Ginny and Georgia: The Younger Shadow

Chapter 18- Georgia Miller
"Hey, mom" Georgia looked up and gave a friendly smile.
"Hi, Peach. You have school in 20 minutes, but come talk to me." She pulled up one of the wooden chairs, and I sat down, squirming uncomfortably. I didn't dare look her in the eye. I think my mom sensed something was wrong.
"Peach, are you ok? What's on your mind?" She shoved the mountains of paperwork to the other side of the table and put my hands into hers. Then she rubbed it softly. When I was younger it always got me to relax. "Mom, I need to tell you something. I don't know if it's important, but-"
"Oh my God. Have you already had sex? I won't allow that!"
"What?" I could feel my cheeks heating up, even though I wasn't guilt of anything.
"No, mom! It's just when I was at the park yesterday with my friends-"
"The younger 'Mang'" She raised her eyebrow and took a sip of her glass of water. The ice cubes clinking inside it aggravated me and brought on a whole wave of nervousness. Why was it when you wanted to keep something to yourself, it went tumbling out of you quicker than the Niagara Falls, and when I just so desperately needed to tell my mom something, my mouth was clamped shut like a Pearl?
"Well, there was some man watching me behind a tree. I don't know how long for, but when he noticed that I saw him, he just walked away. Just like that. I'd never seen him before. And he didn't look at the other girls. Just me." I hurriedly spluttered out the jumble of words. My moms face changed in a matter of seconds. She looked haunted, almost mental- the way her velvety eyes magnified. This wasn't Georgia Miller in front of me, right?
"M-mom?" I tentatively asked. For a moment, there came no response.
"Thank you for telling me, Char. If anyone ever makes you feel uncomfortable, you come straight to me, yes? We don't know who this is, but it could be some sick pedophile. Just stay safe. This world is unforgiving and cruel. I love you, Charlie. Get to school, love. Walk with Austin today."
"Ok, Mom. I love you too." Just as I walked to the door to grab the set of spare keys off the Crystal clean counter, curiosity got the better of me.
"Mom? Will you tell me more about my dad? I've just been wondering lately..."
Her head snapped up, and this time her gaze was a lot more attentive.
"We'll talk about that later, Peach. Now go and get an education! Not like your mom. You know I don't want you and your siblings to have the disastrous education I did."
"Bye, mom"
"Bye, Peach."
Austin and I sauntered out the front door. In the kitchen, the tension could've been cut with a knife, and I was almost thankful for the wind slapping my face with fresh air. Madi was waiting for me at the end of the street, and we all walked to school.
None of my friends would stop talking about Brodie's Party over the next few days. But I couldn't help feeling perturbed. Mom was giving me more and more unexplainable looks. The atmosphere in the Miller house was no longer bright: no, it was a raging stillness of unease and uncertainty. My mom had never, once in her life, let herself succumb to relying on men. She just wanted to stop feeling empty and fill a void that I was sure was always for Zion. She was like an ice queen, with a heart of stone. But if you bothered to look inside, you would see how brilliantly talented and amazing she is. And that was why it was so strange seeing her with a glass of wine propped into her hand, with tears streaming down her face, howling in despair. She thought none of us were home. And to see her fall so deep in a hole she had carved unsettle me. It terrified me. What was she so upset about? And I vowed to myself to find out those secrets. I owed it to myself.
But first I had to get through Brodie's Halloween Party.