Citrus [completed]

Chapter 31

"Vanessa Colby," I audibly heard yelled from the phone making me wince, "I sent you there so you could get an education."

It was one of the first times I could hear the shrill voice of Vanessa's mother. Vanessa stood at the oven, holding the phone to her ear with her shoulder. Blair, Eden, and I were huddled in her apartment to have a game night.

This being interrupted when Vanessa's phone rang. She had been in the middle of opening a bottle of wine, so she didn't think to check the phone ID.

I looked over towards Leo and he had a similar wince on his face. I noticed that he rarely got calls from their mother, which meant that she had a weird obsession with having a hand in everything Vanessa does.

"No mom, you sent me here to protect the family reputation." Vanessa deadpans on the phone. She huffs as she drags the phone away from her ear again. I can vaguely hear her mother yelling.

Vanessa's face is clearly annoyed at it all. She throws down the bottling opener she was holding as she turns to glare out of the window. I can see from her twitching eyebrow that she's close to exploding.

"Because the perfect daughter can't be caught kissing another debutant in the backroom of the gala."

I blink at the admission and feel Blair and Eden look at each other. That was a hell of a reason to be sent to Iverson and I can only imagine how much money it took to allow a transfer to Iverson.

It's quiet after that and Vanessa listens to whatever her mother has to say. I watch as Vanessa suddenly goes from annoyed to full on pissed. Her eyes become fire and she sits up straight. I'm surprised when she lets her mom have it.

"Mom, I didn't promise anything. This is who I am. Going to schools or camps won't fix this. I am gay. If you can't accept this at least have the decency to say it to my face." She spits into the phone. She glares down at her ankles, as if they've offended her.

It was suddenly silent. As she listens again. She rolls her eyes once before going back to glaring at her ankles. Leo looks slightly worried but more annoyed at the phone call that's happening.

"Fine, I'll see you during winter break then." She grunts before ending the call and throwing her phone onto the counter, where she proceeded to glare at it.

"Are you going for your entire winter break?" I ask her. We had originally made plans to do a gift exchange a week before Christmas. If she was in Georgia, it would pull a hakt to our plans.

That and it would be the first time that I would be away from Vanessa since I had met her. Sure, we hadn't been together everyday but we had never been more than a walk away from each other.

Vanessa nods, miserably. I bite my lip as I step up to the side of her, also disappointed about the turn of events.

"That's too bad Nessa. But it won't change our plans," I brightly share even though I don't feel it, "We can still watch movies and I'll mail your presents to your home,"

I go to lend a hand on Vanessa's shoulder, offering her comfort when she springs up.

Her hair bounces around her as she turns calculating eyes towards me. I can't help the small sound of shock that leaves me as she grasps my arms and bounces once.

"You can come with me," Vanessa says suddenly and she bolts up excitedly. Leo looks at her from where he is lounging and stops strumming his guitar.

"Me and Leo can show you around." Vanessa gestures towards Leo. He suddenly perks up and nods a few times. His eyes slide to Eden's and they see to share a conversation with just their eyes.