Hope (discontinued, sorry!)

Chapter Nine

I woke up to the sound of birds chirping and the sun streaming in from the window, but I saw that I was awake in my own bed.

What the hell?! Was that seriously all a dream?!

I carefully stood up and looked around, it was my old, plain room. Not the beautiful, exotic bedroom with the wood and such....

I ran up to my mirror, "No, no, no, no, no that couldn't have been a dream!" 

I wanted to die when I looked at myself in the mirror. There I was, dried makeup caking and flaking off my skin, skin all bloated and blotchy from crying, and my hair....well that was just awful.

Then, everything that happened came crashing down on me like a huge wave of guilt, the fight with Lexie, me screaming at my mom for being inconsiderate...Wow I was just a horrible person.

I sat on my bed, unsure of what to do. Should I apologize? But for what? What did I ever do to Lexie OR my mom to make them treat me like that?

I plopped my head back onto my soft pillow, and instantly regretted it. The minute my head made contact with the pillow, there was a sharp pain, constantly stabbing me in the back of my skull at a constant rhythm.

This is just fabulous. I thought with a snort.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I tried to will myself back to sleep, back to Alex and back to the Land of Ashara. But I couldn't, and I just sat there, restless. The clock was ticking obnoxiously besides me, in sync with the pounding in my head.

I went downstairs to grab some water and heard my mom talking to a man.

"Don't you EVER come here again, and don't you EVER talk to my daughter, do you understand me?!" I heard my mom hiss to him, hatred evident in her voice.

I peered around the corner, my mother's back to me. The man was in a black button down shirt with dark jeans. He had the lean, wiry body of a dancer.

He ran his hand through his hair, which was a medium sandy blonde with dark tints, "You know the law, Lacey. She MUST come." His voice was smooth, like honey, with no hint of warmth or emotion whatsoever.

My mother took a step closer to him, pointing her finger accusingly at him, "I know the law, I'm not an idiot. But I swear on my grave that if you do anything, and I mean anything to her, I will go back and I will kill you. You have my word on it."

"Very well, do you have any idea when?" He kept his composure, and seemed unaffected by her threat.

She back up a step, "No. She's only half, you know things are very different when you're only half."

"Half what?" I stepped around the corner, pretending I had just woken up. I yawned for an extra effect.

"Oh, Aria! Honey you're awake!" My mom gave a very forced laugh, "This is Jason, my boss."

He put his hand out, "Nice to meet you Aria, I've heard a lot about you."

He looked so young...barely older than I was, there was no way he could be my mom's boss...or maybe he just inherited his dad's business?

"It's nice to meet you too, Jason." I clasped his hand and let out a small gasp when I felt a shock go up my arm.

I looked up into his eyes, to see if he felt anything either, but his face was emotionless, and his eyes were covered by dark sunglasses. 

"Well, Lacey, I have business to attend to, I hope you have a nice day. You too, Aria." He said my name with extra emphasis, as though I needed to know I was being spoken too.