The Nerd [BXB]

42 𖠇 Genesis' First Heartbreak

   Genesis killed her mother.

   And no, she did not slit her throat with a kitchen knife while she slept, but in the sense that she never talks about her. It's as if she never existed in the first place. So as the years went on, everyone that met her assumed her mother had passed away which justifies why she never speaks of her. But her mother is well and breathing.

   Or at least she hopes so.

   At the age of twelve, a month before she officially became a teenager, she heard glass shatter downstairs. It was loud enough to wake her up from her sleep. Initially, she thought some burglar had broken a window to break into the house until she heard her parents' screams.

   From her room, she could barely make out what they were saying. Young and curious, she threw the sheets off her and barefoot walked into the kitchen. She did not want to interrupt them although she wanted them to stop yelling, so she remained hidden behind the corridor wall.

   "I tried, Mason," her mother said, searching the cabinets for one-dollar bills that were scattered around the house. "I swear to you that I did."

   Her father followed her around the kitchen, almost as if he wanted to grab her but was too afraid to. "Come on, Eloise. Don't do this me."

   Genesis had seen her act like this before. Sitting on the toilet with her nose over the sink counter sniffing white strips of powder. All of a sudden, she would run out and begin to rummage through everything until she had enough to keep herself happy.

   Just as her mother head for the front door, her father gripped her arm. "Don't do this to me. Fuck, Eloise. Don't do this to our daughter. To Genesis."

   "I'm no good for her, Mason," she said to him between quivering breaths. "Look at me. Do I seem like the kind of woman that can raise a child?"

   "I can help you," he tried to convince her. "Just stay so you can be there for her. She'll need you when she grows up. She'll need her mother."

   "Guess what, Mason." She snatched away from his grip and pointed a finger at him. "You wanted her, you raise her."

   The door shut.

    "Mommy!" Genesis did not want her to leave. "Mommy!" She ran for the door, but her father held her back, wrapping his arm around her waist.

   "Gen." He enveloped her into a hug—mostly to keep her from chasing her mother—but also to let her know that although her mother left her, he did not. She still had her father.

   "Don't let her go, dad!" she yelled, still stretching her arms for the doorknob. "Dad, go get her!" She was crying so he was crying. "Mom! Mommy!"

   The two of them fell asleep on the couch that night. His father looked after Genesis to make sure she wouldn't run out the door. That was her first heartbreak. Harvey's came second.

   She began to be haunted by the sensation of loneliness, a twist in her chest that wanted release. She felt that emotion all through middle school and high school. And she was pretty, so she was never alone. Many guys and girls were more than glad to keep her company.

   Junior year was when she met Harvey Cohen on Earth Day. The school was announcing the soccer players going to state by organizing a pep rally at the gymnasium. Everyone cheered. Especially at the young boy that had already left an impression on the field as a freshman amongst all the seniors. After their presentation, she took advantage of the audience and made her statement of reducing plastic consumption in honor of Earth Day to gain votes for her presidential campaign.