It has been a year since Annalise Montgomery lost her fifteen year old sister Lilly in the middle of a sunny day when she was waiting in a parking lot.
Annalise takes the case into her control when the police are empty handed. No leads, no traces, n...
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If Lilly were here, she'd be cursing under her breath the moment she felt the tension between my mother and I. Each step towards her is heavier than the last.
"My god, your face." She hoists the little boy- Jeramy, higher on her waist. I don't bother even looking at him. "It's that police officer, right? You're in a domestic with him, aren't you? I saw his bruises to match. I know you, Annalise. Just like Lilly you've latched onto him and let yourself be treated-"
"Shut up!" It's a new record for the both of us to have snapped this fast. "If you took two seconds to ask me, you'd find out that A; he's not a police officer, and B; we both got jumped by the same guy. Don't ever imply that it's a domestic again."
A part of me always knew she'd seen me as crazy. I'd shut out the memories of when she'd push me into multiple doctor's rooms and demanded they fix what's wrong with me.
Although hearing her today, confirmed that theory. Even her tone implies it. "You've stopped taking your meds again, haven't you? You always get like this when you do. You're doing the same thing with him that you did with Lilly-"
"No. You don't get to draw that line." I wanted to retreat to my apartment to be alone, but the moment I step towards the entrance is when she would follow me in. I do not want her in my home anymore.
"Your OCD isn't a joke, Annalise." She snaps at me and has to pat Jeramy's diaper when he becomes restless.
I feel as if I'm ready to explode, but I reign it in. "Believe me, I know. You and dad made it pretty clear after shoving me to multiple doctors only to have pills forced into my diet."
I can't see either Lilly or I in my mother's appearance. Her hair is an odd browny red colour, and it's a lot thinner than ours. The only resemblance is our nose.
I see my anger in her. It's like looking into a mirror that only reflected attitude. "It's medication Annalise, and it helps. Your compulsions are fine to deal with, but the panic attacks and obsessions aren't."
I felt what was coming, but stay silent. My blood boils beneath my skin. I wish I had asked Scott if I could go with him- or stay at Reggie's. Anything to avoid my mom. I sensed her anger from across the parking lot.
I don't know why she's even here, but I imagine it's because she got news of the man's arrest. She did this last time. Showing up to check I hadn't done anything spontaneous.
"You would have a panic attack if someone as much as went near Lilly when you were little." I don't remember that. "That's why we took you to get help. We didn't care about how you pushed through until you finished a job, made things align or match. You only ever liked Lilly and got too attached to her. Now that she's not here, you're doing it with that boy."
