ethereal (k.l.)

•SEVENTEEN•

*A/N: before I you start this chapter, I just wanna say that the whole "dad leaving them" storyline isn't because they're a black family and I didn't mean it as a stereotype. This is simply a storyline for their mother and how their family is emotionally. When I came up with the idea, the whole stereotype thing didn't even cross my mind. So I apologize in advance if you took/take it that way because that's not how I intended it.*

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The cold wind hit my bare skin, causing me to shiver. My cheek still stung and it now had dried tear stains on it. I'm sure I looked like a mess to all the passerby's. My clothes were drab and old, my hair was a mess, and it was obvious that I had been crying for hours. Plus I was sitting alone on a park bench so they probably thought I was homeless.

I was a wreck, physically and emotionally. I was only wearing a t-shirt and jeans and it was barely fifty degrees out. My stomach was doing rapid flips and I felt like throwing up every ten seconds. I couldn't stop thinking about Kian and my mother and how that slap was more than just physical pain to me.

Ever since I ran out of the house, I've been here. Sitting alone in a park just a few streets away. And god, I couldn't stop crying. Tears were basically my best friend at this point. I've been here for about two hours now and I didn't plan on leaving anytime soon. Going home sounded like hell to me. I didn't regret anything I said. I'll admit that attacking her with the whole dad thing was a bit overboard, but I had to let it out.

My dad left us just a few months after Rachel and I were born. I guess he couldn't handle raising twins, so he abandoned us. (Davina and Rachel are dizygotic twins, which means they were born at the same time but they aren't identical.) None of us have seen him since. Rachel and I have only seen pictures of him, but we couldn't remember him, of course. This really hurt my mom and left her emotionally unstable. I think that's why she's so cautious when Rachel and I get into relationships, Grayson just added onto her paranoia.

But that doesn't give her the right to tear Kian and I apart. I understand that she's worried that I'll get my heart broken, but she can't interfere in my life like that. I don't think she understands that.

I keep replaying our fight in my head. She didn't even try to listen, she just tried to defend herself. I could tell that she didn't care that I have real feelings for Kian or that what she was doing was really hurting me. And that's what leaves me dumbfounded. How can my own mother not care about those things?

Suddenly my phone buzzed in my bag. I sniffled and grabbed it, seeing that Rachel was calling me. For a second I pondered on whether I should answer but I ended up pressing the green button anyway. "Hello?" I said, my voice weak from yelling and crying so much.

"Hey, where are you?" She asked. I could tell she was concerned.

"I'm at the park that's a few streets away." I told her, "Are you asking for mom?"

"No, not at all. I'm just worried about you. You've never run off before." She said.

I sighed as I looked down at my beat up converse. She obviously doesn't know what happened. "Well, I didn't want to be around mom because she slapped me."

There was a pause that lasted about five seconds. "She slapped you?" She asked in a gasp.

I nodded even though she couldn't see me. "Yeah, we got into another fight about Kian and I mentioned dad leaving and then she hit me." I admitted. "God, she wouldn't even listen to me. It was like talking to a brick wall."

"I'm so sorry, Davina. I can't even begin to explain how pissed I am at her." Rachel seethed. I sniffled as I fought back the urge to cry yet again. "Can you please come home? You don't have to talk to her, we can just go up to your room and watch Disney movies if you want."