Aberration

Chapter 46

I closed the front door silently behind me, watching out the small window as Ashton's car disappeared down the road. He hadn't said much during the ride here, but neither did I. If he had just been there, none of this would have happened. Actually, if he had never taken me there none of this would've happened. But strangely enough, I wasn't mad. Not at him, not at Jake, not at his friends, no one. I was only tired.

The hallway to the stairs was dark and I assumed my mom hadn't made it home yet. It was only 10:45 p.m, she still at my grandma's? I pulled out my phone as I took the stairs, blindly moving up each step and dialing my mom. I placed the phone on my dresser as the automated lady sent me to voice mail. Stripping myself of my clothes, I spoke openly into the air, assuming the phone would pick up my voice from across the room.

Beep

"Hey..mom. Just calling to see where you are...I just got home...call me back whenever.." I crossed the room, picking the phone back up and hovering my finger over the "end" button. My lip began to tremble as I spoke into the speaker once more. "I really want you to come home." my voice broke at the end and I was quick to end the call before crumbling onto my floor, lying there as my stomach heaved coughs onto the carpet an inch below me. There was no tears, no crying, nothing. I continued to cough, my throat now burning at the sudden dryness.

And that's where I lay for the next hour, until I literally coughed myself to sleep. Still half naked, my cardigan and tank top being the only clothes on my bare body besides underwear, I lost consciousness with one last cough and a sharp ache in my stomach.

I woke up the next morning in my bed, dressed in pajamas, my shorts no longer strewn across the floor but tucked neatly away in my laundry bin. I sat up slowly, confused at my surrounding. I looked around for the familiar scenery of the boys' flat, but only to be met with my old room. I shook off  the small feeling of disappointment and called out for my mom. To my surprise she was home, and she quickly appeared at my door, a worried yet amused expression across her face.

"Before you ask, I dressed you and brought you to bed." she said with a small laugh. I acted as if I was reassured when really that was the last thing on my mind.

"I didn't think you'd be home." I said quietly, not quite meeting her eyes.

"Well I was planning on staying at your grandmothers, but once I got your phone call I came home. I thought you would've been out partying or something with that new friend of yours." she wiggled her eyebrows at me and I rolled my eyes. Both at her comment and at the irony of it.

"Yeah," I sighed, stepping out of bed, "you thought."

 The morning was quiet and I didn't mind. I wasn't in the mood for talking and thankfully my mom seemed busy enough. She always was. I sat at the bar in our kitchen a mug of hot chocolate in my hand that my mom just insisted I had, though she had given it to me an hour ago and I hadn't  taken more than a sip out of it.

Around the time she was on the phone for the fourth time this morning, I slipped back upstairs. I sat on the floor at the foot of my bed, twiddling my fingers as I listened to the harsh echo of my mom yelling at some unlucky person through the phone downstairs. But that was just her job I guess. I didn't know much about my mom's work to be honest. All I knew is that she was some type of archaeologist and that required her to travel a lot. Usually around the world, but if we're lucky she stays in the country. 

Almost as if on cue, I hear her slow footsteps now upstairs. She enters my room hesitantly, her hands clasped nervously in front of her and eyes blinking rapidly as she always does when she has something usually upsetting to tell me.