Happy endings never last

7

"Hi aunt Evelyn." Her warm smile greats me as she opens the door to her cute house out in the suburbs.

"Hello sweetheart." She gives me a warm hug and step to the side to let me in.

I'm still quite unsure about my aunt. She and my mom had lost contact, the reason has on one told me, but a few months after she... Passed away she found me. She said she didn't even know I existed more than I knew she did. I had relatives I didn't even know about and I must say it was a comfort to know I wasn't all alone. Even though I have a hard time connecting with Evelyn and her husband Grayson.

If I'm going to be honest I still have a hard time looking at Evelyn. She just looks so much like my mom that it hurts. They have the same brown hair with matching large eyes. They have almost nonexistent overlips but a full under lip to compensate for that. Evenly has the same modest beauty that my mom also had. Hell, they even have the same body language.

"Is it Lyra?" A voice calls from the living room and a emidetly recognize it as Brook. Her slink frame peeks from out from the living room and a grin plays on her lips. "I thought I heard your bitchy voice."

"Language!" Evelyn scolds her adult daughter. Would my mom also still do that to me?

"My voice is not bitchy." I hiss. "You just have to much wax in your ear."

I really didn't want to come today. They invited me to dinner, well Evelyn did but Brook also usually comes, I think she knows I'm a bit uncomfortable around her. I just feel low today. It that type of day I just want to lay in bed and cry, maybe look the newspaper I sometimes steel from my neighbors after jobs. It's really hard getting a job, the pay is always lousy but usually they go after those who doesn't have a class schedule to go after, and even after that I'm not a top choice. And when I end up getting hired my boss usually end up being some sort of pervert.

"Okay girls I'm going to check on the food." Evelyn simply tell us before she disappears to the way the kitchen is.

"How are you feeling?" Brooks arches one of her perfectly sculpted brows at me. She probably can tell by the bags under my eyes or something that I haven't had a good night sleep. I'm just so stressed with everything that I can't even sleep anymore. I just lie in my bed calculating how low on money I am. I'm so much fun, I know.

"I'm fine." I lie. It's weird how many times I have told the same lie.

" no you're not." She sits down on the deep red couch and pats on the place next to her, gesturing me to sit with her.

I know it's stupid that such a small gesture can make me feel better but knowing that someone actually wants my company means more to me than they will ever know.

" what's going on, miss Lyra lying?" She asks me when I sit down next to her. We are both sitting so that we are facing each other.

"I'm just stressed, that's all." I tiredly tell her with a not so convincing smile on my lips.

"Lyra, please I know you're not used to this but please let me in." Her eyes are shiny and I know if she breaks down for something that she don't even know about I'm also going to. " what can I do to help you? Let me help you."

"I-" I feel so taken back by her question. She has asked me all this things before but now it feels like it's layers to her words. I want to tell her. I want to tell her that I can't get a job, that I can barely afford groceries and my bills, that I'm crying  myself to sleep, that I'm anxious, that I'm constantly tired and that I'm scared.

I'm so scared.

But like the cowered I am, I don't. I put on that fake simile that I know so well and act like I'm fine. That I'm fine. That I'm such a lie of a word. Who is really fine? Who doesn't tell a lie when the use that cursed word. Act like its nothing. And that's also what I say to her, that it's nothing. Of course she doesn't believe me, I mean why should she? I'm not very convincing but to my relief she lets it go, I can see how almost disappointed she looks but she doesn't want to push me, especially when I'm so fragile. So she lets it go.

And that's why she is my best friend.

" I'm going to get you!" I call, running after Alex as she screams. Her legs are so sort and she is so slow that I have to take small steps not to catch up with her right away. "I eat kids like you for breakfast." I say with my monster voice. She screamed one more time befor I grab her and toss her in the air. She laughs as I'm pretending to eat her. "Nom, nom, nom."

"Noo." Se calls out between her laughters and try's  to get out of my grip.

"Take it easy." Mom calls at us from the living room. So I let Alex down, she is still laughing and smiling at me with big bright eyes full of life.

I walk few meters to the living room where mama is sitting, reading her paper.

"Come va a scuola?" *how is school going?* she asks me without looking up from her book. I sit down on the chair on the opposite side of the coffee table.

"Alright." I shrug. I'm not the best in school but I don't want her to worry about me. I'm an adult so she don't need to get all worked up on me anymore.

"Questo è tutto?" * that's it?* she looks up at me now with her eyebrows drawn together. My mama sure was a beautiful woman, you can se that even though her glory days se behind. Her brown hair with a few gray hairs are pulled into a lob bun with a few pieces that has escaped and are framing her face. Her skin is tanner than mine and her eyes are just a simple brown. I remember she told me how glad she was that I got my dads eyes, she always thought they were the most beautiful thing ever.

"Well my drug dealing business is really hitting off."

She rolled her eyes and look back down to her book "sei troppo come tue padre." * you are too much like your father* She mumbles to her shelf.

"Mama?"

"Sì."

"Why did you fall in love with dad?"

"Non lo so. Credo che solo era lì per me e mi ha amato , questo è tutto quello che dovevo" * I don't know. I guess he just was there for me and loved me, that's all I needed*

"come ha fatto a farvi innamorare di lui?" * how did he make you fall in love with him?*

"sono state le piccole cose , portando me fiori , mi dice che sono bella , essere onesti ... le cose semplici." *it was the small things, bringing me flowers, telling me i'm beautiful, being honest... the simple things.*

Simple... I can do that.