The Boy Who Returned// ON HOLD FOR LIKE THE NEXT 10 CENTURIES SORRY BOUT IT

The Boy Who Returned~ Chapter Three

As I finished stowing the last photo frame away into a cardboard box that was basement-bound, my mom burst into the room, her eyes shining with tears. "Oh, Lizzy." She said, her voice trembling.

I looked up, alarmed. "What happened? Is everyone okay?"

My mom sank into the armchair in the corner of the room. "Rose will have to come. Now. Ray hit her."

I gasped, incredulous. "He hit her? Why would he do that? They're already divorced. And didn't he agree to let her stay until she could find somewhere to go?"

My mom sighed. "I know, honey. I know. That was exactly my reaction. Apparently they got into an argument over which photo of Sky she could take along. I mean, let the poor woman have the photo, right? At least Ray has the real thing."

I sat next to my mom and put my arms around her. "Things have really changed between Sky's parents, haven't they?" I asked, remembering the happy couple that seemed so in love when I had been friends with Sky.

"I guess they've just fallen out of love." She smiled, but her voice quavered. My mom was probably the most compassionate person ever. Instead of a money jar to put in extra change for my college fund, she had a money jar for charity. Which kind of sucked for me, but I guess my mom's compassion didn't stretch as far as going to a good college. "Dad's going to pick Rose up and drive her here right now, since he's on the way back from work and Rose doesn't have a ride."

"Well, at least I managed to clean this room up in time or else we'd have a real problem on our hands." I joked, trying to get my mom to crack a smile. I swear, her heart breaks every time she hears about someone else's misfortune.

My mom heaved a sigh. "I better start dinner. Oh, another hungry mouth to feed." She said, extricating a laugh from my mouth and immediately lightening the mood.

We then both went our separate ways- me, to my bedroom to stare out my window and mull over my thoughts, and my mom, to the kitchen to worry about the well-being of others and ending up almost chopping off her finger because she's so lost in thought.

*****

When the bell rang, I opened the door- only to be attacked by an overexcited woman who smothered my face in kisses and squished the living being out of me. "Frizzy!" Rose shrieked, using her pet name for me from a long time ago. It was due to the fact that I never bothered to do anything with my hair when I was little, and walked around all day with my bed hair.

"Hey, Rose." I said quietly. "Long time no see." I withdrew to examine her. She had lost so much weight, and I could see right through her heartbreaking smile. Her eyes were red-rimmed and her red-painted lips kept quivering, as if she was trying to hold up a smile that she couldn't quite carry the weight of.

"You've grown into such a lovely young woman, honey." Rose cooed. "I'm so sorry to intrude on you like this! I know how teenagers are with their privacy, and here I am, rampaging into your house with no regard towards your feelings..." Rose rambled on until I cut her off.

"It's alright, Rose. I don't know how Sky is with his privacy, but I'm fine with you coming in like this. And by the way, I'm really sorry." I told her sympathetically.

Rose patted my back awkwardly. "It's going to be alright, Frizzy. It's going to be alright." She echoed, but I could already see the tears start brimming in her eyes. Embarrassed to see such a motherly figure at the verge of a breakdown, I chose this moment to give her a peck on the cheek and make my escape upstairs, leaving the adults to discuss things amongst themselves.

Later, when I had completely run out of things to do, I decided to sneak downstairs for a glass of water. Halfway down the stairs, I heard the name 'Sky' and I immediately froze. "I just don't know what to do about him, Dianne." There came a moment of silence when all that could be heard throughout the house was Rose's muffled sobs and my mom murmuring comforting words into her ear. "Sky was never like this before the divorce, and suddenly he hates me and acts like this is all my fault!" Rose wailed.