____________________________________

____________________________________

Jade finds the strength to take back control of her being. Her heartbeat slows down as she lets out a breath she wasn't aware that she was holding in.

She clutches the phone against her chest as she pivots on her heels to face the concrete path before her. A stupid grin sneakily tries to devour her face as she puts her head down, trying to conceal her own giddiness at the thought of the half-naked football player.

She starts walking lackadaisically to the parking lot, legs crossing one another.

Jade doesn't realize she's made it to the parking lot until an obnoxious honk sounds to the right of her. It, of course, is her sister Melanie looking beyond impatient as she puts the window down and sticks her hand out, waving at her younger sibling through the windowless door.

"What the fuck was taking you so long?" She hollers at her baby sister who doesn't make a move to speed up towards the awaiting vehicle. She takes her sweet time to cross the parking lot to make it to the glossy golden-beige car. There are very few cars in her path as it's nearing way beyond school hours. The uniquely colored car stands out tremendously among the bouts of simple colored cars.

Jade finally steps up to the car and yanks open the passenger side door. The younger doesn't have to face her sister to notice the annoyed expression on her face, but she doesn't mind it since she only assumes that it's Melanie's time of the month.

"Who pissed in your bowl?" Jade inquires as she settles into the comfortable seating of the car and pulls her seatbelt over her body.

"I rather have that," Melanie simply huffs looking off to the side.

Jade looks over at her sister, cautiously. Melanie seems off to her. Her normally together and straightened hair is swept up into a real messy bun. Like that thing atop her head looks more like a nest of hair. Her eyes look red as if she were crying just seconds before Jade had gotten into the car.

"Mel, you good?" Jade tentatively reaches out to her sister, rubbing up and down her arm. Melanie looks forward like she is in a daze. Then, she motions for the key in the ignition and takes it out, shutting off the engine of the car.

"Jade, shit's not alright," Melanie finally confesses, eyeing Jade up and down.

Jade's heart begins palpitating before the rest of her can react to what Melanie says. "What? Are mom and dad okay?"

Melanie expels a sudden growl of frustration as she delicately places her forehead against the steering wheel, closing her eyes.

"I think... I think dad's cheating on mom?" Melanie admits, a grave tone hidden beneath her high-pitched voice. Her forehead remains pressed up against the steering wheel as strands of her brown hair unorderly spill out of the thin hair tie.

"You think or you know for sure?" Jade requests hesitantly as she tries to decipher the exact details of what her sister means by that. Her eyes glued to her anxious older sibling.

She doesn't say a thing.

The silence overcomes the car, bothering Jade all the more.

"How'd you find this out?" Jade starts, hitting her sister with a questioning look as she bites on the inside of her cheek.

Melanie finally arises from the steering wheel but stares straight forward. "He left his phone out... on the glass table by the front door. I guess when he came back from his trip, early this morning, he was so focused on bringing his luggage into the room that he forgot to take his phone. And I... and I saw a text message pop up. I looked at it 'cause the buzzing caught me off guard so that's when I saw a message from a random ass number: 'I miss you already, baby. I can't wait till you come to visit again.' with some corny ass smiling emoji at the end, like what the fuck."

Jade has absolutely nothing to say to that. She can't even begin to imagine how her mother would feel, finding out about this. Even though she and her mother aren't as close, she could never imagine her hurt in that way.

Jade looks away from her sister and looks around the emptying school parking lot as if that will give her any comfort in dealing with such news. "Mel, we have to tell mom."

Jade glances over at Melanie to see her head back on the steering wheel. A sorrowful look consumes Jade as her eyebrows slightly knit inwards. Melanie has always been the more sensitive sibling and it seems to Jade that this possibility of their father being deceitful is simply breaking her heart.

"Fuck," Jade hisses as she hesitantly tries to support her sister in a time like this. What does she do? She doesn't comfort people. Despite the awkward feeling, Jade leans over the center console to give her sister an inconvenient side hug.

But it's like the hug initiates a switch within Melanie that forces sobs to begin rippling out. Her body slightly shakes as the tears consume her.

She lifts her head to look at Jade with tears brimming her eyes.

"I called Mrs. Conley and she said mom's been cooped in her office all day. I guess it's better to tell her when she comes home," Melanie suggests in the middle of her personal crisis.

Rebecca Conley is Jade's mother's secretary. Jaqueline Hill is a manager at a large corporate business firm that decided to outsource one of their offices to Kingsman Bounty, which is the main reason behind their family's sudden move to the small town. Her mother has always been a person that was highly dedicated to her line of work so it's of no surprise to both of the girls that she has been in her office all day.

"Mel," Jade simply utters, voice cracking. Unease seems to preoccupy Jade's being as her jaw visible tightens from the intense grinding of her teeth.

At that, Melanie realizes that she has to compose herself and be there for her baby sister. She lifts herself from her hunched over position on the wheel.

"Jade, we'll be fine." Melanie gives her sister a comforting close-mouthed smile as she puts the key back into the ignition to start the car. She wipes away at the string of tears that run down her cheek before the roaring of the engine consumes the silence and Melanie pulls out of the school parking lot.

The drive is silent but internal thoughts weigh heavy in the air.

Melanie is thinking about the state of her father and what could possess him to hurt their family like this. But, she is also curious about who this random number belongs to. Do they know her father is married? Has children? So many fucking questions that are beginning to drive her crazy. Melanie has always been closer to her father, out of the two parents that are rarely there for their two daughters, so this discovery threatens to weaken whatever bond she thought they had.

On the other hand, Jade is thinking about the state of her mother and how Melanie and she will most likely be the ones to break the news to her. It sends a tinge of pain to her heart as she thinks of her mother finding out about the potential affair. The mere idea of her mother even shedding a tear pains her. Her mother has a way of concealing any sort of emotion and that isn't an exaggeration. Neither Jade nor Melanie could recall a moment in which their mother cried in their brief lifetime.

Jade sits with her elbow resting on the armrest by the door handle. Her hand holds her cheek as she looks out the window at the empty plots of land. The partially dirt road creates miniature bumps in the car ride adding to the dreadful feeling Jade has in the pit of her stomach. The feeling being similar to what was felt after speaking with Kinsey, but it being so different at the same time. The fluttering nervousness in the pit of her stomach making her feel more ill than elated.

How does she face her father? Could he really have done this?

The optimistic part of her wants to believe that her father is just being friendly and that this is all a misunderstanding, but you can't really deny spotting a text message of that caliber.

Both of the girls are hesitant to state what is truly on their minds. The tense air thickens to the point where Jade feels like she'll suffocate if she doesn't get assurance from her sister.

"W-What if it's a misunderstanding?" Jade asks, looking over at Melanie who is in dead concentration on the road.

_________<~>_________

A/N: Hey! Finally, I'm back! Sorry for the slower updates but I was having so much trouble with figuring out what to do with this chapter. I rewrote this thing way too many times but I'm glad it's out.

...

What do you think of that text message? Do you think it's simply a misunderstanding or do you think their dad's really cheating?

Also, how do you think Mrs. Hill will react to this?
...

Thank you for the endless support! You guys are truly amazing and don't forget to stay tuned for the next chapter which will be out sooner than later. ❤️