Page 21 of Before We’re More Than Friends (When We Faced the Music #1)

Raina

D allas gave me a tight smile, like I was the one who wasn’t supposed to be here, as I sat next to him. “Hey.”

“From how hard you’re gritting your teeth, I’m guessing you’re tired of seeing me.” I shook my head. “I hope this won’t affect our chemistry.”

He snorted. “Well, it might. It’s my worst subject.”

“Which type?”

His cheeks were already flushing. Classic . “Both.”

“Me too.” The only thing I’d liked about my chemistry class was that I was the only student who didn’t have a lab partner.

The seating was done in alphabet order at the beginning of the year, sticking me with Jesse Watson, who switched classes at the beginning of the school year.

I wondered if it had to do with my anxiety during labs, but then again, he was known for being absent for a quarter of the required school days and still passing every class.

Wished that could be me. Especially on the day when we might discover my dad’s fate.

“Today’s my first day.” Dallas stared at the moldy ceiling tiles above us, ones covered in wet stains that no one bothered to do anything about. It wouldn’t be long before the whole thing collapsed on us. “Hayden welcomed me by making me eat by the dumpsters.”

“Please, I knew he’d do something like that,” I said with a giggle. “It’s like their second habitat. That and the café we go to.”

Dallas laughed. “I’d prefer the café.”

“Good afternoon, everyone.” Mrs. Bennett, our teacher who was obsessed with makeup and scientific theories, clasped her hands together, the way teachers liked to do for some reason. “We have a new student with us. Dallas, raise your hand.”

Dallas’s blush deepened as he raised his hand. “Hello.”

The class muttered hellos and waved, but they didn’t seem to be much interested in the new face in the room. Hayden and Arielle waved from the table next to us.

“I honestly hate that some teachers still feel the need to introduce the class to new students in high school,” I whispered to Dallas. “It’s embarrassing.”

“It’s the fifth time today,” Dallas whispered back. “I assume it’ll be the same for the next three periods.”

After attendance, Mrs. Bennett started the lesson for the day. I tried my best to focus, but my mind kept falling back to my dad. Not to mention that having Dallas breathing next to me was way too distracting. His presence was always so dominant, even in a room full of people.

Can my brain not be broken for one day?

Mrs. Bennett pulled up a PowerPoint. While I jotted down the notes off the first slide, an elbow hit mine, sending pain up my arm.

Gosh, and he’s left-handed?

“Sorry.” Dallas laughed.

“It’s fine.” I continued writing down my notes, but the bony elbow hit me again, this time knocking the pencil out of my hand.

This was going to be an issue.

“Sorry,” Dallas repeated. “I’m known for bumping others’ elbows in my family.”

“I see.” I sighed and grabbed my pencil from the floor.

“Maybe this will help.” He scooted over to the other side of the table.

“Thanks.”

Mrs. Bennett moved to the next slide, and we continued jotting down notes in quiet.

Until that elbow flew at me again, launching my pencil across the room.

Dallas grunted. “Sorry. I’ll get it.” He got up and leaned down to get my pencil from beneath the counters. When he got back up, he hit his head underneath the table next to him. He cursed loudly, causing heads to turn.

“Is everything okay?” Mrs. Bennett asked, her drawn-on brows lifting.

“Yeah, just hit my head while saving this girl’s pencil.” He scurried back to our table and handed it to me. “There you go, princess.”

I clutched the pencil to my chest. “My hero.”

Ignoring the snickering, we went back to taking notes until the phone rang. Mrs. Bennett grabbed the phone and held a finger to her mouth to quiet us. “Hello? Yes, they’re both here . . . Okay.” She hung up, her face stiffening. “Raina and Arielle, your mom needs you to go home. It’s an emergency.”

My stomach dropped as Arielle and I exchanged a look of terror.

The happy facade she’d put on all day dissolved as she sprang from her seat, hurriedly jamming things into her backpack.

Hayden whispered something to her, but I couldn’t make out what he said.

His eyes were full of worry as she said goodbye to him.

“I hope everything’s all right,” Dallas said as I carefully packed my backpack, though I could barely hear him over the blood pounding in my ears.

“Thank you.” I swallowed the lump in my throat as I followed Arielle. Every pair of eyes was on us, whispers filling the classroom. I didn’t dare to look back as I closed the door, my hand shaking on the doorknob.

“There’s no way it’s actually happening,” Arielle said, her voice shaking as she adjusted her backpack strap. “It has to be a mistake.”

I let out a heavy breath, barely able to keep my balance as we started walking down the stairs. “I think this is when we should stop hoping, Arielle.”

Neither of us made a sound the entire car ride home. No talking, no music, no humming. Arielle drove faster than usual, focusing on the road, while I gazed out the window. When we arrived at our house, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, other than Mom’s Mercedes in the driveway.

“Mom is home, but everything else seems normal,” Arielle said, echoing my thoughts as she killed the engine. “That’s good, right?”

“Mom said it was an emergency ,” I reminded her. “There’s nothing good about that.”

Arielle opened her mouth as if she wanted to protest, but she closed it and slammed her door shut.

That’s what I thought .

I followed her out of the car and to the entry. When she opened the door, we were greeted by Dad on the phone in the living room as he sat on the couch. When he saw us, he said to the person, “The girls are here. Talk to you later.”

“What’s going on?” Arielle asked, apprehension in her voice. “Why did we have to come home from school?”

Dad let out a breath, one that filled my stomach with dread. “Your mom and I decided it would be better to talk to you as soon as possible instead of waiting for you to come home.” He stood up from the couch. “She’s in the dining room.”

Arielle and I exchanged one last worried look. Her fingers locked with mine, and we locked hands as we walked into the grand dining room.

Mom was sitting at the table, staring blankly at the wall. She still wore her suit jacket and dress, but her foundation and mascara were smudged. She didn’t even manage to smile as we sat at the table.

Dad sat beside Mom and reached for her hand, but she pulled it away. His face fell before he cleared his throat.

“As you know, I’ve been actively talking to my lawyers and the prosecuting attorney about my legal fate for the past few months,” he said. “The investigation has finally closed.”

“Is it good news?” Arielle’s voice was barely audible from where she sat beside me. “Were you able to prove that you’re not guilty?”

Dad shook his head.

The air vanished from the room.

“B-But you’re just going to pay the fine, right?” Arielle asked, her hands shaking on the table. “How much is it?”

“The fine isn’t the issue.” Dad folded his hands, biting his lip as his eyes traveled around the room. We waited for him to spit the bad news out, to get our pain over with already, but he didn’t. “I have been proven guilty of failing to report my income and paying taxes. ”

Arielle held up her hands. “I think you’ve already established that. Just tell us what’s going to happen.”

“Arielle, do not talk to me that way.”

“Manuel, please just tell them,” Mom told Dad, her voice breaking. Manuel, not Manny, what Mom usually called him. “This was already dragged out long enough.”

Dad’s muscles tensed. “I don’t appreciate?—”

“Tell them, or I will,” she snapped.

I leaned back in my seat, surprised to hear that harsh tone come from her. She never used that tone, especially not with him.

Dad huffed before facing us, a storm brewing in his blue eyes. “I’m serving time in federal prison for eighteen months.”

Everything inside me—my heart, my stomach, my lungs—collapsed, my breath stalling in the progress.

Mom let out a sob, black tears running down her cheeks. Dad reached to wipe them away, but she put his hand down. “Don’t.”

Arielle let out a gasp that sounded more like a squeak. “But . . .” She looked back and forth between Dad and Mom. “But . . . How long did you . . .” She put her hands in her hair. “Why? Why did you do this?”

Dad’s face pinched. “I haven’t made the best decisions with my money.”

“Not ‘making the best decisions’ and committing a tax crime are two completely different things!” Arielle shot up from the table. “You broke the actual law!”

“Arielle Elena Vermont, sit down right now.”

“Why should I?” A tear rolled down Arielle’s cheek. “You demand respect but never give it to anyone else.”

“Arielle, this is not how to act.” Dad’s voice grew harder, but he stayed seated. “This is difficult for all of us, and we can’t act off our emotions.”

“You’re telling me how to act? Over this?” Arielle scoffed. “You can’t be serious.”

“Arielle, do not talk to him that way.” Mom’s stern tone returned. “He is still your father.”

“Neither of you acts like parents!” Arielle threw her hands up again as her tears smudged her makeup. “You never resist trouble, and you don’t care enough to change that. I don’t understand why. Why don’t you love us enough?” She spun on her heel and stormed out of the dining room.

It took me a few moments to realize that Mom and Dad were now looking at me.

The realization that I hadn’t reacted yet washed over me.

I’d expected to react how Arielle did, my face hot with anger and tears ruining my makeup.

But I couldn’t feel the anger or the sadness or hurt course through me.

I knew it was there, but numbness took over my body.

“I’m sorry, Raina,” Dad finally said, his eyes barely meeting mine as he bent toward me. “I know this isn’t the outcome we wanted.”

Was he only sorry for the outcome and not for what he did? Tears burned in the back of my eyes. He was more concerned about how uncomfortable admitting this was than what he’d done to himself. To us. Our family.

I opened my mouth, but no words came out. My thoughts were jumbling together like cars colliding on a racetrack. “Why?” I finally managed to squeak. “Why did you do it?”

“I haven’t made the right choices,” Dad said again. Like that was supposed to be an explanation for tearing our family apart.

The urge to get up and scream in his face rushed through me, but I couldn’t get up. I was stuck in my seat, experiencing the world crash on top of me. The tightness in the air closed my throat, numbing my ability to speak.

Mom continued to sob, holding her chest as she tried to breathe. Her makeup was completely ruined, dripping onto her neck and suit jacket. “I need to freshen up.” She got up and left the room, her legs wobbling with each step.

Not wanting to be in here alone with Dad, I got up as well.

“I’m sorry, Raina,” Dad said again. “But we’ll work through these challenges. I promise.”

Don’t promise anything , I wanted to snap. You’ve already broken enough . “Okay,” I said instead. “I just need to be alone.”

He nodded, his face stiffening. “I love you.”

I only managed to shake my head before running upstairs into my room, the tears falling one by one. I wished I’d never gone home early. I wished Mom and Dad had waited for us to get home to break the news if it meant I could go back to how my life was before. Before I knew my family’s fate.

All of this had been going on behind the scenes and I hadn’t even known. My world—our family—had been shattering beneath me the whole time, and I’d been living in blissful ignorance with my diamond bracelets and designer purses.