The Guardian

Chapter 14: A Glimmer Of Hope

You would think that life would stop throwing more rocks at me, but instead it picked up the heavier ones. Now I had to explain to my mom. My sweet innocent mother had to hear my horrible story.. I wasn't ready to tell her, but here I was, standing in front of her, speechless. Neither of us moved. We were frozen in an awkward silence.

"Why didn't you tell me?" My mom whispered. The tears were falling faster now.

"Mommy.. Don't cry. I couldn't. I wasn't ready.. I didn't know how you would react. I was scared you would hate me.. Or be disappointed in me.."

"How could I be disappointed. You can't help what happened. If I would have know you were going to be alone at the cabin I would have never let you go. Derek said that his parents were going to be their and that it was a weekend vacation with the family. When you didn't come home... I was so worried. I called Derek, but he never answered. I thought you were dead. I had gone down to the police station to file a missing persons report, and when I came back you had left the message on the answering machine. I wanted you home right then. I missed you so much. I can't even imagine what you went through... I feel like a bad parent. And I didn't even put together the fact that you were pregnant. You have been sick all week.. You don't have to go back to that school anymore. You can transfer. I don't wa-"

I ran up to her and hugged her. I let the silent tears roll down my cheeks. Now she knew. She knew everything. I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Now there was one less thing to worry about.

I finally let go, and she placed a hand on my cheek. "Quinn, there is nothing in the world that could make me stop loving you." She dropped her hand. "Will you help me with the groceries?" she said changing the mood.

* * * * * *

All the plastic sacks were strewn across the counter. One by one I was putting the food away, and when I finished, I was hungry. My mom came into the kitchen with a small sack that had a Radio Shack logo on it. "I was going to be home earlier, but I stopped at a few extra stores on the way home. I got you a replacement phone. You have a better one coming in the mail. What do you want for dinner?" She asked as she handed me the bag.

"Will you make me some ravioli?" I asked with a small grin on my face.

"Sure baby. I'll call you when it's done, ok?"

"Ok, Mom. I'm going to get started on my homework. What time is Dad getting home? Are you going to tell him?"

"He's at another one of his meetings. He will probably be home late. I'll talk to him. You don't have to tell him yourself."

"Thanks, Mom." I said as I headed up the stairs to my room. I plopped down onto my bed and pulled out my math book. Start with the hard stuff first. I had 3 lessons to do. It was roughly 100 problems. I was going to be up all night.

I got all the way done with the first lesson, and I decided to move onto another subject. I grabbed the bag that had my phone in it, and opened it. It was a simple flip phone with a full keyboard. I turned it on and waited for it to load everything. I set it on my bedside table, and grabbed my history homework. I started to read the chapter on the Jamestown settlement, well sorta reading. John Smith.. Blah blah blah.. Famine.. Blah blah blah.. Death.. Blah blah blah.

My phone vibrated. That's not right. I picked up my phone. 5 New Voicemails. I clicked on it.

"Hey Quinn. It's mom. Where are you? It's been a day since you were suppose to come home... I'm really worried. Call me when you get this. Bye."

"Quinn, this is mom, please come home. I'm really worried."

"Hey Quinn, this is Maccy. Your mom told me to call you and see if you woul pick up. Apparently not. Where the hell are you? Derek came home but you didn't. I don't understand. He said that you guys got in a big fight and ran off. I always knew you had problems. Anyways... Just stop being dumb and come home. I miss you."