Vanilla Chaos

Chapter 28: Waterworks

It had come to the point where Nelly was just a ghost. He was a distant memory, even though two days ago, we were running through Paris at night, holding hands and kissing. He was no more. And I was beginning to accept that. I was unpacking my suitcase, feeling no feelings at all, when my grandmother, Silvia called me. I picked up the phone and tried my very best to imitate human emotions, "Hello, Silvia."

"Hello, Heidi, did you get back in one piece?"

Why did she even bother calling? The thought of her caring was laughable and not even tangible in the slightest. "Yes, I'm at school, again, now. I'm just unpacking my things."

"Alright. What about the French girl? Sorry, I forgot her name."

"Oh..." Images flashed through my head: the kiss on the first night there, the kiss in front of the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triumph, the coffee shop, Nicki's party. All but a nice dream.

"Heidi, what's wrong?"

I couldn't hold it back, anymore. I had no one anymore, I never had a father, my mother was dead, I hadn't spoken to the man who treated me like his niece but wasn't my uncle, Elijah, in years, Nelly was gone forever, I would never see Nicki again, either and it wasn't like Silvia gave a shit about me. "Its none of your concern, Silvia." I hissed down the phone.

"Heidi, please tell me." I was thrown off guard, completely, "I know it's hard for you, I loved your mother, as well, you know. She was my little girl, and whilst I wasn't the best mother, she meant the world to me. I had my own problems, I was an alcoholic who had just lost her job, my husband still brought in all the money I could ever dream of, but I felt incompetent and useless, like I was just a trophy sitting on the shelf, collecting dust.
I had enough money to carry on with my extravagant lifestyle long after your mother had moved out and your grandfather was dead. But I felt alone, like nobody wanted me. And when your mother passed, I was still feeling this way. I'm so sorry, Heidi, I'm a terrible mother, I could never look after you, let alone your mother. That's the only reason why I keep you there.
Please, Heidi, tell me what's wrong."

"Alright," I wiped my eyes with my sleeve, "Have you heard of Oceané Bleu?"

"Oh, yes, he's an amazing artist. I love his work, I saw his last message, I hope he's okay."

"Well, what if I told you my friend, Nelly, wasn't a girl? I lied to you."

"Nelly is a boy? Heidi, you really tricked me." Her reaction was different to what I had expected, she was laughing, "Oh, wow, maybe we aren't so different after all. I used to do things like that when I was your age. I went to meet the Beatles with my 'best friend', he was my boyfriend, my mum was oblivious."

I smiled through the waterworks, "Nelly was just my friend when we went to Paris, but he asked me to be his girlfriend on the first night there. Of course, I said yes. Well, lying to you isn't the only bad thing I've done."

"What else, Heidi? I've got a cup of tea a lot of alone time on my hands, dear."

"Nelly is an artist, he's Oceané Bleu."

"Oceané Bleu is a teenage boy? Maybe today's generation isn't so bad after-all. But what's going to happen to him, didn't he say in that message that the police have caught him?"

"Well, no the police haven't caught him, but his parents have. You see, we were the only two people who knew about it at first, but then Nelly's big sister, Dominique found out. She is very popular and famous, so she helped us gain popularity. But Nelly's parents found out and they're going to send him to an all boy's school in Italy, I'm never going to see him, again. His big sister took me back here and then went back to France."

"Heidi... That's awful, he did nothing wrong, he's been changing this world for the better."

"I know, for the first time in my life I felt beautiful, not fat."

"Heidi, I have an idea. Listen to me, I spoke to Nelly's mother didn't I?"

"Umm... No, that was Dominique, or Nicki, she was part of the trick."

"You are such a sneaky young woman, Heidi Bonde. Well, I still have that phone number, if I call Dominique, do you think she would let me speak to her parents?"

"Yes, of course, if not, she'll at least give you one of their numbers."

"Now, dear, let me deal with this, I'll call you tomorrow. Goodbye, Heidi."

"Goodbye," I felt better, "Grandma."

I put my phone back in my pocket. School started again the day after tomorrow. What was Silvia going to do? Or well, try to do, anyway? I shrugged to myself and continued putting away my things.