40

I couldn’t speak. I had expected him to find out at some point but I had not expected it to be soon. I should have known that Charles wasn’t going to take an insult like that lying down. He was a proud son o a bitch, of course he was going to do something insane. I just didn’t expect this.

“Aren’t you going to say anything?” dad asked but I stayed silent. I didn’t regret my actions, I just hated how they came to light. “What the hell is this, Hayley? For fucks sake, how did this happen? How long has he been doing this to you? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Wait a minute, Jake didn’t do anything,” I cut him off. “He didn’t come to me, I went to him.”

“You are a child, Hayley, he should have said no- fuck. I brought him into our lives, I brought him into our house. You were sixteen when you met him. What the fuck was he thinking.”

“I know you are upset but I am not a child. I know what I want and I went for it. Jake has never looked at me anyway other than platonically until this year. I was