Hanging by a Moment

2

Chapter 2

 *Hayley this is for jou. #wholegoatornogoat

It took a lot of energy for me to convince my eyes not to cry. I took some deep breaths and looked up at my mother. She looked the same as before, except that her brunette hair was now shorter and, she still had her slim figure. She smiled at me with her emerald green eyes, but it faltered when she took in my expression. What was she expecting, a welcome home after abandoning your kids for 12 years party? Well I'm sorry, Publix couldn't fit all of that on the cake.

I hadn't realized how quiet it was until I spoke,

"What is she doing here?" I asked my aunt Lisa.

"Sweetheart," she started with guilt laced in her voice, "your mother's here to-"

"What?" I cut her off. I know I asked for an explanation but I no longer wanted one. My patience was running slim and I didn't want to blow up on my aunt, so I turned my attention to the woman of the hour.

"Why are you still here? Get out! We don't want you here, and we don't need you here. So why don't you do as all a favor and disappear." I spewed coldly.

She started to say something but I didn't give her the chance to waste her breath, instead I grabbed Maya by the wrist, and started pulling her upstairs to the room we shared. I slammed the door when I walked in the room, and turned my attention to her. She looked disappointed, my little sister looked disappointed in me and it broke me. If she was against me, I don't know how I would get through this.

Before I knew it, I started crying. I was crying because of her, and that made me cry more.

As the sobs racked through my body, I got on my knees and held my stomach, as I struggled to breath. I don't know how long I cried, but at some point Maya came up to me and hugged me to her. That simple gesture made me cry even more than before.  Great, now I'm Niagara Falling over her, I thought.

That thought made me realize what I was doing, and I abruptly pulled away from my sister and stood up. Without a second thought, I went into my walk-in closet and grabbed my duffel bag. I started piling clothes into it, and was about to make my way to the bathroom down the hall when a small voice stopped me.

"Where are you going?" Maya asked her voice cracking, and her eyes brimmed with tears.

I almost gave in right there, but I knew I couldn't stay here right now. I would just have a bad attitude and make the people I actually loved mad at me.

"I going to Hayley's," I answered. She frowned and wiped away the tear that broke lose. Great, now I making her sad.

First you disappoint her , now you make her sad. You're on a roll today!

I walked up to her and hugged her, tilting her chin up so that she could look me in the eyes.

"Maya listen to me, I am not mad at you and this is not your fault. You know I love you to the moon-"

"And back?" she finished for me.

"Yes and back, it's just I'm not being a very good big sister right now, and I don't want you to see me being a bi-, a bad example."

"I know, I love you too." She replied.

"To the moon?" I questioned.

"And back." She smiled.

I finished getting my toiletries and made my way to the door, assuring Maya I would be back in a few days. I kissed her goodbye, something I always made sure to do. I would never leave her without saying goodbye, no matter where I went, or how long I went for.

I almost made it out the door when my aunt stopped me. My mother was right behind her but I refused to acknowledge her presence.

"Where are you going? Aren't you staying for dinner?"

My sister was watching the whole exchange between us, so I knew I had to keep it civilized. Instead of making a scene, I made up a lie.

"I have to –uh, -um, finish a project." I lied.

My auntie saw right through it, but after seeing the desperation in my eyes she let me go. She told me to be safe, in her overly protective motherly way, and I gave her a kiss saying goodbye.

When I arrived at Hayley's house, I let myself in seeing that I basically lived here. Her mom's car wasn't in the drive way so I assumed she wasn't home. Stopping in the kitchen to grab a Dr. Pepper, I noisily made my way up the swirl-a-round stairs.

When I opened Hay's bedroom door, I was surprised to see her twerking, or should I say attempting to twerk. What she was doing should be called back abuse. Instead of calling her out on her violent dancing, I took a seat on her tempurpedic queen-sized . A solid thirty seconds passed by before she stopped injuring herself and turned around to find me laughing. Hard. I was practically hyperventilating.

...And when she did, her face was priceless. I should know I got the whole thing on video, hopefully she doesn't get arrested for back abuse.

After she got done reprimanding me for, 'scaring the shipnuggets out of her,' her words not mine. She asked me the million dollar question.

"What's wrong?" she asked concern clear in her voice.

"Zee long lost mama, iz back," I said using our accent to lighten the mood. I don't know how to describe it, it sounded like a mix between Russian, Indian, and sometimes Swedish.

Quickly catching on to my defense mechanism she replied with disbelief, "Really? How are jou?"

I felt like ehhhhh, plus crap!

"I need a...how jou say...distraction," I answered.

"Ah, I have zee perfect thing jou, follow me." She didn't bother trying to push me to open up. She knew me better than that

We made our way down to her entertainment area, passing the arcade games and walking straight up to the built-in home theater. If the junk food didn't already the trick, watching Miranda Sings videos on the 60 inch TV sure did. Times like this made me appreciate her friendship so much more.

"So, what are you going to do now?" She asked seriously.

Well it took her long enough to bring her back up.

"I'm going to ask my best friend to stop talking about it," I said bluntly.

"Is she here to stay?"

"I don't know,"

"Are you going to talk to her?" she pressed on.

"I don't know,"

"Do you even care?"

"I- I don't know." I hesitated, meaning only one thing. I did. I did care. I've cared about her since she left without a trace. Why? I asked myself. Why? Why does her coming back make me feel feelings? I should be mad, and angry, and sad, and...I'm just confused. Is it stupid to care about someone who only cares about themselves?

"Sorry I made the mood all gloomy," Hay apologized, breaking me out of my thoughts.

"It's cool, let's just drop it, okay." I pleaded with my eyes.

In a desperate attempt to change the subject I asked her to tell me a joke. So with the help of Siri she did.

"Siri, why are fire trucks red?" She laughed and looked at me expecting me to laugh at the upcoming response.

Siri (in her robot voice): Because they have eight wheels and four people on them, and four plus eight is twelve, and there are twelve inches in a foot, and one foot is a ruler, and Queen Elizabeth was a ruler, and Queen Elizabeth was also a ship, and the ship sailed the seas, and in the seas are fish, and fish have fins, and the Finns fought the Russians, and the Russians are red, and fire trucks are always 'russian' around.

Before she could finish I was clutching my chest trying not to stop breathing.

 (I obvioulsy didn't make up the fire truck joke, Siri told it to me.)