desertion

15

I wake up the next morning to my phone ringing. I sit up in my bed and answer the phone. "Hello?" I say. "Lydia!! Miles told me!!" Isabelle says, her voice filling my ear. "Told you what?" I ask. "That he confessed about liking you!! And you confessed you liked him!" Isabelle says.

"That's all that happened. We didn't talk about what we were or anything.." I say. "Isn't that what a confession is? You guys are dating now.. right? Or am I reading this all wrong?" Isabelle asks. "We haven't been on a date, so we can't be dating. And I don't know. We didn't really have time to talk about it." I say.

"Well, when y'all do.. I want to be the first to know!" Isabelle says, making me laugh. "Okay. Noted." I say. "Isabelle!! Come help with Lunch please!" I hear a woman say in the background. "Well. I have to go! Talk to you later." Isabelle says. "Bye." I say, hanging up on her.

I get up from my bed and walk out of my room. The house is quiet. Really quiet. I walk into the living room and there's a note on the coffee table. "Chris is at Abuela's. I'm at work. I tried waking you up, but you seemed to not feel good. I'll call you and check on you later. - Dad." The note reads.

I put the note down and sit on the couch, turning on the tv and watching a show.

******

My phone rings and I pick up my phone from the couch. "Hello?" I say. "Lydia.. I'm outside." Miles says. "What? Why?" I ask. "We need to talk about last night. We didn't really talk much, now did we?" Miles asks. "Yeah, we didn't." I say with a small laugh. "Hold on." I say, hanging up the phone.

I get up from the couch and head to the door. I open it and Miles is standing there. I step out of the way and he walks inside. "Where is everyone?" Miles asks. "Dad's at work, Mom is, I don't even know where. I haven't seen her since yesterday, and Chris is at Abuela's." I say.

"Oh. Okay." He says. Awkward silence fills the room. "What are we?" He asks. "I don't know.. whatever you want to be, I guess." I say with a laugh. "Well. I know I want to be your boyfriend." Miles says. "And I want to be your girlfriend, I guess." I say. "You guess?" Miles asks, acting offended. "I'm just kidding." I say with a small laugh.

He smiles at me. "Do you want to watch a movie?" I ask. "Sure. Which one?" He asks as we sit on the couch. "And don't you dare say Tangled." He says. "What?! Why not?" I ask.

"We've watched that almost every time we've watched a movie together." He says. "It's a good movie." I say. "Yes, it is. But it gets annoying when you've watched it a million times." Miles says.

I scoff, handing him the remote. "Thank you, ma'am." Miles says, taking the remote. I laugh.

********

We end up watching Jurassic Park. My phone rings halfway through though. My phone is very popular today. I pick up my phone and put it to my ear. "Hello?" I say. "Lydia?" Dad says, his voice sounding strange. "Dad? What's wrong?" I ask.

"It's uh- it's your Mom." Dad says. "What about her? Is she hurt?!" I ask, standing up from the couch. Miles pauses the movie, trying to listen to the conversation.

"She's uh-" Dad says but he cuts himself off. "I'm on the way. I have your location." I say. Dad doesn't say anything when I hang up the phone which scares me even more.

"Could you take me there, please?" I ask, knowing he heard most of the conversation. "Of course, come on." Miles says, standing up before the both of us rush out of the house.

********

Me and Miles get out of the car. He insisted on coming in with me.

When we walk into the hospital, the atmosphere changes. There's a big weight sitting on my shoulder as I see Dad holding a clear bag with clothes in it. The clothes are bloody. My breath catches in my throat.

Athena sees me and she walks over. She's still in her police uniform. "Is she-" I start to ask but I cut myself off. "She's gone, baby." Athena says, a sympathetic look rests on her face.

I fall to the ground, starting to sob. I was too busy with my own friends that I never hung out with her. I don't have any new memories with her. Someone takes me into their arms and I can tell it's Miles due to the gold bracelet around his wrist. I sob into his shoulder.

I won't get to hear her voice again. I won't get to hear her laugh... I won't get to see her again. I feel Miles press a kiss to my head as he holds me. "Lydia.." I hear Dad say. Miles pulls away from me, his arm still wrapped around my shoulder as I look up at Dad.

"We need to go pick up your brother and tell him.." Dad says, his voice cracking. I nod my head, wiping the tears from my face. As much as I don't want to watch Chris lose Mom again.. I need to be there for him.

I have to be there for him.

********

The ride to Abuela's is quiet. Neither me nor Dad say anything. The only thing you can hear is the silent sobs from the both of us.

When we get to Abuela's house, Abuela is on the porch with Chris. As we step out, Abuela looks at me with concern. A sympathetic look rests on her face, just like Athena.

Dad stands in front of Chris, telling him Mom is gone. Chris's face drops. His normal smile gone. "She promised. She said she wouldn't leave again!" Chris says as he starts sobbing.

Dad pulls him into a hug, kissing his head. Dad puts an arm out and I step into his arms, putting one of my arms around Chris, feeling his body shake as he cries.

The world looks different now. It's dim. Less colorful.

I lived without Mom for years, but now, I have to learn to live without her again. She was there and now she's gone.

She's gone.