Mirror

Chapter 6

Aaliyah
  It's been a week since the Sigma Tau party. I haven't seen Aiden since. I was hoping to run into him in the hall but I haven't. Completing my assignments on time serves as a major distraction though. "Love, do you want coffee" Charlotte offers. I rise from the dead and answer "yes please with cream and sugar." We've been getting closer by the day.

  Charlotte is my only friend so far. I would count Aiden but that would be kind of desperate since we've only hung out once. "Here you go goddess." She hands me a hot mug. This girl gives me life. I don't know what I would do without her. The ring from my phone draws me out of my thoughts. I look down and see its mom calling me. I pick up.

"Hi sweetie, how is everything going." "Hi mom. I'm doing good. I miss y'all." "Your father and I miss you too honey." "Hey sweetheart" I hear dad call out from a distance. "Hi dad." This call is making me even more homesick than before.

  Mom and I chat about my classes and she spills the neighborhood tea. After getting off the phone I go back to sleep since it's Friday. That means no classes for this girl.

Aiden
  I've been MIA this whole week. Other than going to practice and class I haven't gone anywhere. I'm having on of those days were I don't want to be seen by anyone. If people can see you then that means they can judge you. What if they don't like what they see in me and leave just like mom did?

Flashback:
  I hop off the school bus with a proud smile. I got a A on my math test. Dad helped me study all weekend for it. I can't wait to tell mom and dad about it. They promised me that if I did well then we can go to our favorite ice cream shop in Boston. It's a ma and pa shop called Frozen Gold. I look past the other parents trying to find dad.

  Dad isn't waiting for me at the bus stop like he normally does. Something must be wrong because Dad is always here to walk to the house with me. This is when we like to talk about how our day went. It's our daily father and son routine. I brush off the feeling that something awful happened and head home.

  When I get there the front door is wide open. I run in searching for dad. He's slumped over in his chair by the tv. My heart drops when I notice the empty Hennessy bottle on the table. Till this day my nightmares are the scent of the pungent smell of the bitter cognac. Dad likes to drink but he would never do it this early in the day. He would never let me or mom see him like this.

  The kitchen is destroyed. Papers torn up all over the place and the microwave has been smashed into obliteration. It's new resting spot is on the floor. Bottles of beer lay on the ground shattered. Like its protecting the Henny bottle on the table from intruders. Its almost as if Dad rearranged this chaos to depict a broken heart. What the fuck happened here? I guess he didn't go to work today and I wonder why not. Mom is going to be pissed when she gets home.

  I shake him. "Dad wake up. We have to clean up this mess before mom sees." Dad starts to wake up. "Oh don't worry about that buddy. You're mom is never coming back" he slurs. What is he talking about? "What do you mean" I cry. "That bitch left me for some bloke" dad says with tears falling down his face. I've never seen my father cry until today. This is just a misunderstanding. Dad must have gotten into a fight with mom and got drunk to cool off.

  I try calling mom on my phone to clear up this misunderstanding. But after ringing for some time it goes to her voicemail. I call again. It goes to automatically to her Voicemail. Again. Voicemail. Again. Voicemail. Until I don't have it in me to be rejected by mom again... I realized I will never see my mom again...

This can't be happening. Why would she do this to us? I don't understand. My tears rush down my face. You would think God himself used them to flood the earth the way they rained from above. I lay in my bed and make a silent promise to myself. I, Aiden Gray will never let a woman hurt me ever again. Love isn't real.
End of flashback.