Trustworthy

..

Outside in the heat, Mom slowed down her pace a little bit and I attempted to catch up, but soon became distracted when I noticed Sara with her friends – who were still at the same spot. Automatically, my ears tuned in as I was about to pass them and I slowed my frantic pace, hoping to mask that something was wrong. "I can't believe his wife brought the cops here." My ears perked up. Cops? I watched them from the corner of my eyes, seeing that their attention wasn't on me as they seemed to be immersed in their conversation.

"I don't think they were cops," Sara said. "They weren't wearing the uniforms so I think they're detectives."

"Woah."

"Either way, I can't believe it."

"I already know we'll be having a sub today."

"I can't believe we're still even gonna have a class." That I definitely wasn't gonna attend. Maybe even never, for that matter.

"I'm still surprised at the fact that Sanders is his wife's family name. I wonder what his is."

Sara. "I have no clue."

"I'm stuck on the fact that she's Asian and her last name is Sanders."

Sara. "Maybe she's not fully Asian."

"Sara, what did she look like again?"

"Young, petite, dark hair in a ponytail. She seemed kinda nervous and fidgety."

"Hm."

"She didn't notice you while she was talking to the two detectives?"

"When I came out of coach's office, no, but as I was passing them, one of the guys looked at me."

"Oh shi...." I lost focus on my eavesdropping as I neared Mom's car by the curb – which she had already reached – and realized that she was staring at me with a serious look on her face, her arms crossed sternly over her chest.

As I nervously stood before her, she slowly parted her pursed lips. "He touched you, didn't he?" Her tone of voice sounded like she was holding in a bunch of emotions.

I began to protest. "No!"

Mom shook her head, not seeming to be listening to me. I stayed quiet and glanced at Sara and her friends, who were still immersed in their conversation, thank God. I turned back to Mom, who was still shaking her head in disbelief. "Since you were little, I've warned you about strangers. And here you were coming to school and I didn't even know what was happening." She was getting loud with every word and, panicked, I glanced at Sara and her friends again. Uh oh. Their eyes and attention were on us. Crap. "I mean, what do you know about him Amaya?" Mom exclaimed.

I looked at her and opened my mouth, ready to frantically ask her if we could leave. But then I stopped myself as a question that had been at the back of my mind since the meeting resurfaced. "Mom, do you know him?"

Sighing, Mom rubbed the back of her neck and said, "Get in, let's go," before circling around the car.

Figuring she hadn't heard my question due to all her emotions and disbelief, I climbed into the passenger's seat. She climbed in furiously next to me and grabbed the steering wheel, as though for support. As her knuckles turned white from her strong grip, I noticed that she was shaking and my eyes widened in concern. "Mom, you're shaking!" I watched her chest heave as though she were attempting to catch her breath. "Mom! Talk to me."

She shook her head slowly and looked at me. "You don't put your trust into people you don't know Amaya. You know this." I opened my mouth to object, but wasn't sure what to say, as I was too taken aback by her unexpected reaction to focus on lying. She looked away. A vibration sounded and without thinking, I looked for my phone, glad for the distraction. Opening it, I saw a text notification from Daniel. Before I could even unlock my phone to view the message, it was snatched out of my hand, followed by Mom's upset voice. "This phone. You will not be getting it back Amaya. Understood?"

I watched her set it in the middle console and didn't dare argue as she roughly snatched her keys and shakily attempted to put it in the ignition. I pressed my lips together nervously and looked out the window at Sara and her friends, whose eyes were on me. As the car started and I prepared to turn away, I noticed a woman coming out of the school entrance. Asian, normal weight and height, slightly petite, hair in a ponytail, young and serious face. From the corner of my eyes, I could see Sara and her friends turn to the woman.

Daniel's wife. Mrs. Sanders. I watched her walk for barely a few seconds before Mom pulled away from the curb onto the road and Mrs. Sanders was out of my view. The car ride was painfully silent. While Mom kept her eyes glued to the road, I watched the passing scenery through the window, trying to comprehend her reaction in the office. Particularly when Daniel had come in. She had seemed to believe that it was all a misunderstanding, but then was suddenly confident it wasn't once Daniel had appeared. It wasn't a normal reaction and certainly didn't make sense in my head.

It still didn't once we made it home in silence. Mom headed upstairs right away. Sighing, I headed up seconds after her, going to my room. I closed my door and plopped down on my bed, removing my shoes. I then looked around for my phone before realizing that Mom had it. My eyes falling on my laptop, I considered using it to binge-watch Netflix as a distraction. The idea not appealing to me after a few seconds of consideration, I laid on my bed, tucking myself into a little ball.

What I really wanted to do was text Daniel. Go back to normal. Take this day away. Remove all the stress and anxiety it had caused Mom. Gosh, Mom. I wanted to talk to her. Or have her talk to me. I closed my eyes, knowing that it probably wouldn't happen that day. Or anytime soon for all I knew.

I sighed, the unease between Mom and Daniel in Mrs. Jacqulin's office still troubling me. Deciding that there was no point in trying to figure it out, as I could always ask Mom once we were talking again, I tried to clear my mind.

Wait. My eyes suddenly shot open as a dark thought popped into my mind. Daniel Wyler. The jerk - from the documents I had discovered the previous day - that Mom had taken to court. I remembered how coincidental I had thought it was that his name was Daniel. Just like my Daniel. Except for the Wyler part. But, wait. Sanders wasn't even Daniel's actual last name. So... what if-?...

I shook the thought away quickly – no way – realizing that my mind was just scattered due to all the events that had just transpired. My brain needed a break, and probably some food later. I closed my eyes again, this time really intent on clearing my mind. *