Our Mental Love

Chapter 3

I smell bacon. Lots of bacon. I sit up but something cushiony indents. I look around my body. My bed. I yawn and stretch my arms out.

The door creaks open slowly. My aunt's head pokes in.

"Wakey wakey." She opens my curtains. The sun shines thickly through.

I cover my eyes with my hands and rub them. My aunt grabs my blanket off. The cold instantly hits my body.

"Get up Darren,"she says annoyed. I groan and willingly sit up. My aunt leaves the room. I run my hands through my hair. I stand up and see my reflection in the window. My face looks weird and my quiff is messy. I play with my hair.

"Darren,"my aunt calls. I groan again. I walk to the kitchen and she smiles. "I know you like eggs." She places a plate of scrambled eggs on the table.

I sit down and grab a fork. I start to eat the eggs and they are absolutely delicious. I stuff them down my mouth. Finally. Something delicious for a change. I continue to eat and she places a cup of orange juice on the table. I chug down the juice quickly.

"Don't eat too fast,"my aunt says. She carefully places bacon on a large plate. She walks over to me and places it next to my plate. "I also heard you like bacon."

I nod my head. I was going to grab a piece of bacon but I heard the sound of a doorbell. My fork lingers over the plate of bacon. My aunt swiftly approaches the door. She unlocks it and opens it gently.

A man stands on the opposite side. My aunt moves to the right a little and blocks my view. "Hello,"a deep voice says. "Hello,"says my aunt's melodic voice. The deep voice speaks again. "You must be Darren Lee's aunt if I'm correct."

My aunt speaks again. "Yes I am." the man whispers something to her. It takes a while before she closes the door and approaches me. My fork still lingers over the bacon. She smiles but it's forced. She has the same smile as my dad's. I just realized. Their smiles are warm with full truth. But this smile was sad and cold.

She walks over to the stove. I look at her worriedly. Her body looks weak. She slouches on the stove. I feel to let her have time alone. "Aunty?" She does a hmm. "Can I go outside for a while?"

She nods and I run to the front door. I slip on my sneakers and open the door. I quickly run down the stairs. I run down the driveway. I look at my blurry feet running faster and faster.

My breaths are deep. I pant but I urge my body to continue. My body slams into something both hard and soft. I hear a light grunt.

I rub my eyes and see a girl fixing her sweater. "I'm sorry,"I say. The girl looks at me and then I realize. That's the same girl that ran down the street panting heavily. She looks at me in the eye and smiles. Her smile is warm. "No it's alright." Her voice is light and sweet.

I look at her and she smiles wider. She walks around me and runs down the street. I look after her. I run back to my aunt's house. I didn't realize how far I ran.

I walk back to there slowly. My legs start to hurt. But soon enough I see my aunt's familiar porch. I run up to the stairs and almost slip on something. The daily news was freshly printed on the stairs. I pick it up and on the front is a picture of a girl.

I look at the girl again and see it's the same girl I bumped into. I drop it and stare at the door not moving at all. Not only was her picture there but so was mine. My hands start to become clammy. I pick it back up, my hands shaking. I take a large gulp. I read the headline. "MENTAL PARENTS' KIDS NOW LEFT BEHIND".

I stare at the title. It's a stupid title. I look back at the pictures. So that means the girl I met has psychotic parents. I throw it in the trash bin. The page turns slightly. I see a picture of my mom and another woman. I breath in deeply. My aunt would not like it. I inhale and open the door.

My aunt smiles at me. "Darren you can go out longer if you would like?" My aunt looks upset. I smile warmly and leave the house slowly. I feel she needs it.

I walk down the stairs again. I walk down the street slowly. Soon a park appears close by. I look at my house. I sigh and walk to the park. Young children run around laughing. I sit on a park bench and look at the sky. It's tipped with orange and bright red.

I smile at myself for a while. "It's beautiful isn't it?" I turn my head and see the same girl I bumped into looking at the sky. She was sitting right next to me. She smiles at me. I never realized how gorgeous she was. I smile at her warmly. She smiles and dimples form. "It's so beautiful," I say.

She quickly flicks her eyes to her wrist. "Sorry for the short conversation," she smiles at me sadly. "I have to go to...um...well...you know...home." She stutters the words out. I smile at her and she runs away, not once looking back. I stare at her for a while. She's so beautiful.