Hated (Rock Star Trilogy) (10 page)

Don’t forget about me when you’re rich and famous.

The next two weeks pass in a blur, but finally Thanksgiving is here.

Everybody is crowded in Stephan’s mom’s house in Hope, Florida. Bridgett and Alec are here, they are waiting until tomorrow to go to her parents’ house.

Stephan talked to his mom about Mona finally. I know it’s hard on her, but she graciously accepted Mona in her home for Thanksgiving. I think it shows just how strong she really is. If I was in her situation, I’m not sure I could accept her. Ethan, I think, is the happiest of us all. He’s had a major crush on the girl his whole life, and now she’s spending the next few days
in his house
… Which I am personally thrilled about. Stephan and I actually get to spend two whole nights in my house.
Alone
. ‘Cause time alone is
almost
as good as a honeymoon. Okay, maybe not, but it’s what I’m trying to tell myself.

Stacy and Anna are here too, which I am super excited about. I haven’t seen them since I moved back to LA. I swear that Anna grew since the last time I saw her, if that’s even possible.

“Aunt Scar!” Anna gives me a huge hug as soon as she walks inside. “I saw myself on a commercial the other day with you!”

“That’s awesome!”

“All my friends are jealous,” she tells me, and then puts her hands on her hips. “I’m going to be a star.”

“Just don’t forget about me when you’re rich and famous.”

She laughs. “How could I forget about
you
, silly?”

“You say that now…” I joke.

“Mommy says you’re going on tour, and that I’m not going to see you for a long time.” Anna puckers out her bottom lip. “I don’t want you to go without me. I will miss you.”

“I wish I could take you with me.”

“Why can’t you take me with you?” She seems excited at the prospect of coming along.

“Because your mom would miss you too much,” I explain.

She turns to Stacy. “Mom, I want to go with Scarlett. Why can’t you come too?”

“Because we live here, and I have a job.”

“We could move. We’ll have to live in California when I’m a star anyway. And then you won’t need a job, because I’ll support us both.”

Stacy grins at that. “Well, until you become a rock star, I’m afraid that I have to support us and my job is here.”

Anna rolls her eyes. “Fine. Whatever. But can’t I at least go with her?”

“You have school.”

“I mean this summer.” Anna gives Stacy a
duh
look that makes me smile. She’s nine, but she’s got the attitude of a teenager.

“I know that I was adopted, but I swear she got your spunk,” Stacy says to me. She then turns to Anna. “I’ll tell you what. If you get straight A’s, I’ll let you go with Scarlett for a few weeks as long as it’s alright with her.”

“YES!” Anna jumps up and down at the success, and then turns to me. “Is it okay?”

“Yes. You better get A’s, or I’ll be mad at you.”

“I will, I will!” She bounces up and down, until finally Stephan comes and offers to play a game with her. I’m excited to get a chance to talk with Stacy. She knows about what went down… about Bridgett and I actually being Dad’s biological kids, but we haven’t gotten to really
talk
about it.

“You’ve had a pretty crazy few weeks.”

I know exactly what’s coming in the conversation, and it scares me. She’s going to talk to me about my marriage. So, I will try to avoid the whole ‘
you’re too young to be married’
conversation. “Yeah, I have. I’m excited, but ready for a break at the same time. Two months just wasn’t enough. Well, actually it
was
enough, but now it just feels like I’m busier than before. Trying to keep up relationships and a career is hard. It was easier before I had a family who actually cares about me.”

“It might be easier if you weren’t married.”

“Too late for that,” I say.

“You’re so young, Scarlett. Why did you do it?” she asks.

I was drunk. But I’m so not having this conversation with Stacy. “I don’t know. All I know is that I’m so in love with Stephan that I can’t think straight. He’s the one that I want to spend the rest of my life with.”

“You’re nineteen. You didn’t have to
marry him now
. You could have waited a few years. If you’re still in love with him when you’re older you could have gotten married.”

I am trying not to take what Stacy is saying the wrong way. She’s just saying it, because she’s my big sister. She’s looking out for me. I would probably say the same thing to Bridgett if our roles were reversed. But she doesn’t understand.
Nobody but Stephan and I can understand
.

“You’re only seeing our age. I am head over heels in
love
with Stephan Montgomery. And me marrying him is just my way of showing him just how much I love him. He offered me forever, and I took it. Forever is what I want. I know you can’t understand, but he’s it for me. There will never be another Stephan.”

“Okay, Scarlett.” Stacy sighs. I don’t see judgment in her eyes. Only disappointment, which is worse. “I only want what is best for you, and I just don’t see how this is best for you.”

“I know. But you will see one day, I promise. Until then, you should trust me,” I say.

Stacy changes the subject. “So how is Bridgett doing with the whole Dad thing?”

“Not good yet,” I tell her. “I’m hoping that everything works out.”

“He came to see me.”

“Dad?”

“Yes. He came and spent a couple days with us. He took us to Disney World, and really spent time getting to know Anna. We had a nice long talk. I can’t say that I understand his reasoning for everything that has gone down, but I forgave him. I also agreed that he could be a part of Anna’s life. He’s flying us to LA for Christmas, and I think he’s hoping that you and Bridgett will come as well.”

“I will try, but it’s not me who needs to be convinced. It’s Bridgett. He’s the one she left, not me.”

“I still can’t believe you have a twin,” she says. “It so surreal. This whole thing… I know it’s Dad’s fault for not standing up to Mom, but I can’t help but wonder how our life would be if she wasn’t in the picture.”

I have wondered the exact same thing. “I don’t know. I’m just glad she’s finally out of our lives… This was all just because she hated
me
so much. Your life would have been better if I wasn’t in the picture. She actually
loved
you before I came along.”

“That woman is a miserable bitch. It wasn’t your fault, Scar. You were just an innocent bystander in all of this, just as I was.”

“Is it true that Dad sent you money?” I ask her.

“Yeah, he did. I don’t know how I could have survived without him. I hated taking the money, but I didn’t have a choice. I had to feed my little girl.” She closes her eyes for a moment, almost as if the memory is too much to handle. “I wish they wouldn’t have kept me from you. I cried myself to sleep every night for a year after they kicked me out. I missed you so much. I am having problems forgiving Dad because of that. I tried so hard to get a hold of you. If it wasn’t for Anna, I don’t think I could have survived.”

“I wish I would’ve known. I used to pray every night that you would come back. I told Mom that I was praying for you to return, and she laughed at me. She said it was stupid, because you didn’t love me and that you were never coming back. It was that day I think I understood
why
you ran away. Because of her.”

“I’m so sorry, Scarlett. I would say I wish I didn’t get pregnant, but then I wouldn’t have Anna. I don’t regret her, not even for a second. But honestly, I don’t think it would’ve made a difference. She was just looking for a reason to banish me. I just finally gave her a reason to.”

Stephan’s Mom, Sarah, comes into the living room. “Brunch is ready.”

10:49 AM

Is it possible to die of embarrassment?

Stephan’s Mom hates me.

Okay, maybe
hate
is a strong word. But she definitely doesn’t
like me
… Stephan’s assured me that she “loves me”, but I don’t believe him. Every time she looks at me, she looks
mad
. Maybe that’s it. Maybe she’s just mad that I took Stephan away from her. Not that I really
took
him away. I just married him. Of course, it was while he was still in high school.

As everybody sits down at the table, Sarah looks up at me and forces a smile when she sees I’m looking at her. Ugh, that’s so not reassuring.

“Your mom absolutely despises me,” I whisper to Stephan.

He looks up at his mom. She smiles at him. A legit smile. Not the kind you force. “She does not. You’re paranoid.”

As soon as Stephan looks away, she frowns. I’m not sure if she means to frown at me… But at least it isn’t fake. I know I should probably talk to her about it, but I would really rather
avoid confrontation
. I mean, she’ll eventually get used to me — right?

“So how is married life?” Ethan asks Stephan and me.

Sarah winces.

Yep. She definitely hates me.

Stephan answers for us both. “Pretty freaking amazing.”

Alec laughs. “Getting laid every night, sometimes two or three times… Yeah, I’m sure married life is amazing.”

Sarah chokes on her water, and I feel my face grow warm.

“Alec, might I remind you that my nine year old niece is sitting at this table…”

“Right… Sorry,” he says. “But seriously, you two could be a little quieter about things.”

Oh my God.
Is it possible to die of embarrassment
? If so, I would be dead right now. “Alec, seriously! If you don’t shut up, I am going to kill you in your sleep.”

Everybody at the table cracks up. Except Sarah. And she looks like she’s going to pass out. Then she looks at me… No, she glares… And my suspicion is just confirmed.
She does hate me
.

“See,” I whisper to Stephan. “She’s totally glaring at me.”

“She probably just doesn’t like to hear about her only son’s sex life.”

I roll my eyes. “
We’re married
. What does she think? That we don’t have sex?”

“How’s the new CD coming?” Bridgett asks. She knows the answer to the question, but she’s saving me from any further embarrassment. I love her for it. I will have to thank her later.

“It’s great!” I answer with a little too much enthusiasm. “I only have another week worth of recording, and I will be done. I am excited. But then the week I finish recording, the documentary airs, so I will be doing a ton of interviews.”

“Somebody from
Good Morning America
asked if they could interview me,” Ethan says. “It’s so weird. Am I going to be famous because of this?”

I shrug. “Maybe. Millions of people are going to watch. MTV has high hopes. I don’t think my life is that interesting, but it’s got to be better than
Jersey Shore
, right?”

Everybody laughs.

“I actually liked
Jersey Shore
,” Mona says. “But yeah, I do expect your life is a bit more…
interesting
than Snookie’s.”

“I’m glad they’re still calling it a
documentary
,” I say. “I almost expected them to start calling it a reality show. They signed me to do thirteen more episodes while I’m on tour.”

“Wow. That’s incredible.”

I don’t know if I’d use the word incredible, but I smile. “I just hope they don’t make me look stupid.”

“I don’t think they could, even if they tried,” Stephan says sweetly.

“So the new single comes out next week too,” Alec says. “Are you excited?”

“Yes. But, um, I really don’t want to be the center of Thanksgiving brunch conversation. Can’t we talk about something else?” I ask.

“But your life is the most exciting, Aunt Scar,” Anna says.

“Does everybody like the food?” Sarah asks. Of course. She would
gladly
change the topic from me. She doesn’t think my life is interesting. She just thinks I’m evil for marrying her son.

“It’s delicious,” a few people answer.

The food is amazing. Sarah is an amazing cook.
Maybe one day she can teach me
… The thought stops almost as quickly as it starts. I picture myself in the kitchen with Sarah. And then I picture her stabbing me.

Yeah.
So not going to happen
.

An awkward silence falls on the table. Like, seriously? There ten people sitting at this table, and not one can think of something to say?

“So, Sarah, were you surprised to hear that Stephan and Scarlett got married?” Alec asks.

Now it’s my turn to choke. “Alec!”

“Of course I was surprised to hear it. I knew he liked Scarlett, but I didn’t think he would… Well, I thought she was just a short term thing…” I can tell by the tone in her voice that she still thinks it is a
short term thing
.

“Well, I’m definitely here to stay.” I put my hand on Stephan’s leg and narrow my eyes at her. Seriously, if she’s not going to play nice, neither am I. It’s on.

“I can see that,” she says, then turns her attention to Stephan. “So the whole family is coming here for Christmas. I’m sure your grandparents will want to meet your…
wife
.”

“We can’t come,” I tell her. “We are going to have Christmas with my dad.”

Okay, so maybe it wasn’t completely decided, but I feel like this is some kind of competition. And I’m so not spending my Christmas with this woman if she acts like this. It’s ridiculous.

“Stephan?” She looks at him.

“It’s only fair. We’re here for Thanksgiving.” Stephan shrugs.

“Well, you can’t, Stephan. You have to come here. You will just have to have Christmas with Scarlett’s family later.” She takes a bite of her food and pretends like what she just said was completely normal.

“Mom, I’m spending Christmas with my wife,” Stephan tells her sternly.

Sarah gets up from the table and leaves the room. Mr. James follows after her.

“She hates you, Scar,” Bridgett tells me. “Seriously, could that have been anymore awkward?”

“She doesn’t hate her,” Stephan argues. I can tell by the look in his eyes that he’s starting to doubt himself.

“No, she really does,” Ethan says. “She was okay with you dating her. I mean, obviously Scarlett is like the star of every teenage guy’s fantasy. But she didn’t think you’d actually marry her. She thought you would just have lots of sex with her and get it out of your system.”