Chapter One: Henry

   

         

The city was a bustling mess as ran out of school that Friday with the rest of my classmates. The streets were littered with newspapers and wrappers from all sorts of junk food. Sunshine was glaring brightly through the tall New York skyscrapers, blinding me with every other few steps I took. I quickened my pace and shifted my backpack which was growing heavier by the minute. I had always rushed home as soon as school was over to help my mother with our small flower shop we lived above.

 

My mother was never a practical person; she preferred passion and emotion rather than the real world experience. Which was why she picked the most insensible business. In a way, I knew that the flower shop would always be a part of her and no matter what anyone tried to tell her she would always follow her heart.

"Mom! I'm home!" I shouted as I walked through the door of our apartment. I dropped my backpack onto a chair and shuffled loudly down the stairs to the flower shop, where my mom was bound to be. She was crouched over a pot of lavender when I got downstairs.

"Hi honey, how was school?" smiled Mom as she brushed her hair out of her face, leaving a streak of dirt on her cheek.

"Good, need some help down here?"

"No, not yet. You go on up and do some homework. I'll be out tonight and you'll need to close the shop." Mom set the pot of lavender on the floor, took a step back and looked towards the door.

I suspected she was waiting for someone. I nodded, gave her a peck on the cheek and headed towards the stairs. I heard the bell above the door ring when I was already at the top of the staircase. Heavy footsteps shuffled across the flower shop floor and barely audible whispers of a deep voice and my mother sneaked their way into my ears. Then the door slammed and everything grew quiet. The silence was almost deafening. What I suspected for months now was true. Mom had started dating.

I dismissed the thought; Mom would've told me by now if she was dating someone.Right?

I noisily clunked down the steps to the flower shop, not caring if the neighbors heard me. And knowing them, they were sure as anything listening through the walls. I grabbed the watering can off the floor and began the laborious chore of watering every single plant in the shop. And there were many. Enough to haunt me in my dreams.

 

I sulked, mindlessly humming a random tune that had snuck its way into my ears from school. I had never liked school much. I mean, I had B+ average, I didn’t cause trouble, and my classmates mostly left me alone. But every time I sat down at one of those crummy public school desks, I had immediately been filled with the overwhelming need to escape. Somewhere far away. Preferably to another time period. So while my extremely immature classmates went through their routine of yelling in my ears and throwing various objects across the room, I would sit at my desk and day dream of a place far away.

 

The startling noise of footsteps scared me out of my reverie. I set down the watering can and listened closely. I could hear muffled voices on the other side of the door. The voices obviously belonged to Mom and a man, maybe a customer.

"Maybe, if we get further into our relationship..." Mom started.

 

I gagged. Why didn't mom tell me?

"Maybe, we could take things further." Further? Did that mean...married?

"That would be nice," the guy answered.

 I held my breath when they didn’t say anything. Oh God! Were they making out?  I didn't want to hear this; I didn't want to hear this at all. I couldn't take it any longer.

"Mom!" I yelled, making my entrance. I ran outside the shop and finally saw the owner of the voice, the man my mom was dating. "Who's this?" I asked, with an attitude.

"Oh, Aria! This is..." Mom gave the boyfriend a look and he nodded. "Henry. He's my b-b-"

"Boyfriend?" I snapped. "Thanks for telling me!” I put my hands on my hips and tried to mock my mom’s voice “ Oh no, Aria wouldn't never want to know, she agrees with everything you say!" It definitely sounded better in my head, but I was too upset to care

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"Aria, please," Henry said. "Please calm down." He looked around the road, people were beginning to stare.
"I'm going upstairs," I grumbled as I turned back to the door. Suddenly I whirled around, "And who are you to tell me what to do?" I raised my eyebrows in what I thought was a pretty threatening look. It must have not looked threatening enough because I could see my mom biting her lips to keep from laughing.

"Do your homework!" her mom yelled. "And I don't want to see you with that attitude!

I just rolled my eyes and ambled through the door, making sure to slam it loudly behind me with a satisfying “WHAM”.

When I got to my room, I took my algebra book out and started copying word problems without even thinking. It was too hard to concentrate. Way too hard. There was a man in my living room! And I didn't even know him! But apparently Mom was dating him! Maybe, if Mom asked me about dating, I would like him more. I chewed on the end of my pencil. Or maybe not. Something was off about him, which made me get really uncomfortable. Too uncomfortable.

 

I started thinking about my dad. I had barely known him. Mom divorced him after he disappeared when I was just four years old. Mom had never even made the effort to find him, but she still kept some of his things in the attic. Was she hoping that eventually he would return? I snorted, remembering Henry. Not anymore she wasn’t.

 

I got up from my chair and walked towards the window. The street lights glared at the alley below and I could hear the sound of police sirens in the distance. I shut the window and pulled the shade down, but the chilly October air still seeped in through the cracks. I looked around my room thoughtfully. It was small, the size of a walk in closet. Maybe smaller. But, as Mom always reminded me, I was lucky to even have a room. My room had been painted green for my tenth birthday, and now, seven years later, the paint was peeling and faded. I traced my finger along the dented wall to one of the pictures of me and my best and only friend, Kaitlin. The picture was taken on my seventeenth birthday, two months ago, and Kaitlin had planned a small surprise party for me.

A soft knock filled the silence. I turned around just as Mom opened the door.

“Is that guy gone?” I asked coldly, looking at her with a sour expression.

“Yes, Henry left. No surprise there, after the warm welcome you gave him,” Mom walked over to my bed and sat down at the edge, absentmindedly smoothing the corner of my quilt.

I sat down next to her and whispered, “I’m sorry Mom, but you could’ve just told me you were dating.”

She turned to me and tucked a stray hair behind my ear. “Honey, I wasn’t sure how it was all going to play out.”

I nodded, thinking about Dad. As if reading my mind she whispered, “I didn’t want the same thing that happened with your father to happen again.” She sighed, twisting her hands in her lap.

I paused and decided to test her. “Mom, I was thinking, you know that stuff in the attic?”

“Your father’s things?” She looked at me, instantly alarmed.

“Yeah! I was just thinking, maybe we should go through it and throw it all out since you’re getting married and all.”

“No!” she exclaimed, standing up, then quickly, as if rethinking it she sat down and said in an even tone, “No, honey. Some of that may have some value. We should hold on to it.”

“Can I at least go look and see what’s there?” I ventured.

“Aria, look at me,” she grabbed my hand and pulled my chin so I would be forced to look at her. “I don’t want you going up into the attic. And don’t ever even think about looking through those things. Do I make myself clear?” She glared at me, her blue eyes turned icy.

“Crystal,” I whimpered as she stormed out of my room.