Lost In You

S E V E N

"He asked about you," Mum stated from her place opposite me, piling some salad onto her fork.

She said this every time she came back from dropping Gabby off at Dad's. I knew that later tonight I would hear her throwing out all the junk food in the house and starting up the treadmill, the same way she did at the start of every month. She was obsessed with being as perfect as Skanky Susie, my Dad's girlfriend, and Kelsey, her stupid, model daughter. I hardly saw her eat, and if she wasn't working, then she was working out. I hadn't been to my Dad's in a year and a half, and the last time I saw him was when I told him that I never wanted to see him again, the day of his wedding.

I was sick of never being enough for him.

Never smart enough, or thin enough.

Never sporty or pretty enough.

Just never enough.

"Okay," I said, wishing Tyler was here to ease the tension, but he had gone out with some friends I'd never met before and wasn't meant to be back until later. Surprisingly, I found myself counting the minutes until he would walk through the door.

She sighed from her seat and got up, clattering her fork down onto her plate before scraping the rest of the salad into the bin. She'd eaten less than half of it. Suddenly I wasn't hungry and followed her lead.

"Is Aidan coming over tonight?"

I stilled in front of the dishwasher, taking a deep breath before answering. I was half expecting her to ask. Usually, when Gabby left for Dad's, Aidan or Lucy came over as much as possible. Mum and I tried to spend as little time as possible together.

"He cheated on me. We broke up."

I heard Mum stop what she was doing and take a sharp breath.

"Oh, Briar. I'm so sorry," She murmured. I kept my back to her. Not wanting her to see the tears threatening to spill over my cheeks.

"It's alright," I murmured and placed my plate on the rack, turning around after I'd composed myself.

"Who with?" She asked, although I knew it hurt her, her curiosity got the best of her.

"Lucy."

Mum's beautiful eyes widened and her mouth formed a perfect o.

"Lucy Venez?"

I gritted my teeth together and nodded, glancing anxiously towards the door, wanting to escape. Mum and I didn't do this kind of thing, we didn't talk about how we felt. Especially not about boys.

"Oh."

I nodded again, slowly inching towards the doorway, fighting the urge to run.

"I'm going to go to bed, goodnight."

Mum made a small noise before turning around and going back to what she was doing, clearly having felt like she'd fulfilled her mothering duties.

I climbed into bed an hour later, refusing to go to sleep until I heard the soft click of Tyler's bedroom door closing.

❦

I woke up the next morning to the sun pouring in through the window and basking everything in light. I lay there for a moment, enjoying the way the rays shone on my face, warming me, even though I knew it was cold outside. The shower turned on and I could hear Tyler singing through the door, I let the smile spread across my face, though it quickly dropped when I realized I would have to see Aidan and Lucy in less than two hours. I begrudgingly dragged myself out of bed and forced my legs to carry me down into the kitchen, silently appreciating the silence from Mum as I brewed a coffee. Maybe there was some good that came out of being cheated on.