Now It's My Time to Strike Back

As expected, Mel and Joe sat far away from me and Nick on the plane ride to Florida.

Unfortunately, I had to sit in the back with them while Nick sat uncomfortably in the front passenger seat of Dad’s car next to Jake whom was driving.

It was a pretty quiet drive considering no one said anything.

When we arrived to the blue and white house, the boys grabbed our suitcases as I walked to the front door, knocking a few times before Dad answered it, a smile on his lips.

“Vic! Mel! Jake! Nick! And Joe, correct?” he greeted in a cheerful tone. What the hell’s gotten into him?

Ever since the summer began, he and Rose have gotten closer, which has really ticked me off. Dad was supposed to be my parent. I suppose it was sort of fair for them to have gotten closer since I wasn’t here all summer and they moved the house with Jake and the movers.

I entered the house for the first time, taking in the white walls, noticing a hallway mirror next to the wall opposite to the door as well as a coat hanger. Dad never cared about that type of stuff before especially since he let Mom fix the last house we were in.

We stood in the dining room for a minute, following Dad, realizing someone was missing.

“Where’s Rose, Dad?” I asked out of curiosity. She’d better not have been in my room.

“Oh, she’s outside on the shaded bench I made for her when we moved out here”, he answered nonchalantly.

“You guys should take your things upstairs, then come back so we can surprise Rose”, he said to me and everyone else in the room.

We nodded in agreement, then turned to head upstairs when Dad spoke again.

“Victoria, a word, please”, he said in a serious tone. I looked at Nick, nodding to him to head upstairs without me and he did so.

Dad waited until everyone was upstairs before he led us to the kitchen before he spoke again.

“So, why exactly did you stay in Texas with Nick for the summer, Victoria?” he asked in the same tone he used previously.

His hazel eyes bore into my own, but I rolled them after a moment.

“I can’t hang out with a friend, Dad?” I asked with an attitude, but he ignored it.

“A friend? Is that what you’re calling him? It’s obvious that the two of you are more than friends. Wasn’t he Rose’s boyfriend at one point or another?” he questioned.

I kept silent, not wanting to explain anything to him. He ignored my silence after a minute before he resumed his interrogation. I realized that he called Rose, well, Rose. When did this happen? I quickly recalled him calling her that earlier, but why did he start doing that?

“Look, I don’t want the two of you fighting over this guy. If you did something that made him break up with Rose, then that was horrible of you to do so. I could tell she was happy with him, more than she was with Brian, but look at what happened there, too. If you did do something, you ought to be ashamed to call yourself a Sanchez. Sanchez’ don’t wreck other people’s homes”, he said in a slightly cold tone.

I bit my lip hard before responding to him.

“What are you talking about, Dad?! I didn’t ruin their relationship! It was already ruined! If you don’t believe me, then ask Rose yourself! She’ll tell you-”, I began, but he cut across me.

“Are you kidding me, Vicky? You didn’t see how she was over the summer. She was heart-broken over Nick, but one day she just changed altogether and I know why she did. She did it to keep anyone else from getting close to her besides her friends. But she was hurting, Vic! She was hurting so much that I couldn’t understand how she could even get up every morning pretending that everything was OK. Whatever happened between she and Nick destroyed her and that is what you should think about”, he concluded, turning away from me deciding to get some things from the fridge.

I let his words sink in after a minute, feeling like everyone’s life mission was to make me feel bad for what I did. The guilt came back, but I ignored it, getting upset at him.

“But what about me, Daddy? Why can’t I be happy with Nick, too?” I asked him.

He stopped as he pulled out a tray of fruit salad in one hand while the other held a gallon of lemonade. He set both things on the counter before he spoke.

“Vic, have you thought that maybe Rosalina’s relationships don’t involve you?” he asked, staring at me with such intensity that I looked away from him.

“I-it’s not about her. I-I didn’t do anything wrong-”, I began, my voice quivering, but he cut across me again.

“Apparently you have if you’re crying. If you did something horrible, fix it”, he concluded, walking past me without so much of a backwards glance.

I shed a few tears feeling lonelier than any other time I felt in my life. How did he find out about the things I’d done? Technically, he didn’t say what I did, so, maybe he’s just making his own assumptions.

But how were they so accurate? That was one question I couldn’t find the answer to. I know Rose didn’t say anything if she just put up her walls again, so who told? My mind landed on Jake and it all fell into place.

Jake did this. Jake was the one who told Dad what happened or at least, part of it. That bastard!

I slammed my fist down on the counter, trying to formulate a plan of revenge. I had to get him back for blabbering his big mouth.

Dad and the others rushed downstairs, getting my attention. I noticed he wasn’t in his sour mood, but I realized he was only hiding it from the others. Rose definitely had some influence on him.

He shooed me away from the food, moving each of us into a specific position. For what reason, I don’t know.

“I’m going to call her in, OK? No one says anything”, he said in a slightly cheerful voice.

The others nodded in agreement while I folded my arms across my chest, but decided against it as I thought of Rose’s reaction to all of us being here. I smiled more to myself than anything as Dad called her into the house. She entered in her jean shorts, black sandals, and white blouse, not seeing us at first as she spoke.

“So, what did you need me to come in for, Dad-?” she began, but stopped when we all yelled “surprise!” scaring her.

Her face went blank at the sight of me and Nick, but she smiled and laughed at Mel and Joe whom greeted her as well as Jake.

I realized how long her hair grew. It was now to the middle of her back somehow. She got a compliment from Mel, but continued ignoring Nick and I until I decided to speak.

“Um, Rose, aren’t you forgetting a couple of people?” I asked with an attitude.

Silence fell over the room as the smiles were wiped off of everyone’s faces.

She gave me a cold look before responding just as coldly with a simple, “No” before leading the others to her room. I waited until they left before sighing loudly, even with my Dad standing there.

“How can she talk to me like that? I’m her sister, after all!” I exclaimed heatedly, beginning to pace the room.

Nick sighed, running a hand through his curls. My dad didn’t speak, but he, too left the room.

“She’s obviously still upset about everything that happened, Vicky”, Nick said soothingly, rubbing my back gently after he stopped my pacing.

“I am so sick of everyone saying that! It’s done, it’s over with, so why is it still on everyone’s minds?!” I exclaimed heatedly.

“Maybe because they are her friends. It’s only natural”, he answered as though it were obvious.

I rolled my eyes at him causing him to sigh in annoyance.

“What? It only makes sense”, he said blatantly.

“I know that, but I’m just tired of it, you know?” I asked. He nodded in return.

I sighed before grabbing his hand, deciding to get my mind off of everything.

“Come on. I see everyone is going to treat us like this, so, let’s just head to my room, then”, I said.

“Yeah”, was Nick’s response.

Was it bad that I was getting annoyed at him more than anyone else at the moment?

…

Eventually, I got bored in my room after I finished unpacking when Nick spoke suddenly.

“Hey, I’m going to the bathroom. I’ll be right back”, he said, pecking me quickly on the lips before he exited the room.

I shrugged at his behavior deciding to work on my hair for no reason at all. I quickly got bored with that, before leaving it the way it originally was, sighing deeply.

My door opened once more, indicating my boyfriend’s return.

He’d closed the door with a slight slam and I stared at him incredulously.

“What the hell’s wrong with you?” I asked, placing my hands on my hips.

“Rose and Jake almost kissed and I walked in on it”, he answered angrily.

Wait, angrily? Why was he angry about it? I smirked at first, but changed it to a sympathetic smile.

“Well, it was bound to happen eventually, Baby”, I said, patting him on the arm. I began to walk past him when he spoke again.

“But Jake of all people?! She knows he’s not good for her!” he exclaimed, catching me off guard.

“Why do you care? You’re with me, so that’s all that should matter”, I said with an attitude.

“I know that, but-I don’t want to talk about it”, he said conclusively.

“Maybe she’s doing this to get you jealous or to cause problems between the two of us”, I said, thinking out loud.

“No. Rose isn’t the one for revenge like that”, he said, laying back on my bed as he closed his eyes, thinking.

“The hell she isn’t! What about that song she wrote about you at the end of the school year? That was revenge!” I retorted.

He scoffed before a laugh escaped him, but it held no humor.

“To be honest, I deserved it then. I mean, it was only like, a week after we broke up, so I guess that’s understandable”, he said in a calm tone.

“Whatever. I’m going to apologize to her. Maybe that’s what she’s waiting on”, I said in an annoyed tone before standing, exiting my room without bothering to hear what he’d say in protest.