Save Room For Us (18+)

Chapter 11: Thank You, Damon

A/N: Not edited.

Chapter 11: Thank You, Damon

Neveah

It has been a couple months since the auditions. I have been practicing nearly every day. Avoiding Damon was unavoidable. He took pictures of a few of my practices with me and my partner, Max, and he was supposed to capture some solo shots after the holidays. At first, we were not talking at all. But after a few weeks of not speaking to each other, that became us arguing back and forth. I couldn't help but sense his possessiveness. Each time he looked at me, it was like he was marking me. He would shoot glares at my dance partner, and I felt kind of bad. Some of our arguments resulted in me kicking him out of the studio, because he was cutting into my practice time.

The anger sometimes would sit with me and Dolly would ask about why my energy was off when I saw her. I was honest. Our photographer was an idiot.

Due to the holidays, the studio was closed, so I was stuck home for the most part. Natalie was missing out due to her hectic schedule. It was just me and my mother this year. It was funny how quickly things could change. There was a time when we were all present for Thanksgiving dinner, and those memories had always been tender. But that felt like a lifetime ago.

When I went down, I wasn't greeted with a dinner prepped or a family to enjoy the times with. I was welcomed with a dimmed-lit kitchen and an empty dining room. I had been so busy that I didn't think to get things to prepare, and my mother usually had it all covered. I was hoping, expecting, a dinner for us. But I was wrong.

My mother was applying her lips with her favorite shade--red. She had a black dress with shimmery gold heels. She stopped applying her lipstick and fluffed her hair. She looked at me through the mirror, and instinctively I looked away. All I heard from her was "I'm going out with friends. I'm sure you have plans."

"I don't. I thought we were having dinner together," I said.

"Why? It was not like I was expecting you to be here with Natalie not being here. What would we even talk about?"

I would say anything. I was too numb to express any emotion. I knew we didn't have the best relationship, but this took another level. When she did things like this, it made me believe that she hated me.

It was like she could sense the hurt in me. "I don't know what the big deal is," my mother retorted, and that was when the boulder on my shoulder crushed me.

"You are unbelievable," I said, turning my back on her. The sound of her voice began to sound like air, nothing. I opened the door and saw that it was raining. Although it caught me off guard, I grabbed the keys from the nearest table and walked out. I felt water drops touching my cheeks. Great rain. But that didn't stop me from getting away from here.

I hopped into the car, slamming the door shut. My throat was on fire and keeping my eyes open became difficult. I grabbed onto the steering wheel. I wanted to drive away. Far, far away. But I couldn't. Being in this car sent my mind into another place.

"Sammy, you are not driving," I said as I grabbed the car keys from her hands. Sam couldn't hardly stand straight. Her brown chestnut hair was tousled but still managed to look decent. She was walking barefoot with her heels in her other hand. We were at a party, and it was nearing two in the morning. "I'm calling you a lyft."

"No, I need my car. Don't worry, I have done this all the time. No one can ever guess that I'm a bit tipsy" she smiled playfully, grabbing the keys again from me.

"Absolutely not. I don't think it is a good idea. Something bad can happen." I shook my head, crossing my arms.

"We can catch a ride with those guys," she pointed at two men who were so drunk they could not even stand up still.