Chapter 3

The time had come. My mom was walking up the drive to knock on the door. Dad looked at me, his face etched with concern. I could see the unspoken question in his eyes- did I want to do this? But I knew I needed to, despite my feelings of anxiety. Though I knew nothing about her, I needed to tell my mother that I wanted nothing to do with her. It had only been dad and I for years; that's how I wanted it to stay. 

The knock seemed to reverberate through the house many times. Footsteps drew nearer to the living room where I was standing, and then she was there. The brown-haired, hazel-eyed woman who had left my father three years after I was born. She wore a too-bright smile as she clasped her hands together. As I gazed back at her, I examined her features. Flawless skin, perfect cheekbones, and full lips.

"Oh, Crystal, you've grown up! It's a shame I wasn't here to see it." My mother reached her hands out, expecting me to take them as she stepped closer to me.

In response, I backed away. I didn't know this woman. She may be my mother, but she would never earn the title of 'mom'. Her face fell when I didn't take her hands. My expression remained blank; I was careful not to show my emotions.

Dad cut in then, clearing his throat. "Crystal, why don't you head upstairs for a bit? I know you have some homework you need to do."

I was never more grateful for my father than I was in that moment. We both knew I had no homework to do; he was giving me an excuse to escape the uncomfortable situation I was in. Without a second look towards the woman before me, I disappeared into my room.

"I get the feeling she doesn't want to know me."

My father responded to her comment with a hint of annoyance. "Can you blame her? She grew up not knowing who you were. Crystal has every right to not want to know you."

Her voice was full of emotion when she spoke next. "Johnathan, I want to know her. I want to know what she enjoys, who her friends are. Crystal needs to know me, too."

"Well, that's not your decision to make."

I shut the door after that, not wanting to hear anymore. Crawling back into bed, I pulled the sheets over my head and turned on my phone. There weren't any games I currently wanted to play, so I turned it off and grabbed a book from my shelf. 

Dad entered my room when I was halfway through chapter three. He sat on the edge of my bed and waited for me to lift the sheets off my face. "Hey, kiddo. Are you okay?"

I took a deep breath. Besides the exhaustion from everything that had happened today, I felt okay. "Yeah. I'm tired, though. I'm gonna go to sleep again."

Dad kissed my forehead before leaving the room. I could hear him standing outside the door, waiting. He was half expecting me to begin crying again. But to his relief, those tears would never come. I wasn't going to cry over someone I never knew. 

"Everyone's talking about you," Jake whispered to me before class the next morning.

It was after his statement that I felt the twenty-six pairs of eyes on me. My cheeks flamed with embarrassment as I averted my gaze to my hands. "Why? I'm nothing special."

Jake frowned at my comment, but didn't say anything about it. "They're saying you freaked out and had to go home."

It was the truth and I wouldn't deny it. I shrugged in response, not wanting to talk about it. What happened to me was none of their business. They could think what they want; I wasn't going to say anything about yesterday to anyone.

When I didn't comment further, Jake leaned in closer. "Crystal, you can tell me anything. We don't have to talk about it, but at least tell me you're okay."

"I'm fine," That was all the answer from me he would get. Though I knew he wanted to help, he wouldn't understand. No one would. I doubted very few people here knew what it was like to grow up without a mother. 

For the rest of the day, I kept to myself. My mind kept replaying yesterday's events over again, to the point where I wished there was a way to switch it all off. Or, at the very least, get rid of memories. Jake hovered during lunch. I knew he was only worried, so I didn't comment on his annoying behavior. As much as I would have loved to tell him to go away, I kept my mouth shut. 

I was more than relieved to arrive home from school and relax with my father. He had made chocolate chip cookies for after dinner, which lightened my mood. After placing the dishes into the dishwasher, we both moved to the couch to watch horror movies. At around ten-thirty that night, I was in bed and ready to sleep.

I worried a bit about how tomorrow would go, but figured it was best not to stress about it. Jake had made me promise that I would be better tomorrow. Though after the evening I had with my father, I knew it wouldn't be a hard promise to keep.

Reviews

[Vertigo Cat1111]

HAHA, I’M BACK AND HERE TO BOTHER YOU AGAIN (:< I just really love your writing style and descriptions of emotions. Crystals relationship with everyone is so well-written too. She even didn’t wanna care what other people thought about her anxiety! Let’s start a cheerleading squad for her... lol

[Rose]

YESSS I AGREE!! You put it perfectly!

[Vertigo Cat1111]

Ha, thank you! I'm glad there's someone else here that enjoys this story as much as I do.