[Hidden with a Smile.]

❶

I think most of it...was from my eyes.

Yes, my eyes. Everyone that has met me has told me my eyes are beautiful. I have big, sea green eyes. Even with all the compliments I've gotten on them, I've never once thought my eyes were beautiful.

I think the reason for that is because I inherited my father's eyes.

I've never met my father

But I think it's better I haven't.

After all, he ran away when he was going to meet me.

As my grandmother explained, a week before I was going to be born, he told my mother he would go and buy her some snacks, a coke, some twinkies, simple things women crave when they're pregnant. Well, after that, it's pretty obvious, he simply just never came back. My mother wanted to believe he would come back, but the day before I was born, she got a letter from him.

He simply wrote "I'm leaving".

Now, my mother can barely stand to look at me.

Even though I look mostly like her, her same dark brown hair, same nimble hands, her long ballerina-like legs, I got all of those features from her, no one could deny the fact I had my father's eyes.

Once, my grandmother told me that's why my mother fell for my father, his eyes. It's ironic, isn't it? The eyes that made my mother fall in love makes her hate me. After I reached the age of five, I think she just cracked after having to stare at my eyes and remember him. She refused to take care of me, she began to go out every night and return at odd hours.

For some reason, I couldn't blame her.

Luckily, I had started school, so I wasn't extremely lonely all day, but everything that was happening was so confusing to me, I couldn't understand why my mother ignored me. I had to go to school looking like a mess since I could barely dress myself. After my grandfather passed away, my grandmother moved in with us so she could take care of me instead of my mother.

She was a very amazing woman, she taught me everything, to cook, clean, fix my hair, coordinate my outfits. I loved her more than anyone, I took comfort in her. When she past away, I was already ten, but I cried like I was three. Since then, I haven't cried, not one tear. I knew I had to be strong by then. I had no one else to hold my hand and help me, so I knew I couldn't get pity from anyone else.

Even though my mother has caused me to become filled with sorrow, the thing the set me off the most from the things she had done was giving me my name.

My full name's Azalea Pierce.

The Azalea flower has a very significant meaning. It's said to mean, "Take care of yourself, for me".

Ha.

It's as if my mother knew she wouldn't be able to deal with me. To me, she gave me a message of sorrow in the form of a name.

Oh well, that's fine with me.

After all...

"AZALEA! A-Z-A-L-E-A!" Desiree shouted in my face, causing me to become startled and almost fall out of my desk.

"YES! YES! WHAT HAPPENED?!" I asked, standing up quickly.

"Seriously, I've been calling you for five minutes, the release bell just rang, come on! You said you need to get home before your mom leaves for work, right?"

"Ah, yes! Sorry, I was thinking of, um, those little sugar cube things, I was just wondering how they make them."

At this, Desiree, looked at me as if I was crazy. "Well, you can worry about those another time, hurry! The others won't wait for us forever."

As me and Desiree stepped out of the classroom and out of the school doors, the others ran up to us. It was Joey, May, and Dean. We always walked home from school together, since Desiree said it was funner to walk together than to be alone.

"Hey, Azzey! Did you finish your English paper?" Joey asked me, as he smiled his same bright smile he always did.

"Nope! I was procrastinating it last night, but luckily, we had a sub in English today!" I said as I sighed with relief.

"What?! Lucky! It seems like things always work out for you!" May exclaimed, laughing, "I had to finish mine during lunch."

"Really?! You guys really are slackers. I did mine three days ago" Dean announced smugly, chuckling.

"Hey! You can't blame us if we actually have better things to do!" Joey remarked.

"True, but I'm pretty sure the only one with something better to do is Azalea, y'know, with her being a mermaid and all."

"Aw, come on, Dean, what did I tell you about calling me a mermaid? I don't even understand why you do!" I told him, a little embarrassed.

"Well, you look like one, I bet if I gave you a mermaid tail, no one would believe you weren't!"

Everyone laughed at the thought.

"Oh, guys, I'm sorry, I need to hurry home, I promise I'll walk home with you all tomorrow!" I said. As I dashed off.

"Okay, tell flounder I said hi!" Joey yelled, causing another wave of laughter.

I just rolled my eyes and kept running, hoping to make it before she left. I ran through my shortcut I found in a field to my neighborhood. When I reached my apartment building, I panted from the race and walked into the apartment that my mother and I rented.

I slowly stepped towards my mother's room, looking in there cautiously before creaking the door open.

"Hello mom, I'm home from school" I whispered, looking at her reflection in her big vanity mirror she was getting ready at. Her room was disgusting, even after I cleaned it yesterday. There were beer bottles and cigarette buds everywhere as well as her clothes she tore up the night before. She didn't answer, and she didn't look my way.

"I got a A+ on my science quiz".

Again, silence from my mother, as she put on way too much make up. She looked like a cheap...well...I shouldn't say that about my own mother.

"Everyone keeps saying I look like a mermaid, isn't that weird? Well, it's not as weird as me talking to you everyday even though I know for a fact you'll never answer."

She still stayed mute, as she fixed her tight, revealing outfit and walked passed me and out the door.

Again, I was alone.