Roommates

Chapter 31

Aurora woke up much later in the day, at nearly 10:30 am. She had gotten enough sleep, but she had had the worst nightmares, so she still felt tired. She was weary on her feet as she explored the house, calling out for Evangeline. She must have already gone to work.

Pulling her phone off the charger, she sat on her bed and looked through her contacts' list. Her mother's caller ID lit up her screen as she put the phone to her ear and laid back in bed.

The ringing stopped and there was a moment of silence between the lines. "Mom?" Aurora asked.

"Hey, sweetie. I'm so glad you called." Lauren's voice was gleeful, and it brightened Aurora's expectations, but only momentarily. "Your father and sister are here too, say hello."

"Hey, Blaire. Hi, Dad," Aurora mumbled. Daniel made the choice to be her 'dad' when her biological father didn't, but he still wasn't half the man a 'dad' should be. The same could be said about her sister. Blaire was forced to be her sister, but dropped the role of being a friend years ago. Just her presence made Aurora bitter. "How are things at home?"

Daniel's laugh echoed through the phone. "Much better now that your sister is home from her winter vacation! It is nice to have the whole family together again for the holidays."

Picking up her easily shattered heart, she smiled. "I'm glad you're all together. I meant to call on Christmas, but the days escaped me."

"No problem," Lauren said, her voice aloof. "Why did you call, sweetie?"

"I was just hoping to talk to you, Mom." Aurora held back the quivering in her voice as Lauren continued to show her that she was the least important thing in her world. "I wanted to give you an update."

"Well, then, go ahead. Talk to your dad and sister, I'm making breakfast." Lauren's voice began to fade out as Daniel's breathing took over the background.

Aurora cleared her throat. "Well, I found a new place to live."

"What's your rent like?" Daniel asked flatly.

"I haven't talked to my roommate about that, yet." Aurora tried to explain the situation, but Blaire interrupted her.

"Ew, you mean you don't even have your own place? God, I'd hate to be you!" After spitting fire she began to cheer. "By the way! Mom and Dad helped me find my very own apartment by the BYU campus! I'll have to show you all of the pictures!"

Aurora gobbled the words in her mouth, trying to coherently speak, but Daniel cut her off. "If you're calling to ask for money, you're out of luck. Our hands are full. Your sister has decided to go back to school to finish her associate's degree."

"I'm starting school at the University of Washington to get my bachelor's degree next week," Aurora said. The reminder of returning to her education had not dawned on her in the past week. She hadn't given school a second thought since she paid her tuition and fees a few weeks ago.

"Well, we've always known your sister was going to be college bound and we are going to help her out, so she can make it through her degree this time," Daniel explained. His snarky tone angered Aurora. "Besides, you had your chance to get our support and you blew it. Who gets a C in entry-level history?"

Aurora was gobsmacked. Before her last semester, she had a 4.0 GPA and a full time job, but during that last stretch, she was kicked out of the house. "I was living out of my car and working 50 hours a week with six classes! What did you expect?"

"Your sister managed to get a B-average her first semester. We don't expect anything less from you. You know your sister has dyslexia."

"I had straight A's until my last semester! It's your fault that I did poorly in those classes!"