The Reason Why [✓ Completed~ editing]

Chapter 39: Clarity

*Jordan Simpson*

I walked in a wobbly line to where my car was parked in the small area in front of the orphanage. There were so many thoughts running through my mind that I couldn't place a finger on any of them. They were all colliding together in the whirlpool formed inside of my mind. I blinked hard several times.

It couldn't be true, could it? What Alexa told me couldn't actually be right. There was no way that my parents would hide something like that from me. But why would Alexa lie to me like that? I had always known that she hated me but had never known why. If what Alexa had said was the truth, everything would fall into place. I would understand her anger towards me. I even understood why her parents wouldn't allow her to see me. They must think that I was in on it with my parents.

I reached my car and flung open the door more violently than I had intended. I sat down heavily. It had taken me this long to finally extract the truth from Alexa; the reason why she hated me. Now it was my parents' turn. I needed to find out the truth and there wasn't a moment to lose.

Stepping on the gas, I pulled out of the car park without looking back. It only took five minutes before arriving home, anger and confusion blocking out most of my thoughts. I didn't recognise the other car parked on the drive when I got out of the car, but I dismissed it without a thought; my parents switched up their cars whenever they simply fancied a change. Anger boiled up inside of me. They didn't deserve that kind of luxury if they had just cheated their way into this life.

Turning the key in the lock, my thoughts finally caught up with me and I stopped. I knew my father would be home on a Sunday, probably with my mother. I took a breath. What was I going to say? 'Oh hi mum, dad, I heard today that you stole that movie script that earned you millions of dollars. Wanna tell me about that, huh?' I shook my head. What if that wasn't the truth and I just went and accused my own flesh and blood? I pushed the door open slowly. I would just have to play it by ear.

Walking through the door, I didn't feel like calling out and giving my usual welcome. I heard voices coming from the kitchen so made my way towards them, my body moving on its own accord. When my mother spotted me, she smiled brightly.

"Hey, honey! Where have you been today?" she asked.

"I went to Rainbows for a bit," I said bluntly, not returning her gesture. My mother didn't seem to notice that anything was up and carried on glancing over her newspaper.

"On your own?"

"No, I was with Alexa," I said hesitantly, calming trying to keep my voice from rising. I didn't want to blow up before I knew anything for sure. My father, whose back had been facing me since I entered, slowly turned around in his chair.

"Her again?" he questioned, looking directly at me.

"Yeah," I returned his stare. "Is that a problem?" He turned his body more so that he was facing me.

"Why would you think that, son?" There was a challenging look in his eye. When Alexa had come over before, I had noticed the tension between her and my father, but hadn't thought much of it. Thinking about it now though, he had always reacted strangely to her name. Seeing my father acting so innocent in front of me, pretending that nothing was wrong, made me angry. Was he really going to carry on lying to me like he had for years?

"You don't seem to like Alexa, do you?" I said through gritted teeth, trying to get out as much information as possible before I revealed what I had discovered.

"What makes you say that?" he shot back at me, cooly answering my question with another question.

"Stop that!" I cried suddenly, seeing the totally composed expression on his face. "Stop hiding things and answer my question." My mother stood up at that moment, sensing now that something was not right.