Westwick Ball

Chapter 2: Checks and Stupid Generic Birthday Cards

Update: 5/1/2021 This story is currently being updated on Radish twice weekly. Links in my profile! Thank you :-)

Chapter 2: Checks and Stupid Generic Birthday Cards

~Lana Nicole Mercier~

"Has your mom called you back?" Karly inquired while passing me the large bucket of popcorn she had just made in the small kitchen in our dorm.

I sighed and shook my head like an angry child, "Not since like four days ago when she told me that I couldn't come home for Christmas. Honestly, what am I going to do? I had everything planned! We were going to watch movies and-"

I cut myself off and instead decided to shove a large handful of popcorn in my mouth in an attempt to comfort myself.

Karly gave me an empathetic smile and wrapped her arms around me. Her chin rested on my head while I kept shoving the buttery popcorn in my mouth without even taking a break.

"I know this is really hard for you, Lana. You told me all about it your plans... hell, you even made me look through the cookie recipes you found and give you my opinion on them. But it's okay, you know I have your back. What if you come home with me? My mom absolutely loves you and she said the cheesecake you made her when we went over that weekend was to die for. She even made me feel guilty for not cooking as well as you until I reminded her she never taught me how!"

Hearing her made me smile a little and I even chuckled with her when she told me about her mom. It was really sweet that she was trying to make me feel better and I wouldn't expect anything less from my BFF... but the truth was it made me sad that my mom wasn't going to be with me and I was going to have to watch Karly with hers.

Karly lived about an hour from school so she got to go home way more than I did. My home was at least a four-hour drive away... when traffic was good.

"Come on, what do you say?" Karly questioned with an optimistic raise of her voice.

I was considering it but before I had the chance to answer my phone began ringing from all the way across our shared room... which wasn't a large space at all but I was sad and lazy so it seemed like a fucking mile.

I gave Karly a sweet smile and she thankfully obliged and went to retrieve my phone for me so I didn't have to. She did it with a roll of her eyes and a mock-glare but she still did it which was good enough for me.

"I love you," I told her sweetly while sliding my finger across my screen to answer the phone call.

"Yeah, yeah... next time you're on light duty since I got up to get it.

I pouted momentarily at her before answering my phone call.

"Hello?"

"Hi, sweetheart! It's mom," My mom quickly said in a voice that was too cheerful for my current mood. But since hearing her voice made me happy I quickly forced myself to copy her cheery tone when I spoke.

"Hey, Mom!... What's up?" I tacked on a little awkwardly at the end of my greeting since I didn't know what to fucking say. I was obviously never going to tell her that I had been depressed for the past few days about not being able to go home.

"I have some exciting news for you!" My mom practically screeched in my ear. I had to pull my phone away from my ear momentarily to not end up deaf.

"O-oh... really? What is it?" I asked in the most enthusiastic voice I could pull off.

I frowned when I heard her take an audible deep breath, "Umm... Mom? Are you out of-"

"I called your father, Lana."

Karly, who had been watching my facial expressions closely, visibly frowned at my sudden change in posture. I didn't really know what she saw because the only thing I could feel was my spine stiffen.

"My... father?" I asked her in the same faux-cheerful tone trying to make sense of the word.

Father.

Did my mom actually say she called my father?

To every other person except the people in my situation, those words were quite literally the strangest words that had ever come out of my mom's mouth. Sure, my 'father' sent checks every month but that didn't mean that my mom called him... like ever. I was completely sure that they hadn't spoken ever since my 'father' handed full custody over to my mom and agreed to pay child support.

"Yes, sweetheart, your father. I- I thought that since I wasn't going to be home for Christmas and I didn't want you to be alone... I thought you should go spend some time with him," My mom explained.

I swallowed back the huge lump of... anxiety and... anger... I forced myself to calm down and take a few deep breaths before I exploded. Karly was in front of me miming breathing techniques at me while I was struggling to keep my composure.

Once I managed to pick my damn jaw off of the floor, I forced a smile on my face and that stupid cheerful tone before attempting to keep conversing with my mom.

I giggled, slightly maniacally, "M-Mom... I don't even know him," I tried to say as my voice cracked slightly, "You can't really expect me to- to actually try to spend Christmas with him-"

"Lana Nicole, he's always wanted to know you but his wife just never wanted him near-" My mom tried to explain with that same happy-as-fuck voice she had managed to have this entire time as I was struggling to keep my own cheerful tone.

"That's not really an excuse, Mom... If he wanted to know me as much as you say he did then he could have tried. All he did was send checks and stupid generic birthday cards without even-"

"Enough."

Her sudden switch in tone sent a chill throughout my entire body.

She had gone from cheerful to angry all in the same ten-minute time span. Her sudden switch in demeanor caused me to lose my voice and listen intently to her.

"Lana," she suddenly whispered in a pained voice," P-Please, just... just do this for me, sweetheart. Just go see your father this once."

Her tone was final and it was one that I had never been able to disobey.

She was my mom, I had spent my entire life trying not to disappoint her so that tone almost broke me in a way that I couldn't describe.

Karly was dead-still in front of me, waiting for my reaction.

"O-Okay... I'll go," I murmured, monotonously.

My mom breathed a sigh of relief, "Good, darling... I'm glad. Everything will be fine I promise... Your father told me he would send you some plane tickets to your email that you can print out. Don't forget to do that, alright?"

I cleared my throat and brightened up my voice until it was painfully fake once more, "Okay, I won't."

"Alright, Honey. Well, I'm a little busy so I'll call you later okay? Bye."

My mom didn't even give me a chance to properly say goodbye before she hung up just like she did last time without even so much as an explanation. I took a deep breath and tried to calm down. The consequences of letting myself get too anxious were too great to deal with.

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~Victoria Lombardi~

"You are quite the amazing actress, Victoria... can I call you Victoria?"

I refused to answer him, that wicked smirk that covered his lips was sickening to me. I had just encouraged my daughter to go to the devil's den and they were still mean enough to taunt me like this.

"You said that you would leave after this call... just leave me alone! Please!" I begged.

"Tsk, tsk, Victoria, is that really anyway to treat your house guests? Don't worry, we'll leave when it's time to leave. But just remember... we're going to be watching you... any naughty phone-calls are going to be punished... you understand that right?"