The Headturner

Adding insult to injury

Chapter Eight - Adding insult to injury

Anne returned home before dinner. Her mom was in the living room. She did not yell at her. She just looked at Anne with sad eyes. Anne felt a pang of sadness and hopelessness in her heart. She felt lost. She did not feel guilty for sleeping with Adam. She actually felt relieved from some kind of unknown burden. She just felt like she had just betrayed her mother. She could not look at her anymore and just went for a shower. While taking shower, she prepared herself to talk to her mother.

"Where is he?" She could not bring herself to call that man her father.

"He drank and went to sleep."

"Good for him. What does he want? Why glorify us with his presence now?"

"Don't talk like that, he is your fa..."

"Don't say 'father'. He has never been my 'father'. You are my father, my mother, my friend, my everything. And I cannot see you bow down to him like this."

"But darling, he needs us right now. They need us."

"What do you mean?"

"Your.... He is broke."

"No wonder. With his drinking and their lifestyle. So he wants your hard-earned money now?"

"He... wants them...to live here."

"What??? NO NO NO no no no no way in hell."

"Anne..." Her mom looked at her pleadingly.

She bit her tongue and felt nausea washing over her. If she had eaten anything, it would have certainly come up. She retreated to her room where she felt caged. She let go of the tears and cried her eyes out.

The next morning, she could barely open her eyes. It was like someone had glued her eyes shut. Her eyes were puffy from all the crying. She thought of ditching school for the day. But she thought Adam might take it the wrong way. She called Tanya. She would know how to take care of it.

"Hey Tanya, it's Anne."

"Oh Annie, of course I know it's you. I have saved your number under 'tutor'." So much for dropping her nerd status. Anne rolled her puffy eyes.

"Ummmm I have got major eye bags. Do you know how to fix it?"

"Oh yeah, I get it often. Just put a spoon in the fridge for some time and massage the eye bags with the curvy part. It will subside babe....."

"Oh thanks. You saved me."

"No probs. Otherwise you can wear killer shades. Your face is perfect for shades."

"Yeah. See you at school."

"See ya."

Even if Tanya was a lot different from her, Anne could not help but like her. She was innocent and adorable, which Anne knew now that they were hanging out. From afar, you couldn't tell.

She was happy she didn't have to face his drunken 'Highness' since he was still snoring in the guest room. As usual, the gang was hanging around Adam's car in the parking area. Anne thought it would be awkward between her and Adam, but it was not. Maybe it was his guilt, but he was acting sweet and caring towards Anne. She told herself not to overthink his intentions and just enjoy the moment while it lasts. In her experience, good things did not last long. 

 Little did she know, she had found herself a best friend for life.

Within next week, her father had moved in with his new family. Anne could hardly believe his shamelessness. He was a great father to his second daughter, Melanie. He fulfilled each and every wish of hers. For Anne, he used to be so strict. She used to be restricted to studies. Melanie got to do everything she wanted. The contrast disgusted her so much. She hardly ever got out of her room for the fear of having to see the 'happy family' together. It was sinful of her, but she could not help being jealous. She liked Melanie though. It was not her fault that their father was just an excuse-of-a-father to Anne. She could not blame Mel for what she was going through. Still, it was so difficult, seeing them jovial and laughing around the house. It was messing with her head.

The only thing keeping her sane were her friends, especially Tanya and Adam. Tanya made her forget her family problems by being naive and adorable. She had so much to talk about and did not let Anne think about anything else. On the other hand, she could talk to Adam about everything. He knew everything about her and did not judge her. She had nothing to hide from him. He was understanding and calmed her when she went on and on about how horrible her father was. He did not offer solutions. He just held her and listened to her.