[Teen and New Adult Romance]
"Life as a trailer trash kid is nothing short of shitty, especially when the love of my life pretends that I don't exist."
River wants two things: to get out of Gladstone and to be with the boy from her childhood. With h...
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"Are you okay?" Kaleb asked as I opened the passenger door and climbed into his truck, grateful that he had been kind enough to pick me up. I hated being so dependent on him, but he'd offered. I never would've asked him to come get me. That's just not how I worked.
I nodded, flustered with the thoughts running through my mind. "Yeah, my mom and I just got into a huge fight. She disowned me."
"What did you tell her?" Kaleb pulled into the Truck Stop's parking lot, stopping the truck so he could listen to me.
I searched my memory, trying to piece together what I said. "I told her goodbye and that she could keep all of my shit because I would rather stay in the woods than live in her trailer. I even told her how much I don't like Vinny, but she didn't care. She threatened to kick me out.
"I'm pretty sure she was trying to scare me. She wanted me to beg her to let me stay in the trailer, but I didn't. I just walked out the front door and left, and she got pissed. She started yelling at me from the front door about how I wasn't her daughter, and she wasn't my mother anymore."
"I guess trying to scare you into coming home backfired, huh?" Kaleb chuckled as he started driving toward my apartment.
Studying Kaleb's profile as he smiled, I laughed, glad he was here with me. Without Kaleb, there would've been no smiles tonight, but he brought out the best in me, and I loved how he easily lightened the mood. He always made me feel better about my life when it was in shambles.
"Yeah, it did backfire. I didn't let her get to me like she did the last time. I don't know if I told you about that, but she threatened to kick me out a couple times before, and I begged her to let me stay home. She actually made dinner tonight, but I lost my appetite when she said I lied about being jumped."
Kaleb's eyebrows drew together in anger. "What the fuck? She thinks you lied to her about what happened to you? What a fucking bitch! She's a shitty ass excuse of a mother. I'm sorry she didn't believe you. Did you tell her that you had pictures of what those girls did to you?"
I shook my head hard, wiping a tear away, remembering how Kaleb had taken pictures of all my injuries last week, just in case I decided to press charges later. "After everything I've been through, the last thing I need is her as a mother. I'm glad she disowned me. I don't ever want to see her again."
"So, what did she make for dinner?" Kaleb pulled into my driveway.
I shrugged, frowning. "Chicken nuggets. They used to be my favorite when I was younger, but I think I might hate them now."
"What? You can't hate them yet. Chicken nuggets are good. We should cook some in your apartment tonight as a big fuck you to your mom." Kaleb smiled so big that it reached his eyes.
I giggled, glad that I was coming to terms with what had just happened. She knew I was homeless, and I was going to keep it that way. I prayed she would never text me again because I would ignore her if she did. "Yeah, let's do that. Actually, let's get some food from a drive-thru. I want curly fries too. I'm buying."
