Paperthin Hymn

Chapter Twelve

Friday night. The night Appa always called. The night I always said no.

     So when he called while Omma and I were eating dinner and I actually answered, Omma was in complete shock. Our conversation was short, just confirming our movie plans for the weekend, but she was stunned.

     "Wha...when did this happen?" Her neatly trimmed eyebrows were raised to her perfectly shaped hairline.

     I shrugged, taking my seat across from her. I had known she would find out sooner or later, but I had really hoped it would be later. I hated explaining things like this to her. Emotions were her thing, analyzing like she was a psychologist without a degree. Talking about that stuff with her was just so...uncomfortable. 

     "Well how? Something had to have happened."

     "I just talked to him is all." I resumed eating. "So did you return those movies? You're gonna end up paying a late fee like last time."

     "Oh, no you don't." She crossed her arms, in serious-mode. "No changing the subject. How did this happen. Tell me. Tell me now."

    I wanted to think of a lie that didn't involve Lexi. If Omma found out, she would try to make Lexi her daughter-in-law right then. But my mind was blank and Omma was staring a hole in my forehead that was starting to sizzle. I sighed, supposing I should give credit where credit was due.

      "Lexi convinced me to."

     "Lexi?" The surprise was evident in her tone.

     "Yeah." I squirmed under her gaze, knowing she was waiting for more of an explanation. "She doesn't have an appa, and she went on and on pestering me about it."

     "If pestering you would've gotten you to go, you know I would have gotten you there last year."  Her eyes twinkled and a sly smile spread across her face as she realized her assumptions were proven true. "You really like her!"

     "No."

     "Yes, you do! Ah, this is great!" She took a deep breath and stretched her arms behind her head. "I'm getting such an adorable daughter, I just love that girl to pieces! Your babies will be so sweet, they'll have her big eyes and your mouth-"

     I slammed my chopsticks on the table, shaking the dishes. "Oh, I just remembered something," The chair screeched as I scooted it out. I fled.

     I could hear Omma's cackling as I ran up the stairs to the safety of my room, my ears on fire. I wondered if all mothers were as insane as mine and talked of such things as making children. Oh, gosh.

     Deciding to never think of that moment again, I pulled out clean clothes to take a shower. As I was heading for the bathroom I spied Lexi's sparkly notebook on my desk. Earlier that day she had flashed the pages in front of me, not letting me read them. She said she was writing a story, but I couldn't read it. This was her 'revenge'. I smiled evilly to myself and flopped on the bed, notebook in hand.

     The story was less than a page long.

     Once upon a time there was a princess who lived with her mother, the queen, in a dirty, broken castle near a swamp.

     A fairy tale? Wasn't she a little old for that? Then again, Lexi was a little old for a lot of the things she liked.

     The princess was sad because she couldn't make friends. Everyone always ran away. They didn't want to be with a princess as dirty as her. But the queen worked hard to grow food to keep herself and the princess in warm clothes, for they had no servants or money, so the Princess never complained. Then one day the queen said, "Go off to see my mother in a far away country."