She Was Ugly

Prologue

Leo's POV

She was always the ugly duckling. That one kid who was super weird and ugly. The one everyone always made fun of. The one who cried so easily. The one kid who was constantly being bullied. I wasn't supposed to fall for her. Yet, I did.

From the moment I made fun of her for falling off a swing in kindergarten, until now, I have always liked her. Being a little kid I didn't understand my feelings. I didn't know how to express myself. So, I took it out on her.

Whenever I was angry or upset, I always took it out on her. Always. I think the reason I acted the way I did was because I was  a stupid child who had an anger problem and didn't know how to express their feelings the right way. I always felt really guilty afterwards, but my pride got in the way of me apologizing. My torment kept up all the way until a couple months into 6th grade. I had a rude awakening.

My mother was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. She only had 3 months left to live.

It felt like my world had been shattered into a million little pieces that I could not put back together. My mother was one of the most important people in the world to me. She was always there for me if anything bad ever happened. She was my mother. When I learned the news, it was like a switch had been flipped inside me.

My anger reached a boiling point. The next day at school, I took it out on her. I shoved her into a locker, destroyed her homework, and pushed her down a flight of stairs. She ended up breaking her arm. Part of me felt bad and wanted to help her, but most of me was still angry.

When she went to the hospital, my father dragged me along. He held me by my collar and made me apologize. We happened to be standing directly beneath an intercom when somebody made an announcement. "Code blue! I repeat, code blue in room 211! I need a code team to room 211 right away. Room 211!"

My heart dropped into my stomach. I had watched enough doctor shows in my life to know that code blue meant somebody's heart had stopped. My mother was admitted to the hospital yesterday for chemo, and she was assigned the room 211. There's no way this is happening. No way. She still has 3 months left to live. She can't leave me now. It's too soon.

I took off down the hallway, sprinting faster than I ever had in my life, running past a shocked nurse and a confused patient on the way. The moment I saw my mother through the door, I knew it was to late. She was gone. The doctor unplugged and turned off all the machines, while a nurse pulled a white sheet over her face. It didn't sink in that she was gone until a minute later when my dad came and ran up next to me and saw the same thing. 

Heartbreak swept across his face. His eyes started to water as he kept whispering "no,no,no" to himself over and over again. That was the first and only time I have ever seen my father cry.

A couple days after she died, I was in my room when my dad entered. "I need to tell you something. Don't get mad." I just nodded my head, waiting to here what he had to say. "Whether you like it or not, the day after tomorrow we are moving to France to live with your grandmother. Via will stay behind and live with Athena's family. I feel that right now Via needs a mother figure. It isn't the most ideal situation, but I think it's for the best."

I couldn't do anything but sit there and stare at him. In a way he was right. Via did need a strong mother figure. She was at that age where everything was changing. That is the only reason I agreed to this awful situation, even though I still needed a mother figure myself to help me with my emotions. She was the only person who could calm me down when I got really angry. I had no choice though. I knew deep down Via needed a mother more than me. It was a sacrifice I was willing to make.

As promised, the day after tomorrow my father had all our bags packed and ready to go. Via had moved in with Athena right after the funeral. The last time I saw her was last night. She didn't come to the airport to say goodbye. We left without a word. Once in France, I shut myself off and didn't talk to my father or my grandmother. Soon after we arrived, I was unpacking my suitcase, and a letter fell to the floor. It was addressed to me.

Dear Leo,

I don't even know how to start this letter. This is my first time doing something like this. By the time you get this, you will already be in France. I wrote this letter to tell you that I already miss you and mom so much. Living apart from each other is going to be torture. I hope that while you are in France you make up for all of your past mistakes. Since mom isn't here anymore, it's my job to take care of you. It's hard to do that from thousands of miles away, so just promise me one thing. Be good and don't let your anger get the best of you. I love you. Stay safe and take care of dad for me.

Love, Via

"I love you too," I whispered to the silent night air as a tear slipped down my cheek.

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Hey guys. Sorry the prologue was a little short. This was to give insight on how Leo feels, and why he moved away. There will be flashbacks throughout the story to give a little more background into Athena, Via, and Leo. Anyways I hope you enjoyed this and I will try to fix any mistakes me or you guys spot.

Also, if you ever see that I re-uploaded a chapter it's because I went back to edit it.

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