Heartbreaker

23. Mothers and Daughters

                         ***Trigger warning- graphic content ahead - please do not read if triggered by sexual abuse content ****

Most hated couple would not be Kit Nelson dating Charlie Spring. Most hated couple is actually Kit Nelson dating Jamie Brixton.

The sweet, romantic beginning of a relationship. Well, it was romantic and also really sweet, respectively he was sweet. Two days after we got together, I saw him at school. He was sitting there, shirt sleeves rolled up, arms folded in front of his chest, smiling. Such a handsome boy. "Good morning." His smile lit up every room. "Hi." I sat down awkwardly, sorting my pencils, and felt his gaze from the side. "Yes?" I looked at him, he grinned and shook his head. "What's up?" He ran his hand lightly through his hair and reached for mine under the table. "I wanna kiss you so bad right now." Heaven on earth. "Me too." I smiled at him shyly. For the rest of the hour, we kept throwing furtive glances at each other, without touching each other. "Is there actually anything going on between you two?" Cathy licked her spoon, which she had dipped into her yogurt earlier. The four of us sat in the cafeteria eating our lunch. I grinned and shrugged my shoulders. "Who knows.", I replied. She looked at me meaningfully. "So yeah, there is." I just chuckled, "Maybe." Elle, Alice and Cathy looked at each other and snorted with laughter. "Jamie, it's so obvious. Tell us! We want to know everything." I smiled and shook my head as I cut up my potatoes with my cutlery. "No, I can't, not yet. It's so....fresh. I want..." "You want to stay in the honeymoon phase for awhile.", Elle interrupted me, smiling knowingly. "Well enjoy it honey, you only deserve the best. We all know how it went the last time you came around with a guy." I bit my lip. "No, it's not like that. He's not Kent. He's completely different." She looked at me, but I continued to chop up my vegetables and tried to ignore the issue. 

"So folks, today is an important day. The decision has been made." Mr. Whitfield paused dramatically, but everyone just listened with disinterest. "Me and Mrs. Hurst have decided to officially let you know that the drama project will be happening this year." No one paid attention except me. More likely my anxiety did. Stage fright, all the way. "I am happy to announce that we will be performing a play with Mrs Hurst's class." Yay. "We will be taking some time off from the curriculum over the next few weeks. We will use this time to rehearse, prepare costumes and create the theater script. To do this, you will be divided into small groups." Mr. Whitfield talked and talked, but eventually I stopped listening. 

"I missed you." We stood outside on the empty rugby field. "I missed you more." He beamed at me, just like that, and goosebumps covered my arms. "You're such a beautiful person." I brushed back a strand of his hair, and he blushed slightly. "No, Kit, that's the absolute truth. You're stunning." He laughed softly. "I could get used to this actually. But it's not like we're here just so you can shower me with compliments. I was wondering if you were free after school? My mom wants you to have dinner with us, if your parents don't mind." "Is that like a girlfriend duty?", I teased him and he instantly nodded. "Yea, beside being with me 24/7 which is also a very important requirement." I had to laugh. "It's really hard not to touch you when we're at school." I grinned. "Patience, my friend. I think so far it's better if we ... you know. Keep our relationship to ourselves." He looked at me lovingly. "I don't want you to do that. I really feel like shouting your name from the rooftops." I giggled. "I just want to protect what we have." He looked at me. "Protect it from what, Jamie? Charlie knows-" I interrupted him. "No, that's not the point. I just want no stares, no rumors, no whispers about us in the school hallways. I want this for us, just us. At least for a while." He nodded and hugged me tightly. "I am fine with that. For a while."

"Jamie?" My mother's voice rang out from the front door. "I'm in the kitchen!" She carried in a heavy shopping bag. I grabbed the milk cartons and carefully put them in the fridge. "Anything new, anything from school?" I shook my head as she pushed the buttons on the coffee machine. "How was your day?" She ran her hand through her hair. "Exhausting. I had more patients than usual at the practice today." I watched as the milk filled the coffee cup, so much milk froth as if the cup was about to overflow. "Shall we sit outside in the garden?" She nodded and I followed her outside. The weather outside was beautiful, the sky was baby blue and the sun was shining. My mother heaved a sigh of relief, rolled up her trousers and sat in the sun. "We're doing this drama project at school now." She had her eyes closed. "Good honey." "Yes, I'm sure it will be quite good." I looked at the tulips in bloom beside the patio. "The garden looks beautiful this year." She nodded in agreement. "I was wondering if I could have dinner with at a friends house tonight?", I asked, gathering all my courage. "Why, are you invited?" I answered in the affirmative and my heart raced. "I can't allow that Jamie, you know we agreed you'd eat at home every night. We eat together as a family. " I scowled at her coffee cup. "Besides, we're having guests tonight." She opened her eyes and smeared sunscreen on her upper arms. "What kind of guests?", I asked suspiciously. "I met Susan, in the supermarket earlier. We haven't seen each other for a long time and I thought it would be nice if they came for dinner tonight." My heart skipped a beat. I stared at her, stunned. "You didn't invite Kent too, did you? Excuse me?" I jumped up from the lawn chair. "Where do you get off doing that?" She narrowed her eyes again. "Jamie, stop yelling at me. Susan and Matt have been family friends for years. Kent's a really nice kid. You didn't even tell me he started back at Truham!" I ignored the accusation in her voice. "Mom, we're not together anymore. He did so many bad things to me..." She interrupted me abruptly. "No Jamie, we're not discussing that again. Yes you went your separate ways, it was best for him too after that...incident. Susan and I have finally managed to get back on friendly terms. I am looking forward to this dinner tonight. You have learned your lesson and I am sure Kent has good intentions. I expect you to be civil. Do you understand?" I stormed off, leaving her sitting with her coffee and her fucked up mentality. 

"It's so good to see you guys." I heard my mother's annoying, over-friendly voice from downstairs and immediately felt all the frustration welling up inside me again. I sat in my father's study in his comfortable leather wing chair with a cup of coffee and books. This was my place of retreat when I was feeling bad. Whole shelves full of books stretched along the walls. The room was small, but flooded with light through large windows. There was even a porthole window in the ceiling, so when you sat here at night you could look up at the stars. A carpet, as soft and fluffy as a lambskin, lay on the floor. I tucked my hair in and continued to leaf through my novel. I certainly wasn't going to sit downstairs with the Buckleys and pretend to have nice conversations. I knew how upset my mother would be if I didn't show up for the carefully planned dinner, but I didn't care. She always defended Kent and never really listened to me or heard what I was going through with him. I could be with Kit right now. It was getting darker outside, I switched on the reading lamp next to the armchair, closed my book and stared at my mobile phone. I had had to cancel on Kit hours ago and he had gone to the cinema with his boys. Now he hadn't written back in hours. I hadn't told him about the Buckleys, after all I wasn't the one who had invited them to the house. I threw the phone back on the opposite sofa and stared outside. What a shitty evening. Here I was, starving to death, while Kent was downstairs stuffing his belly and playing the perfect model boy in front of my parents. There was a soft knock at the door. "Hey." Julie came scurrying in quietly. "Mum said if you didn't come downstairs you were out of luck and could go to bed hungry. I made you a plate." She carried in a tray of water, and a fully laden plate, even with chocolate cake. "Julie, you are my angel on earth!" Gratefully, I gave her a kiss and devoured everything she had brought up for me. "Heavenly. Why did Mum have the cook come again today of all days?" Julie gave me a meaningful look and I furiously stuffed chocolate cake into my mouth. "Unbelievable!", I growled. "Like he's a saint. What the hell is she thinking? That he and I are going to get married after all? I bet she even opened the most expensive bottles of champagne just to impress them." Julie's expression told me that this was indeed happening downstairs. "I know her really well. Even though she literally ruins my life all the time. You know she loves him more than me, her own daughter? Like literally." Julie stroked my back. "Maybe you should talk to her again, Jamie." I shook my head vigorously. "No." "Maybe..." I interrupted her. "Julie, forget it. She just doesn't care. She doesn't believe me. Even when the teachers were talking to her back then ..." I suddenly felt sick. "She doesn't care, she thinks he was my first true love and I made a mistake." My voice suddenly became shaky. 

"He raped me. According to her, that did not happen, that does not exist in her reality. Kent Buckley and his family are unimpeachable."