Chapter 22

The next morning,Rory and Melanie found Blake waiting by their lockers. His arms were crossed and his shoulders were tense as he scanned the halls.

When he saw them, he rolled his eyes. "Finally, took you guys long enough."

"Aww, missed me, Blakey boy?" Rory asked, shooing him aside so she could get to her locker.

Blake frowned. "Have you been on Instagram yet?"

Her brow furrowed. "Um, no…why?"

Blake's gaze shifted between her and Melanie, looking apprehensive.

"Blake," she insisted, hands on her hips. "Spill, now."

"Okay, but don't shoot the messenger."

She promised, watching as Blake tapped to the app on his phone and handed it to Rory. Melanie leaned in next to her as the two of them examined the picture that had Blake all anxious.

It was a picture posted by Jay. He hadn't posted a single thing on his Instagram since moving to UCONN—he told Rory he was done with social media and wanted nothing to do with it. So chances were the fact that he was posting now was meant to be a jab at her.

The picture looked like it was taken at a party. He was leaning against a windowsill, his arm wrapped around some girl with long blonde hair, his hand low on her waist. She was whispering something in his ear, and his eyes were bright.

Melanie rubbed her arm in comfort. But to her shock, Rory didn't feel like she needed it at all. A year ago, this kind of image would have made her spiral. She would have felt angry and jealous. She would have stood there and compared herself to that girl, finding all the flaws in herself and wondering why she couldn't be someone Jay liked.

But now, all she felt was relief. Jay was at a party. He was meeting people at UCONN. She didn't have a right to know anymore, but she hoped he was feeling better about being there.

"Rory?" Blake asked, his voice coated in nervous energy.

She just smiled, handing Blake his phone. "Good for him. I'm happy he's happy."

Blake's jaw fell open, but he quickly snapped it shut when Melanie glared at him. "Um, I, well…wasn't expecting that."

Rory shrugged, opening up her locker. "I broke things off with him, remember?"

"Which, honestly, I don't get," Blake said. "I mean, you've been, like, in love with him—"

"Not in love," Rory said flatly.

"Okay, then let's go with obsessed. You've been obsessed with him for as long as I've known you."

"Well, obsessions can change," she explained slowly, grinning. "People can change."

Melanie squeezed Rory's arm again.

A commotion down the hall stopped their conversation. A handful of people burst out in applause, whooping and hollering at whatever was happening. The three of them followed.

Rory grabbed Blake's and Melanie's hands as they squeezed through the crowd into the cafeteria. Everyone was looking up at a massive banner hanging from an open window at one of the science labs on the second floor, trailing all the way down to the first floor. It was white, and in bold navy letters, the banner said:

Will the queen dance with the king one last time?

And there, standing in front of the banner, was Tyler. He was dressed in a pressed suit wearing his Homecoming King crown, holding a bouquet of white roses.

Rory watched in horror as everyone began cheering and chanting Zoe's name, waiting for her to emerge from the crowd. She held her breath when Zoe finally popped into view, the students going absolutely wild as she approached Tyler. She wore a big smile on her face, mirroring the gooey look he was giving her.

For two people who were apparently "fake dating," they were very good at it.

Maybe because the feelings aren't fake at all, Rory thought sadly.

Zoe said something to Tyler and nodded. He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her up as the crowd went berserk at his absurd promposal.

Rory couldn't help it as tears streamed down her cheeks. It was like watching some kind of cruel nightmare.

"Now I get it," Blake mumbled.

She turned around, looking at him. He was looking back at her with remorse, his face full of understanding.

Her eyes flicked to Melanie, who also was looking at Rory with that same kind of sorrow.

Melanie reached for her arm, but Rory shrugged her off, backing away from the both of them. "No, you don't. You get nothing."

She sprinted away, not turning at Melanie's calls to wait up. She ran down the halls and out the front entrance of the school, heading for her car.

Nothing made sense anymore. Her mother hated her. Tyler didn't want to be with her. She wasn't sure where she would be come September. She didn't even have a date for prom.

She turned on the ignition and peeled out of the student lot.

* * *

Rory didn't thinkabout where she was going until she parked her car.

Even though she knew where Jess lived, she'd never been to her place before. Her apartment building was tucked down a side street near Hillside Park, not close enough to be walking distance to Scoops, but close enough to the beach. Rory doubted Jess ever went, though. She didn't seem like the beach-going type.

She pulled her car into the parking lot of the complex, on the lookout for Jess's white car. She found it parked in front of an apartment door that looked bare, which was starkly different to the others—doors with potted plants and patio furniture and cheery doormats. But not Jess's place. Her apartment didn't have a doormat or any decor. Almost as if this wasn't important to her. Somewhere temporary.

Rory stepped up to the door, holding her fist up. Only then, she heard loud yelling and cursing. And crying.

"How the FUCK are we going to afford that, Charlie?" Jess screamed, her voice cracking as she said it. "We barely have the money to pay rent!"

"Jess, for shit's sake, it's FINE!" he yelled back. "I put it on my credit card."

"Jesus fucking christ," Jess roared. "Which card did you put it on?"

"Jess…"

"WHICH CARD?!"

"Jess, someone is standing outside."

Rory froze, silence enveloping them. She heard thumping and then Jess was there, throwing the door open. Her face was splotchy and red, tears streaking her cheeks, her glasses gone. Rory watched as her eyes went wide before she squinted them into thin lines, her glare anything but welcoming. "What are you doing here?"

"I-I just—"

"Leave now."

"Jess, is everything—"

"NOW, RORY."

Rory nodded, shuffling backward and stumbling down the front step. "Yes, I'm-I'm sorry."

Jess responded with a slammed door. The yelling started up again, but Rory didn't stick around to listen, jogging over to her car and hopping in. She was breathing heavy, her chest tight with worry for her friend. Could she consider Jess her friend? Yes, she was a Scooper, she was practically family. And yet, Jess constantly pushed them away. What did she have to hide?

She reached for her phone, looking at the time. It was almost nine in the morning, which meant her second class was about to begin. The idea of going back to school for the day seemed like hell. She knew she was being reckless, but it wasn't like she was going to college in the fall if her mother had anything to say about it. So…what did she have to lose?

She cleared her mind and plugged in an address on her phone, putting the navigation on speaker.

Her phone let her know that her next destination was forty-three minutes away.

* * *

She knew it was a terrible,terrible idea.

Rory veered off at an exit in Rhode Island, the navigation on her phone leading her closer to the beach.

Gabi was definitely getting some kind of notification about Rory skipping class. Her mother never said anything about Rory arriving late to school with Melanie. But skipping an entire day? That would get her talking again.

Especially when she found out where Rory was headed.

Her phone led her down a few winding roads. Rory watched as the houses around her got bigger and bigger, turning from single-family homes to gargantuan mansions. The people in this town certainly had a lot of money. The Barrys must also be loaded.

She turned onto a tiny street, following a smooth path that led to a pair of towering wrought-iron doors, blocking the way to the colossal estate on the other side. It was like something you'd see in a period drama, tucked into the countryside of Ireland or England—not Rhode Island. The estate could fit ten houses the size of hers in Misty Bay. Maybe more.

The camera at the top corner of the gate kicked into gear, the lens whirring to focus on Rory in her car.

"Can I help you?" asked a gruff voice from the intercom system next to her.

She looked up, noticing that there wasn't any kind of camera system for her to see whoever was talking on the other line. It sounded like a man though. Was it Fred? Could that be her father?

She cleared her throat, taking the chance anyway. "I'm Rory Michaels."

Her response was followed by soul-sucking silence. But she stood her ground, her eyes still on that camera.

It felt like an eternity passed before she finally got a response.

"Stay there."

The intercom system cut off. She wondered if maybe the person would open up the iron gates, letting her drive through. But after a few moments, she watched as a tall figure exited the front entrance of the estate, now taking the paved path toward her.

She stepped out of her car, leaning against the hood as she waited. Her pulse quickened, but she tried keeping her cool and looking relaxed.

When the man made it to the gates, she finally knew who her father was. After looking through all the photos she could find of him in her mother's secret memory box, she would be able to recognize those sea-foam green eyes anywhere. The same ones she saw in the mirror every day.

Fred Barry. Her father. It really was him. And he was nothing like the perfect father she'd pictured in her head.

His eyes were similar, but everything else about him was different. His face was covered in scruff, his build bulkier. He wore a flannel, jeans, and work boots.

And despite his happiness in that photo on the football field, in that moment, he looked everything but. There was no welcoming smile or running hug, like what she always dreamed. Instead, he looked peeved.

"Did she send you?" he asked roughly.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me," he sneered. "Did she send you?"

"You mean my mother?"

"Who else would I be talking about?"

Rory's mouth fell open. He couldn't even say Gabi's name.

"No," she finally responded. "She has no idea I'm here."

He huffed, looking away. "How'd you find me?"

"Google."

He shook his head, looking irritated. "Fucking technology."

You'll always regret it if you don't try.

She took a deep breath, bracing for whatever was to come. "The day I was born, she wrote you a letter. It was sent back."

"We left Orlando," he explained. "And when that letter ended up here, I had it sent back."

Her face felt tight, and she could sense tears coming on. She tried holding them in. The last thing she wanted was to cry in front of this resentful, haunted man. "Why?"

"Because this wasn't how it was supposed to go," he said bluntly. "We had a plan, and she ruined it."

"R-ruined it?"

"We were going to go to college, find a house in Orlando, get married," he explained. "The kid thing wasn't supposed to happen until after that."

Tears now streaked her cheeks. "But she ruined it."

He kept going, completely oblivious to the girl standing in front of him with tears in her eyes. No sadness or guilt. Just anger. "I begged her to choose me instead, to go with our plan. But she refused."

Her ears were ringing now at the truth that was finally being revealed. Fred Barry wanted her mother to terminate the pregnancy. She didn't.

"So you broke up with her."

"I told her I wouldn't let anything ruin my life. I left town."

Rory was shaking. Hurt, abandonment, loneliness…she couldn't pinpoint the emotions she felt with so many roiling inside of her. Anger felt too mild of a word to describe the burning rage in her belly. She was downright irate. That this man not only decided he didn't want her, but he'd tried forcing Gabi to do something she didn't want to do with her body. All for the sake of their "happily ever after."

Right then, she was mighty proud of her mother for standing up for herself, and for choosing a different end to her story. A different kind of happily ever after.

Instead of throwing a fit, Rory calmly stood up straight, looking this horrific man up and down. "By the looks of it, you didn't need me around for your life to be ruined."

She got in her car and left, not bothering to look at the man who was fuming on the other side of the gates he'd refused to let her through. She sped through the streets to the highway, flying back to Haverport.