My Shadow

Chapter 4:

"I see. I'm sorry that happened hon," My aunt said.

An hour ago I knocked on her door. The cafe would be closed by then so I knew she was home. Now I was sitting with her on her couch drinking tea. I had just finished explaining to her what happened.

"So, is it okay if I stay here for now? I'm kinda scared to go back . . ." I mumbled that last part but she still heard.

She gave me a side hug and said, "Of course. You can stay as long as you want. It's been lonely here since Maya went off to college," she said.

My aunt is a widow. Her daughter, Maya, just started college last year. She visits of course, and helps out with the cafe as much as she can, but had a lot of assignments and lives at the dorms. She calls once a week to let her mother know she's safe, and so they can catch up.

"Has she called yet?" I asked.

"No. We're going to video call in half an hour. You'll say hello, won't you?" My aunt asked.

"She'll question why I'm here this late. Will she . . ."

"She supports it too. You have nothing to worry about. She doesn't even have your mother's number anyway. Only your father's. Maya will be happy to talk to you. She misses her favorite little cousin," My aunt smiled softly.

"I miss her too. I haven't seen her since she went to college. It's been too long," I said.

"You two were so close when you were little. I remember the time when she fought a boy in her class for saying mean stuff about you. He was jealous she spent more time with you then her friends," she said.

"I remember that. He was her friend I think. They didn't speak to each other after that anymore. I remember feeling so bad she had lost a friend. I'd love to say hi. I wonder if she'll even recognize me. I've changed a bit," I said.

"You're hair may have gotten darker, and you maybe taller, but she'll recognize you right away, I know it," she reassured me.

"Today is a Friday, so you have no school tomorrow. We can go shopping for clothes for you tomorrow. I'm not letting you go back there just to get yelled at. Also, I prefer your mother not to know that you're living with me. You can have the guest bedroom. We can decorate it tomorrow as well. How does that sound?" She asked me.

"It sounds great. Thanks so much Aunt Clare!" I said.

"No problem. I just need you to answer one more question if you don't mind," Aunt Clare asked.

"What is it?" I wondered.

"Why on Earth would your teachers give you and your friends homework for over the weekend?! It's the weekend for heaven's sake!" She said.

"We wonder that as well," I laughed, "Wait, my bus stop is really far away from here, and I usually walk to it! How am I going to get to school?!" I panicked slightly.

"I'll drive you. The cafe doesn't open until 8 anyway," she said.

"But, we'd have to leave at 6:45 in the morning. You don't usually get up that early," I said.

"It's only 20 minutes earlier than normal," she said, waving it off.

"That's when we leave. We'd have to get up at 6:20," I said.

"Oh, well I'll still make it work," she waved it off again.

I knew there was no point in arguing, so I let it go. I'd have to wake up 15 minutes earlier than I normally would, but I always wake up at that time anyway, so it's no big deal anyway. We finished our tea and cleaned the cups. We then sat back on the couch with her powered on laptop. It was time to talk to Maya.

"Mom! How are you?" We heard Maya's voice from the laptop.

"I'm good Maya. Guess who's joining our calls now?" Aunt Clare pointed the camera towards me.

"Oh my god. Is that Alanah? I haven't seen you in so long!" Maya squealed.

"Hi Maya!" I said.

"So what did my mom mean by you joining our calls? Did something happen with Aunt Liz and Uncle Leo?" She asked.

I nodded, suddenly quiet.

"My mom, she um . . . she found out I was bisexual," I said.

"Oh . . . I'm so sorry cuz. That must have been horrible. Did Uncle Leo take it well? You only mentioned your mom," she said.

"Yeah. He didn't seem bothered by it. It all happened so fast, I think he was still in shock when my mom disowned me," I said.

"Disowned? She really did that? I didn't think she would take it like that," Maya said.

"Neither did I. I knew she didn't like LGBTQ people, but I didn't think she'd disown me. I hate her now. Is that bad?" I asked.

"You have every right to hate her. She yelled at and disowned you for something you have absolutely no control over. It's basically the same thing as yelling at a person for being handicapped," Maya said.

"Thanks, that makes me feel a bit better. At least my dad still supports me. That's better than nothing. He didn't disown me either. In fact I should probably call him tomorrow to tell him I'm safe," I said.

"Yeah you should. I'm glad you're staying at our house though. I know Mom will take great care of you while you're there. Stay as long as you want. Are you in my room or the guest?" Maya asked.

"The guest. I didn't want to take over you're room. It's still yours after all," I said.

"Nah it's fine. I was gonna make it a surprise, but I'm coming home tomorrow for the weekend. We just finished up second marking period testing, so we didn't have any classes or assignments this week. I'll help you decorate!" Maya said.

"Really? That's great! We can see each other in person again!" I said.

"We look forward to greeting you. What time are you planning on coming?" Aunt Clare asked.

"I'm arriving at 10:00 AM. That way we can eat breakfast together and then shop for Alanah's things! And some quality bonding time as well!" Maya cheered.

"Looking forward to it. Have a good night, and be safe on your way tomorrow, alright?" Aunt Clare said.

"Always, Mom. See you two tomorrow!"

We logged out and got ready for bed. Unlike my family, Aunt Clare was a night owl. She stayed up until 11:00 at night, but can get up quite early in the morning, so it doesn't bother her much. I hugged her one last time before going upstairs.

"If you have trouble sleeping, we can always binge a movie marathon until we fall asleep," She laughed.

I smiled and went upstairs to my new room. I might take her up on that offer, considering I don't expect to get much sleep tonight.