THOSE GOOD TEEN YEARS 4 CLOSER THAN EVER

Chapter Fourteen: Diary Entry

AN- This is the second part to Ali's discovering of her mom's affair with Peter's dad. Yeah, It's sad, but we can't do anything about it now :(

Please support Ali in this

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The shock hit her in a series of images.

When she'd first come to Lakeforest, when she was in fourth grade and had almost immediately become Peter and Em's friend, she'd felt good. Up until nine years old, she never really had a friend who was dependable. People found her too liberal and free, and some of her mom's clients had frowned upon her and called her a wild child. She'd been lonely, even when she was free. She remembered feeling happy and wanted when Peter first asked her to join his table and be his friend.

Then when she came to his house for the first time for their many sleep overs, she'd felt nervous. On the outside, she was the happy go lucky Ali, but inside, she was scared of being rejected by Peter's parents as an improper friend.

She remembered how weird Peter's dad had behaved when he first saw her. Then, she'd thought he'd been weirded out by the way she dressed. Now, she knew. Ali was a split copy of her mom, their only difference being their eye colour, hers being sea green and her mom's deep blue. Maybe he'd been awestruck by this kid who looked so much like the person he'd had an affair with. Then, Ali had waved it off- he had smiled and welcomed her. He'd been a good host- asking about Ali's interests and dislikes, hobbies and studies. Finally, she remembered, he'd swallowed hard and asked her mom's name. Now she knew the reason for the swallowing. Mr. Norman then had been holding on to a tiny sliver of hope that his past hadn't caught up with him, but he had decided to check.

"What's your mother's name, Alison?" He'd asked.

"Oh, it's Laura Thomas. She's a women and child rights lawyer." Ali had answered.

"Oh. How nice." He'd said in a barely audible voice, looking slightly pale. Then he'd straightened and smiled his huge grin. He'd been mostly good that evening, but Ali couldn't help but wonder why he'd reacted so weirdly to his mom.

Things got even more weird when she told this to her mom. Her mom had been holding a glass mug, full of warm water. She'd dropped it when she heard from Ali about her new friend.

"What?" Her mom had said, looking scared.

"Yeah, Peter Norman. He's my new friend, along with Emma Deyton, this girl. They're pretty great. I met his dad. He had a weird name, something like, Vladimir Norman or something. Weird, right?"

"Y-yes, weird." Her mother had muttered absent mindedly. Then she'd scooped down to clean the mess and had deliberately talked about something else. In her innocence, Ali had ignored this.

It had been there all along, right from the beginning. How her mom flinched every time she mentioned Peter's dad. How she hid in the room when she met Peter for the first time- who was also a split copy of his dad. How Peter's dad flinched every time Ali came to his house.

Ali also remembered the time when she'd think that she and Pete had some 'connection'. Yeah, now she knew. A connection only two siblings could share. She remembered the way she and Pete bickered constantly, annoying each other, and laughing when the other got humiliated or something. Classic stuff only siblings could do.

Really, it was shocking. She remembered when she'd started learning martial arts and every one had asked her why.

"So that I can beat the shit out of the guy who left my mom." Ali had said simply. Everyone had laughed. How ironic that the guy she wanted to make a shish kebab of was right under her nose all along. Ha, life could be cruel indeed.