The Summer of a Teenager

Chapter 13: The Meltdown

Once I got in the car, of course Mom shot off a million questions that I didn't want to answer.

"How are you feeling?" she started with.

"I'm not actually sick."

"Kate, what do you mean, honey?"

"I mean, I left camp because I didn't want to be there," I explained.

"Kate, I paid a lot of money for this camp."

"You mean you and Dad paid money for this camp," I said.

"Remember, your dad and I don't share money anymore," Mom said.

"Whatever." I spat.

"Hey! I will not take that attitude! I just picked you up from the camp I paid a lot of money for!" she yelled.

I didn't answer. I could feel a bomb inside me, ready to explode with heartbroken feelings.

"Are you going to answer?" she asked.

"YOU KNOW WHY I'M SO UPSET?! It's because my best friend is against me, you and dad are getting divorced, I have no real friends, and I'm a total dork!" I screamed. I gave a loud sob after.

"Yes, I understand—"

"No, no, you don't understand! Your parents loved each other and you were the most popular girl in school! And you had a mother who actually cared about your feelings!"

"I care about your feeli—"

"WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU ASKED HOW I WAS FEELING, REALLY?! WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU TOLD ME YOU LOVED ME?! WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU TOLD ME YOU WERE SO PROUD OF WHO I WAS?! AND WHEN DID YOU EVER ASK IF I WAS UPSET ABOUT THE DIVORCE?!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.

There was no answer. She looked stumped. As soon as I finished yelling, I hid my face in my gray sweatshirt.

"Honey—" Mom began.

"No, I don't want to talk anymore," I said quietly as we pulled into our driveway.

I leapt from the car and I stormed to my room; I felt like a child stomping to my room. If only my room was upstairs, I could stomp up the stairs, I thought to myself.

"Kate!" Mom yelled from the kitchen.

I ignored her, as I looked on Instagram as I clicked on Olivia's profile. Looks like Olivia stole her phone back, I thought as I looked at her feed.

"Kate!" Mom yelled again.

I was not going into the kitchen. I had enough of all the drama.

"Kate! In the kitchen now or no phone for a week!"

I still ignored her. Who cares if I didn't have my phone for a week? I'd rather not be a slave to technology. But then again, I was on it at that moment so whatever I said didn't matter.

"Okay, I guess no phone for a week!"

I still ignored.

"I'll make it a month!"

I still ignored.

"Okay! No devices for four months!"

I still ignored.

"Fine. If you want to be dramatic, so be it."

I walked into the kitchen, and I gave her a nasty look. "Dramatic?"

"Well, what do you call pouting in your room?" Mom asked.

"Did you not hear a word I said in the car?!"

"What, that your life isn't so perfect? No one has a perfect life and a lot of people get divorced these days," she explained.

"Yeah, but do they hide it from their kids? Do they lie about it to their kids?"

There was no answer.

"Exactly," I said.

I went back into my room not knowing how Mom was feeling about how I just spoke to her, and I sobbed loudly into my pillow so Mom couldn't hear how upset I was. She had no sympathy for how I was feeling. It felt like she was living in her own world.