Feelings

9: Surprises

"Here?" This is the last place I expected us to go.

Wren scoffs. "Yeah. Don't worry, we'll just hang out in my room."

Her room? I thought we weren't that close. Close enough that we're going to each other's bedrooms. She picks up her skateboard and I follow, chaining my bike to a stop sign nearby. Wren unhooks a key from her belt and unlocks the door.

A nervous feeling crawls over my stomach. "Wren, are you sure?"

"Totally." She steps in. "My mom isn't home yet so she can't freak out about you coming over." Wren enters the house. A few seconds later she shouts out, "Mom?!" My heart skips a beat. "Jae," she says hurriedly, "wait under the window I climbed out of."

I dash out of sight and I can hear right before the door closes, "Who's that boy?"

My heart's pounding now. Did Wren's mom see my face? I hope she didn't. The window Wren talked about is low so I can sit underneath the sill, but I want to look inside.

Inside is the total opposite of what I expected. It's insanely pastel. The walls are sky blue and the floor is yellow-ish. There's a pink and white bed with a closet and some trophies on a shelf. Must be the boxing ones Wren talked about yesterday. How is this Wren's room? I was expecting dark colours, not these kiddish colours. But if this is how she likes her room, I have absolutely no problem with that.

"You always think you can sort it out, but you just make things worse!" shouts what is probably Wren's voice. The bedroom door bursts open and I lower myself so only my eyes peek out. She storms in followed by her mom. Wren's mom has the same freckles but more red hair than Wren has. "What do you want from me?" Their voices are a bit muffled.

"You need to follow the rules." The mom's voice is lower than I thought, but it's muffled.

"Screw those rules! They're fucking ridiculous!"

Wren's mom raises her hand and slaps Wren across the face. Wren's head jerks right as she takes the impact. I gasp from the other side of the window. The mom says something before storming out.

"I hate you! I wish you died instead of Dad!" screams Wren. She collapses onto the bed and throws an arm over her eyes. Her body starts shuddering. Wren's crying. It feels so horrible seeing her cry. All that pain and anger that used to be hidden from everyone, all spilling out now. She keeps crying for a few minutes then looks my way. I instantly duck under the sill again. The window slides open and she leans on the sill, two bumps that are probably her elbows poking out. She sniffles and speaks quietly, "Jae. I-I-I-I know-w-w you're t-there."

I pop out from my hiding spot, right in front of her. "Shit! You couldn't have made it less scary?" Wren's eyes start to well up at the end, reminding me that she's still vulnerable, something unlike normal Wren.

"Ok ok ok," I step back. "I'm sorry."

Wren sniffles again and wipes her eyes, resting her head on her arms, crossed on the sill. "Sorry you had to see that. You shouldn't have seen any of that."

Even with a tear-stained face and messy, frizzy hair, she still looks pretty to me. "It wasn't pretty," I admit. "Your mom hits you?"

"Yeah. No big deal. I don't even feel it anymo..." Her sentence breaks off and she buries her face in her crossed arms.

"Hey, hey," I put my hand on Wren's shoulder and gently rub it. "You don't need to hide your crying from me. I've already seen your room. What else could surprise me?"

Wren's laugh is muffled and she lifts her head. The stains from her tears are still visible when she smiles. "Oh Jae, you're so sweet." She reaches out to take my shoulder, pulls me in, and plants her lips on my cheek just for a second before pulling away.