Not What it Seems

Chapter Twenty Four

~Jane~

I was outside in the yard, pulling weeds, stupidly, when I heard a car pull up to the curb. I ignored it, assuming it was Alex, but when the wide, looming shadow stopped over me, I realized it was actually my Father.

"What the hell?" I whispered harshly, standing up. "What are you doing here? Mom is home! If she see's you, she'll have another panic attack and -"

"Jane, stop. Listen to me." We backed up until we were beneath the shadow of the house. "Jane. I know I left you."

"Again," I snapped.

"Yes. Again. But I'm back for good. I'm relocating here. I left so I could go end things with my job and apply for one here. I want you to come live with me."

There it was. All laid out on the table. And honestly, it was just that easy. I could go with Dad, and would probably never have to see Mom again. But the daughter inside of me prevented me from saying yes and leaving my Mother defenseless.

"Dad, we can't just leave Mom like this! She'll kill herself. She isn't emotionally stable enough to live by herself and you know it! Why don't you just -"

"Jane? Who the hell are you talking to?" Mom called out, shutting the front door behind her.

"Shit," I murmured, and Dad and I stepped out from behind the house. Mom shrieked, pointing an angry finger at Dad.

"You get away from here!" she cried, and I was sure all our neighbors could hear us. "I never want to see you again!"

"Please, dear, let's be reasonable about this. Let's go inside." Somehow, he got through to Mom, and she followed him through the front door. Once she was inside, though, she lost it again.

"Who the hell gave you the right to come back here!?" she screamed, grabbing one of her heels from the shoe rack and chucking it at Dad. It nailed one of our lamps in the side, sending it crashing to the floor. I flinched back into the corner naturally.

"Alice, please, calm yourself. I have a proposal for you." Mom laughed bitterly. Grabbing some more shoes and hurling them at Dad's moving figure. I knew trying to stop her would be futile. She was in a world of her own, and getting in the way would only result in injury.

"Oh! A marriage proposal? Well guess fucking what, Richard! I don't want to marry you, you two-timing bastard!" she shrieked. She threw a coat hanger at him, which he caught and tossed aside before screaming, "I hate you! Why did you do this to me?! Why did you break me like this!!?"

And then, having spent all of her energy, she collapsed to the floor in a tired, crumpled heap. The thing about Mom's panic attacks was that they never lasted too long. She was a small, thin woman, so the amount of energy she contained was really quite limited.

"Alice," Dad murmured. "What have I done to you..." I sighed, plopping down onto the couch.

"Dad, what's going to happen now?" I asked and he sighed as well, sinking down beside me.

"Alice," he said, and Mom tilted her head up slightly to indicate that she was listening. "I want this family to work. But the only way that's going to happen is if you go to rehabilitation and work through this stuff."

"And what?" she said wearily. "You just get to take Jane backt to New Jersey with you?" Dad shook his head, placing his hand on my back.

"Jane can stay here with me. I'm moving here, and we can come visit you through your time in rehab, alright? Everything will work out." For a moment, I thought I saw a faint smile on Mom's face, but it was gone as soon as it appeared.

"Richard, if you hurt me one more time, I swear I will -"

"Alice," he murmured again, kneeling down beside her and daring to kiss her cheek gently. "I loved you even when you were crazy. I'll love you even when you aren't." It was clearly some kind of inside joke between the two of them, for Mom giggled happily and threw her arms around Dad.

And finally, six months of agony and fighting came to a halt.

~Cash~

Deep Breaths. Deep Breaths.

It was Monday morning, a full two weeks since Jane and I broke up, and I was ready to fix things.

Don't ask me how I planned all this, all I'm going to say is that it took a lot of bribing on my part. I watched carefully as all the students piled into the lunch room, scanning the crowd eagerly for Jane. When the crowd thinned out and people began sitting down to eat, I assumed that I had simply missed her entry. I nodded to the janitor, who was standing by the stage door, and he flicked the cafeteria lights off completely as I ascended the stage nervously...

~Jane~

The next day at school was certainly more pleasant than the previous two weeks had been. I had told Alex about the previous days events in the morning and he had hugged me breathless. I hadn't seen Cash all day, but it wasn't as if the solving of my family problems had fixed my need for Cash.

"Hey," Alex said as he walked me to lunch. "You know how I like that girl?"

"Which girl? Remind me of her name?" Alex laughed, swinging my hand back and forth.

"Nice try, Jane. It's a secret until I ask her out. Which I am planning on doing sometime this week." I squealed, throwing my arms around his neck.

"That's so exciting! How are you gonna do it? Where are you taking her? Oh God, I wonder what she looks like! Is she pretty? Where did you meet! How -"

He clapped his hand over my mouth and I giggled before licking his palm. He shook his hand out, rubbing my spit onto my jeans.

"Gross. Calm down! I haven't even asked her yet! She might reject me, you never know."

"I really doubt she'll - Wait. What's that?" I listened closely to the thumping music coming from the cafeteria. "What the hell?" I asked, pulling Alex into the room. All the lights were switched off, but there on stage, Cash sat on a stool in the spot light, microphone in hand. I squeezed my eyes shut to keep the tears in, but when he caught my eye and smiled they flowed down freely.