Disclaimer: In first chapter.

Chapter 9

Josh was walking out of the kitchen with a bowl of ice cream when his parents and Sarah came barging through the front door, and neither of them looked very happy at the moment. He watched as Sarah tried to make a break for the stairs, but his mother was to fast as she caught her by the arm.

"Let go of me!" Sarah spat out.

"We're not done talking yet," replied Miss Parker with as much as calm as she possibly could. She lightly tugged on the girl's arm to move with her, but Sarah ripped it out of her grasp, almost falling as she did so.

"Why can't you just leave me alone, and butt out of my life? I can take care of myself. I don't need mommy holding my hand wherever I go," yelled Sarah.

"Don't talk to your mother like that. We didn't raise you to be disrespectful," scolded Jarod. "What in the world were you thinking dating a guy like that? You're way too young for him."

Sarah leaned against the banister, crossing her arms in front of her defensively as she looked at her two parents with seething eyes. "Brad is only three years older than me. What's the big deal if I date him? He told me he loves me."

Jarod shook his head from side to side as Miss Parker scoffed at her. "Sarah, you're sixteen years old, what do you know about love?" Miss Parker took a step closer to her. "Guys like him have only one thing on their mind. Believe me, I know. We're just looking out for you. We don't want to see you get hurt."

Sarah turned her face away from her mother's caring eyes as she felt unshed tears burning behind them. With a hesitant hand, Miss Parker reached out, pushing a few strands of hair out of Sarah's face. Cupping her daughter's cheeks she said gently, "We both love you very much. We only want what's best for you. Unfortunately, Brad is not it. I just wish you could see that."

Miss Parker knew she made a mistake when she mentioned Brad's name, but she couldn't stop the words from coming out of her mouth. She tried to say something else, but Sarah cut her off. "I'm so sick and tired of people telling me how to try and live my life," she hissed out. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go and try to salvage things with Brad. Hopefully, he won't be mad at me for your guy's actions tonight." She turned on her heels and was about to run up the stairs when Jarod grabbed her hand forcing her to stop.

"Oh no, you're not getting out of this that easy," commented Jarod.

"But…"

"No buts. You wanted to be treated like an adult, so this is what adults do. They sit down and talk things through instead of running away." Jarod waited for her to move, but she stood firmly in place. "Sarah, I'll give you to the count of three before I pick you up and carry you over to the couch." Still, no movement. "Fine have it your way. 1…2…"

Letting out an exasperated sigh, Sarah threw her hands up in defeat. "Fine. Let's just get this over with because I have an actual life to get to." Dropping her arms, she walked past Jarod and purposefully bumped into Miss Parker, before settling on the couch. With a flippant tone she said, "Well, are you coming or what? It's getting late and I still need my beauty sleep."

Taking off her coat, Miss Parker sat on one of the chairs by the fireplace. Taking off his coat; Jarod looked at Josh. "You might want to sit down too."

With a mouthful of ice cream in his mouth, Josh mumbled out. "What?"

"You heard me, now sit."

Josh gave him an incredulous look. "Are you kidding? I'm not the one who's in trouble here."

"Maybe so, but you knew about this and didn't say anything to either of us," he answered back, while waving his hand back and forth between him and Miss Parker.

"Fine," grumbled Josh. Setting the bowl on the table, he walked over to the couch and sat down beside his sister.

Letting his gaze fall on Josh, Jarod asked, "So tell me, how long have you known about Brad?"

Josh put his face in his hands, letting out a frustrated sigh. "I can't believe I'm being dragged into this," he muttered to himself. Bringing his eyes up from his hands, Josh looked over at Jarod. "Fine, if you must know, I've known for about a month." Jarod was about to say something when Josh put his hand. "Wait, I'm not finished. When I did find out, Sarah promised me that she would tell you guys about him." Glancing over at Sarah he bit out sarcastically. "However, dear old sis didn't keep her promise, did she?"

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Whatever Josh."

"I don't care what she told you. You still should've said something," commented Jarod, as he sat down on the coffee table.

Josh leaned forward, giving his father a gaping look. "You're unbelievable. She's the one who gets her hand caught in the cookie jar, and I'm the one getting blamed for it." He stood up, pointing at Sarah. "Dad, why don't you open your eyes and see the real culprit here. I gave her the benefit of the doubt. I thought she would follow through on her words. Clearly I made an error in judgment, but I shouldn't be blamed for this," Josh stated.

"We're not blaming you, Josh," chimed in Miss Parker. "We're just trying to get to the bottom of this." A few seconds passed before Josh gave his mother a slight nod, and slowly sank back down into the couch. Turning her attention to Sarah, she said, "As for Brad, you won't be seeing him again."

"What?" cried out Sarah.

"You heard your mother," replied Jarod, as he got up from the coffee table and stood beside Miss Parker, with his hands resting on his hips. "If I see you with Brad anywhere, he'll regret the day he ever walked into your life."

Sarah bolted up, clenching her fists at her sides. "Oh, so I see how it is, tag teaming against me, huh? Let me guess, this was all mom's idea, wasn't it? God Dad, how could you let her manipulate you like that?"

With anger burning in her eyes, Miss Parker shot up and stood toe to toe with Sarah, who was a few inches shorter than she was. "Listen here little girl and listen good. I'm tired of you talking down to us. You're acting like a spoiled little brat. There's a whole other world out there just waiting to take advantage of stupid, naïve girls like you, unfortunately, I think you've already found it with Brad."

Miss Parker regretted the words instantly as she saw the hurt flicker across the young girl's face. A tear was already making its way down Sarah's cheek as she spoke up again, trying to sound confident as before. "I can see why Dad left you. You make everyone's life miserable. That's probably why Grandma killed herself…"

"Sarah, stop it!" Josh lashed out.

Sarah looked over at Josh. "Stop what? Hey, sometimes the truth hurts." Letting her gaze fall back on Miss Parker she continued, "Grandma probably killed herself because of you. Can't you see what you're doing to this family? You're killing us. You're love is like a disease that's slowly destroying us. The only person being selfish here is you." She stopped and looked at her mother. Obviously she hit a nerve as a stray tear fell down her mother's cheek. Smiling inwardly she continued, "Maybe it's best if you left instead of Dad. We'll probably be more happier without you."

Miss Parker felt like she was punched in the face as she listened to words fall out of her daughter's mouth. She was stunned by the viciousness of them. Trying to keep her cool, she walked over to the door. "Jarod, you handle this. I'm done with her." She was about to open it when Jarod laid his hand on the door, keeping it shut.

"Parker, she…she didn't mean what she said. She's just angry right now, and unfortunately you're becoming the punching bag for that anger."

Miss Parker's head shot up, glaring at Jarod. "No Jarod, she did mean it." She glanced over at Sarah, who quickly looked away from her. "I just need some time to cool off."

"But…"

Miss Parker shook her head. "Jarod, she needs you, not me. We're just never going to see eye to eye." Taking his hand, she slid it off the door and went outside.

Josh walked up to his Dad. "You…you can't let Mom leave. Aren't you going to go after her?"

Jarod gave his son a lost look as he ran his hand through his hair. He felt like he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Rubbing the back of his neck he said, "Your mother wants be by herself right now. Give her some time, she'll be back soon."

Josh looked from his father back to his sister, who was now sitting on the couch with her face in her hands. Feeling his anger burning within him he stalked across the room, yanking Sarah up by the arm. "What the hell is the matter with you? Why can't you keep your mouth shut? Why do you insist on hurting Mom the way you do?" he shouted at her.

"Josh, you…you're hurting my arm," she whimpered out. "Let go of me!"

Seconds later, Josh could feel his body moving backwards as his father grabbed him roughly by the shirt, slamming him against the wall. "Don't EVER do that to your sister again, got it?"

Josh looked over at Sarah, who had a frightened look on her face as she rubbed her arm. Looking back at his father he whispered out, "I…I'm sorry." Feeling guilty, he hung his head low as Jarod loosened his grip on his shirt. "I…I need to go." Slipping out of Jarod's grasp, he grabbed his letterman jacket and went outside, looking for his mother.

XXXXXX

To Be Continued…