Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen
The ride to University was quite daunting to start with. Dad barely spoke to me for the first 15 minutes of the journey. He seemed to busy humming to the music playing from the car radio. I started thinking about everything Mum had told me. She said Dad was in on this terrible secret as well and for a moment I think about bringing it up with him. Although, I'm not sure if it will cause a rift between him and Mum. I wouldn't want to cause an argument for my beloved parents.

All the same, not confronting dad about it seemed like a weird feeling. I felt slightly annoyed with him for not ever telling me. They've both kept a terrible secret from Mason and I. Thinking about it, I'm not the one who should be annoyed, it's Mason. It's his life and he deserves to know.
"Dad...?" I say as softly as I can.

He stops humming and glances over at me. "Yes, love?"

"Um," I begin. I know I am going to regret this conversation later. "Mum told me something last week. About Mason."
With that, my Father's expression drops and I can see the worry in his eyes as he fixes his gaze on the road.
"What about Mason?" He asks, but him and I both know what I am talking about. I can see the slight gaze of fury, glistening through his eyes.

"She told me he isn't my brother by blood. You took him in... he was never your child."

My Dad's hands slowly clench around the steering wheel as he continues to drive and I can feel the anger boiling inside of him. He's angry, rightfully so. My Mum must have sworn she'd never say anything. But she has...
"I see your Mother has been telling some home truths...huh." He says, refusing to make eye contact with me.

I sigh and sit up a little in my seat. "Don't be angry with Mum. It's a big secret to keep... you can't blame her for letting it out after so many years. Must have been so hard for you both." I say, trying to make him believe that this is quite acceptable and sympathetic.

"She still shouldn't have told you like that. You're suppose to be making a fresh start with university and now you've found out this." He says, clenching his teeth and I feel the speed of the car accelerate a little.
"Dad honestly, it's ok. I understand. Please don't be angry with her, ok?"

"Why have you told me?" He asks, his voice a little hoarse.
I blink. "What?"

"Why are you telling me that you know?" He repeats, glancing over at me for a brief second.
I shrug, "I guess I wanted to know your side of it and...just to let you know I guess. I don't want you and Mum to have secrets between each other."

His eyes seem to soften and let's put a breath. "It was your Mum's idea to take Mason in. We couldn't have children at that time. That's why she wanted to keep him. I wasn't exactly supportive at the idea because I felt it was best to put him into care."

I gasp slightly at this and he notices my shock. His eyes grow wide and he glances back over at me, quickly taking his attention from the road. "Oh Alana, I didn't mean it like that. You have to understand...Mason was just a baby then and he wasn't ours. I wanted to make sure the baby landed in safe hands. I wanted the best for him."

"What, by putting him into care!?" I challenge.

"No. I just didn't think us taking him in straight away was the best decision. Whoever left him there was likely to come back. We just didn't know..." He explains and I nod, exhaling. I suppose Dad can be sensible when he wants to be. By the sounds of it, my Mother was the one who wanted to keep him without a second thought, whilst Dad wanted to think with an open mind. The whole situation just saddens me and I silently beg that they will tell Mason one day. I wonder how he would react.

"Will you ever tell him?" I ask.

"No.." My Dad shakes his head. I'm shocked.

"W-why!? He deserves to know!?" I exclaim, shifting in my seat. "You have no right to keep his true life hidden from him!"

"Why do suddenly care so much? It's not YOUR life is it?" He shoots.

"It's not yours either!" I fire back, anger spiralling inside of me. My Dad has never spoke to me so ignorantly before. I begin to wonder if he is taking his annoyance with Mum out on me.

"I will be discussing this with your Mother when I return home..." He says in a low voice and I keep my eyes fixed on him. "Why? Are you going to argue with her. Please don't."

He shakes his head and sighs. "We will discuss what we do. Because I have a feeling you won't be able to keep this to yourself."

I glare at him now. "Well, why should I...he's my brother-"

"Not by blood..." He cuts me off. "You are not biological siblings. That's why you need to keep your nose out for now. This is up to your Mother and I. It's no concern of yours."

"What about our camping trip in the summer...?"

"I'm sure you can manage that without ruining Mason's time away..."

I open my mouth to respond but something stops me. What is the point in arguing about this. My Dad has a point but still...I feel strongly for Mason and I know how he would feel if I didn't act on this. We may not be biologically connected but...I still care about him and we have grown up together. I don't remember one day where Mason wasn't apart of my life.



As we drive the rest of the journey in silence, I think about how Mason is. Is he still crying? Is he talking with Mum? What if Mum has told him yet? Part of me desperately wants to know but the other half dreads finding out in case Mason freaks out and does something incredibly stupid.



When we finally arrive in London, I see how lovely the neighbourhood is surrounding the local hughstreet that we drive through. My Dad hasn't breathed a word since back on the motorway when we were debating about Mason and Mother.

My Dad indicates into the parking lot of the University and my heart leaps as I see the student accommodation opposite. Dad had paid out a big loan for me to be able to have my own student accommodation which costed a little extra than a standard room, because I was adamant that I wanted my own bathroom within my room. My Mother had agreed to this because she didn't want me colliding with any 'strange males' in the student corridor which humoured me a little. I doubt perverts study at a university. Boys are a lot smarter than that these days. Or at least...Mason is. Shit...stop thinking about Mason. It's not long before I realise that I am letting the thought of him assault my brain cells a little too much.

"Right. Here we are!" My Dad announces and reaches out, rubbing my shoulder. "Go get them, my girl." He smiles. I nod and climb out.

"Oh, Alana?" He calls back after me and I turn around, tilting my head.

"Yes, Dad?"

"I'm very proud of you." He smiles softly, his eyes full of what looks like admiration. I return the expression and shut the car door, walking round to the back boot and grabbing my suitcase.

I wave my Dad goodbye as he pulls away. I'm a little happy that he didn't sit around crying over my shoulder like Mum had but then again, I'm a little upset that he didn't Dad has never been much of an emotional person and sometimes I crave to see him shed some. Maybe that would prove to me that he truly cares about us at all.

With a sigh, I pull at my suitcase and start heading towards the student accommodation building, glancing now and then at the University building as I walk. When I reach the entrance of the flats, I swipe an ID pass over the detector. With a green light, the main door clicks open and in I go. The communal corridors of the block looked acceptably modern. The floors were a thin lime green carpet and the walls were a a very light grey which depressed me a little. I hated the colour grey, it always reminded me of the horrid wedding dress my Mum wore when she married Dad.

A cute floor standing plant stands in the corner of the entrance and I flick at it, wondering if it's real or fake. To my correction of thought, it is most definitely fake. After all, why would it be real unless they trusted us students to water it. This thought makes me smirk to myself and I head up to the stairs to door Number 6. My student room.