The Esper's Academy ( Book 1){ Wattys2017}

Chapter 25

Seth stood and stared numbly at the front door of his old house. His mother's house.

He'd never known another home. This was the place his parents had brought him back to when he was born. This was the place his father abandoned him and his mother, alone to deal with his mess.

Seth had grown up within the walls of the Brooklyn row house. He'd played on the street under the leafy shade of the trees in the summer, and had made improvised sleds out of garbage can lids in the winter. In this house his mother now was starting a new life with her new husband, without him. Not that Seth had given her any other option, but still.... It pained him.

He didn't have anyone else right now.

He had never imagined a day when the door of this house would be closed to him. The last time he saw his mother, he was telling her he would go away and she had been so mad and hurt from his decision that she threw him out of the house.

Hardcore management....

Seth knew that his mother didn't do it out of hate but because this was her weird way of testing her son and making him come back to her. It was her manipulative way  of making him stay with her, putting the blame on him in order for Seth to feel guilty. Guilty for leaving her just like his father did. The only other person she loved and cared with all her heart.

But Seth was determined to let her experience a new and happy life from the beginning.

Although, this didn't mean that he won't be there to share her happiness with her. He could visit. He will just be living in another house.

Seth didn't want to burden her with his presence in the house. He didn't want to be in the middle of hers and her husband's life. He didn't want to remind her of the person who left her and broke her heart. Because he, himself, was the obvious result and reminder of the existence of that man.

Seth wanted to give her space. Just like he, himself, needed some. They both needed it. Even though, he knew his mother, Morin, never and will never view him as a burden. She loved him. He loved her.

But.... Things were more complicated....

As he stood, there, in the cold autumn air, staring the front door of his old home, he knew time had not been enough for his mother to calm down. Anthony, his new stepfather, had called him and texted him many times to come back but Seth didn't listen. He was a good guy but it was for the best.

The door was still covered in  wedding decorations, even though, it had been one week after the ceremony. No one removed them.

Yep, his mother was still mad and... hurt. Definitely...

It was for the best...

He hesitantly knocked on the door. There was no reply- not even the sound of the bolts being turned on the door. His mother's car was just outside. She was inside. And she wasn't opening the door for him.

She needed time to think. To understand her son's actions. It was difficult.

It was for the best...

Seth was just afraid of the thought of her hurting herself or doing anything stupid. He just wanted for her to think logically and not emotionally.

The thought rocked him back on his heels. No... She will understand. She still loved him.

He dropped his hand and backed up slowly, stumbling down the steps and across the sidewalk, fetching up against the trunk of one of the big trees that shaded the block. He stood where he was, staring at the front door of his house again with a distant look on his face.