My Own Angel

Part 3

The next few weeks went pretty smoothly. Seth and I would eat together every day, hang out at my house after school, and on weekends. He became my best friend, and only friend, and we were basically inseparable. He never wanted to go hang out at his house, or even go home. I would ask him why, but not pushing the subject in case he didn't want to talk about it. I would be able to understand that. Yet, all he would say was, "My parents don't like having me home," or "Your house feels safer than mine." Does his life at home make him live in fear? That's horrible. I wish I knew what goes on within those walls, but I knew that he would tell me when he's ready. Until then, I wouldn't push it, and I'd make sure he knows he's safe at my house.

**********

"Come on. Be honest. Are you really NOT excited for Christmas?" I said, laughing. It was Christmas break, and there was only a week left.

Seth and I were sitting on the couch, watching cheesy Christmas romance movies. Well, I was watching them, but I was forcing Seth to watch them with me.

"Not really... I mean, Christmas was never a huge thing in my family... My parents would get drunk, and the only presents I would get are new bruises... And maybe a black eye if I was super good that year..." He said. I stayed quiet for a couple minutes, thinking of how to respond. Finally, I said, "Well, you can spend Christmas with us this year, if you want. I think my grandparents are flying in tomorrow, but it'll be just be them, me, and my mom. So you are welcome to join. We would love to have you."

His face lit up, "Are you sure? I don't want to invade any family celebrations or anything."

"Of course! You're like family, so you'll be a part of the celebration!" I gave him a genuine smile, just in case there was any doubt left in his mind.

"I'd love to," Seth smiled like an idiot. I couldn't help but laugh.

I looked over at him, "Do you just want to stay over tonight? And then you can come to the airport with me and help with my grandparents..." I gave him a hopeful smile.

"...... Stay... Over...?" He said, with his cheeks getting a deeper shade of red with every passing second.

I started laughing, "Don't worry, you'll sleep on the couch. Not the comfiest, but it's getting late and I don't want you to walk home alone." It was already past 11pm, and pitch black outside.

After some obviously fake thinking, Seth agreed and I went to grab him a pillow and some blankets.

For the next two hours, we watched some TV and laughed at stupid people doing stupid things. I started falling asleep, so I called it a night, said goodnight to Seth, and gave him directions on how to turn the TV off when he was gonna go to bed. I trudged upstairs, and saw my mom's light on from under the door. I knocked before slowly entering. She was sitting in bed, reading.

"Hey mom. I'm going to bed. Goodnight," I said as I kissed her forehead, "Oh, and Seth is downstairs... Since it's really late, I'm not comfortable with him walking home alone. So he's just crashing on the couch. Is that okay?"

"Of course," she said, "as long as he stays down there." We both laughed.

"He will. He even got embarrassed at me saying he could stay. You don't have to worry about him," I said, winking as I exited the room. Crossing the hall, I shut my door and crawled into bed. Within seconds, I fell into a deep sleep.

I woke to hear laughter from downstairs. I slowly walked down each step, trying to eavesdrop on whatever is making my mom giggle. Until I reach the bottom step. Creak! Dammit... I forgot that the bottom step has been broken, so it creaks whenever there's pressure or weight on it. Right when I heard it, I just gave up and went around the corner to the kitchen. Not exactly my most subtle nor flattering entrance I have ever made, but oh well. As I walked around the corner, I saw my grandparents, Seth, and my mom all sitting together at the table.

"Didn't think of waking me for breakfast? I could have slept all day," I joked as I kissed my mom's forehead and hugged my grandparents.

"Oh my, Alex. You've grown so much," my grandpa said.

"Thanks, grandpa. Does anyone want a refill on coffee? Because I'm craving some," I said as I grabbed a cup and poured the delicious dark liquid.

"No thanks, honey. But we've met your delightful friend, Seth. He is such a sweet boy," My grandma smiled at me.

"Yeah, he's pretty awesome," I smiled back.

"I do have one question, though... Why do you have to dress like that? And dye your hair? And... What. Are those. On your arms...?" She stared, horrified at my scars. I was speechless and caught off guard. I didn't know what to say. She wouldn't understand. She wouldn't understand any of it. This morning was off to a fine start, until now...

"She, uh, had a really hard time with the divorce..." My mom said, jumping in. Thank god.

"Then get the poor girl therapy!"

"Helen, this is none of our bus-" My grandpa tried to chime in but was cut off by my grandma.

"Paul, this is our granddaughter. If it's not our business, then whose is it?"

How. The hell. Did this happen. Coffee to scars... Wow...

"Those going through it. Nora and Alex."

The tone went form confused to screaming fairly quickly. Soon, I got even more overwhelmed. I mean, yeah, they're my grandparents and they're concerned, but there is a line and they crossed it. They don't understand. There's so much that they don't know. I only needed therapy for a little bit. By the end, I was not only emotionally stable and given anti-depressants for good measure, but was excited about starting fresh in life. Just leaving it all behind. They're making it seem like I'm not better. That I'm the same, hurt, unstable person I was before. They weren't here to understand or see how I was dealing with everything. It was not their place to judge me.

I got so overwhelmed that I stood straight up, and ran out the door. I couldn't take it anymore. I could hear all of them calling my name from the driveway, but I couldn't go back yet. I needed space. Tears started streaming down my cheeks as I kept running. All the memories came back, all at once. It was so overwhelming. Everything that happened, everything we left behind to start a new life.

I slowed to a walk, and looked around. I ran at least a half a mile. I have never done that before. Not even in gym... I despised running. All of the adrenaline, I guess... I walked to the nearest curb and sat down. Most of the tears stopped, but I was still shaking. It felt like my anxiety was at the surface again... The last time that happened was halfway through my therapy. "Shit..." I muttered to myself. I stopped taking my medication because I thought I didn't need it anymore. I still had it, but never needed it until now. But I'd have to go home for that, and that's the last place I want to be right now... My head snapped up as I heard footsteps. Seth was running towards me, "Jesus, Alex. You run fast," he said, out of breath, as he sat next to me. "You okay?"

"Oh, yeah... I just ran a half a mile to get away from my family. Couldn't be better..."

"Sarcasm... Got it..."

"Did you even see what happened?! Heard what they said?!" I started yelling.

"Look... Calm down... You're mad. I understand. They're worried about you though. They knew it was hard for you and your mom. They just didn't really express their concern in the best way... You'll all get over it. It'll all be okay, I promise." He reached over to give me a hug. I tried to fight it, but he won. I hugged him back, and said, "Thank you..."

"For what?" He laughed, "I haven't done anything."

"Yes, you have. And I'm incredibly thankful." Seth helped me to my feet and we began walking back.

"So, am I like, a hero now?" He smiled, "Can I be Superman?" He stopped and did the Superman pose. I laughed and punched him in the arm.

"Sure, just never do that again, please..." I laughed as we walked back to my house.