The Shy Girl

Smoke

"Sweetie, I'm home." My mom greets as she shuts the door.

I felt relieved and frightened at the same time. I was glad it was my mom, but what do I do about Brad?

We wait until my moms footsteps faint away and we stand up.

"Kitchen; go to the kitchen." I whisper, shoving Brad into the food filled room.

"Mom, I'm down here!" I scream, walking in front of the steps.

She walks down with a worry look on her face. Her voice sounded normal, but her face said otherwise.

"What's wrong?" I ask, rubbing her shoulders.

"I... I lost my job."

My jaw falls open and barely misses the ground.

She puts her hand under my chin and reconnects my lower lip with my top lip.

"How?"

"Well, my boss said that he needed to get rid of people and I was on the list."

"What now?" I ask.

My mom shakes her head with a faint smile. I could tell she had been crying. She had stained tear lines on her cheeks.

"How are we going to pay for the house?" I ask.

"I'll find a way to pay for it." My mom says as she walks back to her room.

I walk in the kitchen and grab Brad's shoulder tightly. "You need to leave, now." I forcefully shove him out the door.

Once I shut it, I slide my back against the door and burry my face in my hands and cry.

Tears stream down my face and I immediately feel stress coming upon me.

"I'm going to cook supper, honey." I could tell my mom had been crying by the way her voice sounded.

"Okay, I'll go talk to Lizzy for awhile, I guess. You'll be fine here by yourself?"

"Yeah, don't worry about me." My mom waves at me and I return the favor.

For once, I jogged to the railroad tracks. It actually helped me a lot more than I thought it would.

~

Brad walks behind me on the tracks, trying to make me feel better by mocking my every move.

If I move my arm, he'd copy me, if I almost trip, he'd surly do the same. I wouldn't laugh, though.

Even if I wanted to laugh, I couldn't. My heart felt empty.

My dad used to pay the house bills, but when he passed, it was up to my mom.

"Are you okay?" Brad asks in his usual deep voice.

"I'm fine." My voice cracks.

I'm fine~ the biggest lie anyone has ever told.

He gives me a bear hug from behind. I guess I really needed it because I broke down crying.

He carries me bridal style off the tracks and lays me against the pointy grass.

"No, I need to go home to my mom." I wipe the tears off my face and stand up.

Brad shoves his hand in his pocket and walks with me to my house.

We turn the corner, a block away from my house, and smell smoke.

I look up in the never ending sky and see grey lines spread across the stars.

Even though it was dark out, I could still see it.
I nudge Brad and point to it. He shrugs it off and we continue walking.

We finally turn onto my block and see firetrucks, police cars, and random strangers spread across the street.

The people turn to look at me, with sympathy in their eyes, at least the strangers.

The policemen and firemen had straight faces towards me. The sad thing is, they know me.