and we all said things we don’t mean.”
She didn’t look up or do anything to suggest she’d even heard what I said, but I didn’t stop. I had to make her feel better. “What I said about your mum isn’t true. I shouldn’t have said that, and I’m sorry, but they were talking about you not speaking. It was my fault; I kinda lost it. Oakley, it’s not true. Your parents love you the way you are.”
She sniffed and shook her head, placing her hands behind her neck, with her elbows drawn together in front of her chest. Blinking, she looked up at the roof, and I could see how hard she was fighting to stop crying.
“Sorry,” I said quietly. “I love you.”