Amnesiac

Twenty Second

I made my way to Literature classroom rather slowly, seeing that I have a lot of time still. I woke up a little earlier today because I actually finished the rest of the assignments in the syllabus last Saturday. And yes, even if it is Monday today and most students dread it, I feel energetic.

Minutes later, Karlos sits on his seat and started to talk to me immediately. "Should I be happy and celebrate that you're miraculously not late this day?" he asked me.

I closed the book and turned to him, catching his gaze and my heart rate increases. I decided to snap out of it. "FYI, Labajo, the reason I am late the past weeks was because I get up late," I state, "And I get up late because I do assignments from the syllabus."

"You're a geek." He scoffs. "Why do you even do assignments?"

"So I could have a head start. Let's say that I am actually advanced from you for like... the whole semester." I smirked and his eyes widened. "And while you guys suffer from the rush hours by doing those assignments, I am probably watching a movie or probably eat a heck load of Chinese take out. Just chillin' around,"

"Now you've given me idea for the next semester." He states.

I laugh. "Yeah, that's right. Being a geek is the best." I said then cleared my throat. "How's the term paper encoding going, by the way?"

"I already finished encoding It." he smiled. "It's saved in my laptop and it'll stay there until I print it then get it submitted."

I grinned. "Save a back up for me? I would like to read everything you typed in that term paper."

His smile falters a little. "I don't think so." He says, "Like Ms Amanda, I would much prefer it if you wait to see it until submission. Besides, one of us would present it to the Literature class. You'll witness it."

I scoffed. "Fine." I said, "It better be good."

"Dear, Shakespeare would probably salute me for what I have done in that term paper." He says conceitedly, putting a hand on his chest as he puts on a proud façade. "I swear it to you; you would love me once you witness that term paper."

My heart rate quickens when he says the last part and my cheeks burned. There was something odd with me when he said that I would love him. Granted, he just said that and meant it as a joke or probably a tease. But my head – and clearly my heart too – tells me otherwise.

"Hey everything okay?" he asked, his face full of concern and confusion.

"Sorry, I kinda zoned out." I gave him an alibi.

He knits his brows together, which I admit was cute. "You turned pale. But your cheeks are bright red." He claims. "Are you sick? Do you feel feverish?"

I shook my head and shoot him a small smile. "I'm fine."

I never thought it would be this hard. I thought that since we were friends, it would be easy to blend with each other. But it wasn't. Since I admitted to myself that I do liked Karlos back I've been feeling awkward around him.

-

The shift was finally over and I got my salary from the first week of working in the café. The cab stopped in front of the apartment and I quickly went in after giving the payment for the ride. But I stopped midway when I noticed that my mother's car was parked outside. Excitement bubbles up in me. I haven't talked to her since I moved in here and it thrilled me to see that she gave time and effort to visit me. I ran in the house and found her talking to Liz.

When they both saw that I was home, they turned their heads to me. "You guys seem to be so deep in conversation." I said. "What's up?"

"Nothing, honey," mom says, "I just asked Liz to leave the two of us, especially now that I really have to talk to you."

I knit my brows together. "Why'd she has to leave? She lives in here too."

"Don't worry, Andromeda, I can manage." Liz butts in then nods to me. "I'll be out for the moment. Be back soon, though." She says, but there was actually something off about the way her voice and tone sounded.

When Liz leaves the house, I turned to mom and smiled at her. "I'm glad you visited. But isn't your work starts around this hour? Are you skipping or something?"

"So, how are you here, Andromeda?" she asked me. I guess she just doesn't want to talk about her work. I mean, no one likes talking about their jobs. The stress it brings was enough, and to talk about it was just as stressful.

I sat beside her on the couch. "Fine," I said, "Can I entertain you with some tea? Liz and I don't do coffee around here."

She shook her head, "I'm not going to stay long." She says. "So, I've talked with Darren and he mentioned something to me,"

Oh.

"Really," I said, my interest sucked out of me. So if Darren tells her something about me, that's the only time she'll bother to visit me? What if Darren has nothing to tell her? She won't visit me or even think about talking to me? Granted, calling her didn't really pass in my mind, but I have a valid reason.

"You were in an argument." She mentions, "What happened?"

Maybe she's at my side on this one. "He accused me that I cheated on him, when in reality I did not." I said, "He is watching on me and I feel like he doesn't trust me, mom."

"What did you do then?"

I bit my lip. "I sent him out of the apartment coz I was so pissed with every word he spits on me." I confessed. "I haven't talked to him since then. Two weeks in specific, actually,"

She looks at me, her eyes smug and emotionless. "Why not?" she asked. "Don't you think you should talk to him and fix everything? After all, it is your fault."

I gasped. After all, it is your fault. Her words repeated in my head like a broken record. My fault? "How could it be my fault?" I asked, my voice octaves higher. "He accused me that I cheated on him even if I did not! Do you know what that seemed to be to me? It sounded like he was calling me a slut and that he doesn't trust me!"

With each word I say, I made sure that there would be venom dropping. How dare her to accuse me with the same accusations that Darren put on me. How dare her to even pick Darren's side instead of mine, her very own daughter.

"We are not having this type of tantrums, Andromeda." She sighs.

I snort. "Tantrums? Bullshit!" I screamed and I almost awarded myself when I saw her flinch. "I am not doing any tantrums! I am defending myself here. God, aren't you supposed to be siding with me, mom? Why are you picking Darren's side?"

"I believe Darren and everything he's told me." she spats. "Now, if Darren tells me that you are cheating on him with some punk like you and your best friend, I would do my best to keep you from that guy." She says. "I want you to call Darren and apologize, I'm sure he will take you back. It's not too late,"

My hands balled into fists and I felt my nails dig to the skin of my palms. "I am not doing that!" I screamed. "Or if I ever call Darren, I won't apologize. I will cuss him out for being such a pussy to tell you everything that is not even your business!"

That was the cue for her to slap me. My own mother slapped me. First, she accused me like how my boyfriend did. Second, she took Darren's side instead of mine and now she fucking slapped me.

I looked at her, hatred visible on my eyes. "I do not want to say anything I want to regret especially because you are my mother." I sighed but my breathing was uneven. "I think it would be better if you leave now."

She obliged, but told me the same thing about calling Darren. When the door closed and I heard her car leave, everything that my hand grabs flies in the air as I cry.

--

I'm going to do some double update now. Sorry if I am very insufficient in this sort of thing. It's the school and the lack of internet that is keeping me from updating. Forgive me tho. HAHA.