Inside | Shane Harte

16 | Centreville Theme Park

I take a deep breath and watch the other students as they eat, talk to each other and bury their faces into their phones. School was finished half an hour ago, and I stopped by a café to grab something to eat and drink before heading back to my dorm.

I like just being alone sometimes and think about life and the choices that I've made, and today... I'm not proud of myself. I'm still lying to both my mother and friends and I can't get it out of my head. It bothers me so much because I'm not that person.

At the same time, I don't regret my decision to transfer from classical to acoustic. It might be the best thing that I've ever done, surprisingly. But one thing that I have to do is to tell mother. I just don't know when...

Maybe I should call her when I get back to the dorm? Yeah, I should. I will.

I drink up the remainings of the now cold coffee and rush out of the building, headed straight to my room.

"Kayla! There you are. Me, Trevor, Bridget and Shane are going to that amusement park here in Toronto to celebrate the fact that it's friday. I think it's called Centreville Theme Park? Do you wanna come?" Crystal asks me right when I step inside the room. Oh well, looks like the phone call will have to wait.

"Sure, but can I bring Cora too?" I ask. I miss her, we haven't spoken for some time now.

"Of course! The more, the merrier" Crystal smirks and I smile.

An hour later, we're standing outside the gates of Centreville Theme Park. Me and Cora giggle causing Shane to roll his eyes in annoyance.

"Why did you have to bring my sister?" he asks me and I smile, happy to make him grumpy.

"I can be friends with and bring whoever I want" I cross my arms, proud of myself since it so much reminds me of the little incident we had on monday. None of the others understand the joke besides me and Shane which makes it even funnier.

"Clever chick" he states and the others just look at us like we're crazy, without actually asking us what the heck we're talking about.

We spend the next hours laughing our asses off riding all kinds of roller coasters and buying cotton candy three times. It's been a really long time since I last felt this kind of happiness.

Mother always told me to stay away from the coasters since they are dangerous and there are other things in life to do instead. I agree with her, but today I just feel like not doing everything she has told me to for once.

"Come on, Cora! One more coaster before the park closes" I beg her while pointing at the Toronto Island Monster.

"Fine, let's go" she smiles and we run all the way to the trains where you jump in. Since the park closes in just a couple of minutes, it's barely any lines anywhere.

"Where are the others?" I ask her and she shrugs. Ah, whatever.

When the staff tells us that we have to leave, I start to worry because neither me or Cora have seen the others. But, to our relief we find them waiting just outside the gates.

"There you are! Let's head back to our dorm, Kayla" Crystal says and I nod.

"We'll come too since it's getting dark and we don't want anything to happen to you" Trevor says and both Cora, Bridget and even Shane nods in agreement.

"Okay, sure" I smile.

The whole ride back is filled with laughter, joy and just friends goofing around. It feels nice to just hang out with people that won't judge you for laughing too loud or saying the wrong things.

When we finally reach the dorm I open the door - and see the one face I never thought would appear here right now. My mother.

"KAYLA SMITH, WHAT ON EARTH HAVE YOU DONE?" she screams and everyone go quiet, barely breathing.

"Mother, what are you doing here? And what do you mean?" I ask, getting really worried. She has never used that tone against me, ever.

"I KNOW ALL ABOUT YOU TRANSFERRING TO... TO... THAT AWFUL ACOUSTIC DEPARTMENT! IT IS MADE FOR THE HOMELESS, DRUG ADDICTED PEOPLE" she continues, with small particles of spit spraying my face for every word.

"Mother, I'm so sorry, I was going to call you-"

"IT DOESN'T MATTER! AND NOT ONLY HAVE YOU TRANSFERRED TO THAT RAT HOLE, YOU PROMISED TO STAY AWAY FROM THOSE PEOPLE, AND YET HERE YOU ARE HANGING OUT WITH THEM, DEFYING MY WORDS!"

"Kayla? Is this true? You didn't tell her that you were transferring?" Crystal asks me and everyone turn to me.

"Yeah... It is. But that's only because I knew that this would happen if she found out, I'm so sorry Crystal" I sigh and her disappionted face changes into a small smile.

"It's okay"

"HELLO?! ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME YOUNG LADY?" mother screams, and Shane snorts for half a second, but Trevor quickly hushes him.

"Yes mother, I'm listening"

"GOOD. THEN I'M TELLING YOU THAT I'M NOT GOING TO PAY FOR THIS DORM ANYMORE. YOU WILL HAVE TO FIND SOMEWHERE ELSE TO SLEEP, OR EVEN ON THE STREET, FOR ALL I CARE"

I gasp, and so do the others. Is my own mother seriously doing this to me?

"But, mother, why? You don't have to be so hard on me!"

"DON'T USE THAT TONE TO ME. YOU SHOULD BE GLAD THAT I'M NOT DOING ANYTHING WORSE. YOUR FATHER AND I HAVE SACRIFICED SO MUCH FOR YOU GOING TO THIS SCHOOL AND STUDY CLASSICAL MUSIC, AND YOU CHOOSE TO STUDY CRAP THAT ONLY HOMELESS PEOPLE LISTEN TO, AND HANG OUT WITH THESE... THESE DRUG AND ALCOHOL ADDICTS"

"You do NOT get to talk about them like that!" I shout and they back away a few steps. Mother stares me straight into my eyes for a daring few seconds, before walking past everyone out of the room without another word. My eyes start to burn and I close them to stop the tears from pouring out.

"No, don't cry Kayla" Crystal says and pulls me into a hug. I'm panicking. Where am I going to live now? I am officially homeless.

"What am I going to do?" I say and cover my face with my hands. I don't want Shane to make fun of me for crying, I can't take that right now.

"Hey, you could stay at our house" Cora suddenly lightens up.

"No, absolutely not! It's too much to ask" I shake my head, tears streaming down my face.

"Kayla, just... Hush" she says and places her phone close to her ear. "Hi dad! So, we have a situation here... Kayla has nowhere to live since her mother isn't paying for the dorm room anymore, so can she stay at our house? Great! Bye"

She hangs up and looks at me with happy eyes.

"What did he say?" Shane surprisingly asks.

"He told me to tell you that we have several guest rooms in our house, just pick one"

I squeal and Cora joins in on mine and Crystal's hug, leaving Shane, Trevor and Bridget to just awkwardly watch us. My eyes meet Shane's, and he nods with a small smile. I smile back at him.