Keri pulled up to her house and parked in the driveway. Through the entire ride, she had wondered what the news would be. When she opened the door to her home, her yorkie, Lola, greeted her happily.
"Hey, baby," she grinned, scratching behind her dog's ear.
"Great, you're home," Mrs. Hastings beamed. Her green eyes stared wide at Keri before glancing over to her husband. Keri pressed her lips together and left her designer purse on the counter.
It was rare for the three of them to be in the same room together at once, let alone the house. Her parents were always working and too busy for her.
"So," her mother began speaking. She sat down at the stool, next to Mr. Hastings. "We're all going on a two week vacation to Puerto Rico!" She clapped her hands together.
Keri smiled a little. It would be nice for her family to get away for a little while, especially since it didn't happen very often.
"When?" Keri asked.
"We leave tomorrow morning. We wanted to surprise you!"
"Wow, that's great!" Keri grinned.
"I know!" Mrs. Hastings agreed excitedly. "And it was paid for by the job and we're going with the Walker's!"
"No!" Keri's emotions flipped. "No, no, no, no, no!"
The Walker's were a family friend that lived nearby. Keri and their oldest son, Cam, had been best friends at one point. Actually, it was a very long period of time: from pre-k to eighth grade, until Keri had dropped him for Rebecca.
Keri had avoided almost every situation when their families hung out together. She would always make up excuses for not being around.
"Why not, honey?" Mrs. Hastings frowned. "You and Cam used to be such good friends."
"Used to," Keri clarified. "Dad!" She whined.
"Sorry, sweetie. Everything's final."
Keri placed her hands on her hips, stared at the two, and tried to get them to change their minds with her puppy dog expression. She was used to getting her way and this was the complete opposite of getting her way.
"But, daddy," she tried one more time.
"What's the big deal?" Her mom had cut in.
"You don't understand," Keri groaned.
The last thing she wanted was to see her ex-bestfriend, who she hadn't spoken to in years. Her parents never knew about the selfish acts that Keri did when it came to dropping Cam and that was the way she wanted to keep it. That was most likely why they didn't see the problem with this situation.
"Come on," Mrs. Hastings attempted to persuade her. "You and Cam can hang out with his brothers while the adults go out."
"No, mom." Keri could just feel the awkwardness already.
"Too bad. We leave tomorrow, so I suggest you start packing."
Keri's face was scrunched up as she stared at her parents. How could they? Why were they so obsessed with her and Cam becoming friends again? It was none of their business, so why did they care?
"How about I make it up to you?" Her dad had chimed in. "I'll buy you whatever you want when we get back and I'll pay for all the spa treatments when we get there?" Her parents always did this. Whenever they upset her, they would buy whatever she wanted.
When her dad couldn't make her award ceremony, he made it up with VIP tickets and backstage passes for her favorite band. When her mom had to leave her birthday party for work, she bought Keri her first Prada bag. It was an endless cycle.
"Ugh!" Keri stormed off to her room to pack.
YOU ARE READING
The Heartless Persona
Short Story"Come on, be one hundred percent honest. What do you think of me?" He stared at her for a moment with a small smile on his face as they continued to hold hands. "I think that you're fake and that you don't know who you are yet. I think the way you...
