One Day At A Time

Chapter 13

Alicia's POV

The days had continued to slip by. I finally felt like I was fitting into a routine and things at school were going just dandy, besides any interaction with Landon. His insults had just been getting worse and worse, and though I never let on, he was breaking me inside. The majority of his friends kept a healthy distance from me, minus April. As for Morgan, we had grown close fast. Though I told myself I wouldn't for fear of losing her, I couldn't help it. She made me happy and put one piece of my heart back into place. Kayden and I had also become friends, and he was a picture perfect gentleman. He made me feel like a lady, a void Landon hadn't filled. I had just finished firing off an email to Kami. We didn't talk much with each other anymore. I knew this would happen. When I left the airport that day, I said I had lost the last of my heart. Distance had caused me to lose Kami. I glanced out the window from the place I was curled up on my bed. The sky was thick with dark sheets of clouds, hiding the merry face of the sun. I felt something inside of me crack and quickly rushed to the door. I couldn't stay in here any longer. If I did, I wouldn't make it. As I skidded around the corner to the living room, I saw Mrs. Ingram engrossed in a serious conversation with Landon. It didn't look successful. Landon looked hard as always. What would it possibly take to crack this boy? I shifted my wait, and the floor creaked underneath me. Oops. Both people turned to face me. I bit my bottom lip.

“Ah, Alicia,” Mrs. Ingram stood up, “I was just telling Landon of the dinner party we were invited to this evening. They're some friends of ours.”

Good cover up Mrs. Ingram. You weren't talking about that.

“Your friends, not mine,” Landon rudely corrected.

I scowled at him. Was there a soft bone in his body?

“What should I wear?” I managed to ask with my eyes on the floor.

“Well I haven't been taking you dress shopping for nothing,” I could hear the smile in her voice. “Usually to these formal dinners, that's what we wear. Whichever you like, it's your choice. But we must be ready in 3 hours.”

I didn't respond. Either this house was incredibly unperceptive or people couldn't read each others' feelings in England. I continued to scuff at the marble floor beneath me. Remembering I had an audience, I looked up quickly on my way out of the room. Mrs. Ingram had a concerned look on her face and Landon just studied me. For once, I didn't see hardness in his eyes but I turned away because I knew it would be there in a matter of seconds. When I reached the refuge of my room, I closed the door and made my way to closet. I flipped through the dresses. They were all so beautiful, I couldn't decide. My fingers stopped at two dresses hung side by side. One was silver, the other a bright green. I gulped. My mother's....and Kami's. Without warning, I felt a rush of tears and sank down against the wall. I thought I could hide from it all. I thought that if I had just lived my life here I could forget about everything that held my prisoner in the past. But every time this courageousness overcame me, my ghost made an appearance, leaving me even more shattered then I was before. Tears were now coating my cheeks as I heard my door push open.

“Hey, uh, Alicia? Mom wanted me to tell y...” Landon's disinterested voice trailed off at the sight of me.

I didn't want to hear the heart-rending comment he'd make to me in response to seeing my state, so I hurriedly pushed myself up from the wall and past him, as a loud sob left my body. Somehow Mrs. Ingram must have heard me, as when I reached the same room her and Landon had been in only minutes ago, she was standing there, her arms held open. I didn't even think. I just fled into them, burying my face into her chest and letting the sobs take over.

Landon's POV

I stood dumbfounded in her bedroom doorway still. I have never seen a girl crying that hard, well, not for a long time anyway. Is it even possible to have that much water come out of your body? I could still hear her muffled sobs from somewhere downstairs, so I made my way down. I didn't care, no, I kept telling myself that, but there was this driving force of curiosity that propelled me down to that room. I softly crept over to the room, watching quietly the scene in front of me. Alicia sat up from my mom's lap, pushing the wet hair off her face.

“Tell me about her,” her voice croaked.

My mother nodded and gripped Alicia's hand. “She was a doll, really, just like yourself. We met and became best friends when we both moved here, arrived at our first day of school, in the middle of the year. I've never had such a close friend. As we got older, we always talked about futures. You know girls, constantly daydreaming. Oh we came up with big dreams and fairytales, that's for sure.”

My mom paused for a moment, her eyes fading as she fixated on something in the room. Alicia seemed spellbound, her face flushed and her eyes a pale green. She looked so fragile.

“She visited America one summer, our junior year, and she came back with tales of meeting the man of her dreams. Before I knew it, she returned to the States to finish her senior year and graduate, before marrying at nineteen to the man who took my best friend away.”

I watched Alicia gently lift a finger, catching a stray tear on my mother's cheek. “My father,” she whispered.

Mom nodded slowly. “After the wedding, I didn't hear from her until a year later when she phoned me in desperation over her pregnancy. She didn't want you at first, love, she said it wasn't how she imagined it. Married at 19, and pregnant by 20. But she didn't back down, oh no. She had you and as soon as she did, it was her only goal to provide and give you the best life possible.”

Alicia cut in, “But what changed? And how did I end up here?”

A pained look crossed my mother's face and she drew in a breath. “I saw her one last time before she passed. She came here, telling you she was on a business trip. When we were children we had promised to take care of each other and if anything ever happened to us, we'd take care of the others' family. She came here so we could make that legal, thus why you were brought to us. I don't know what changed her, dear. I always remember her being happy and carefree, but when I saw her for the last time, she looked worn out and forlorn. I think she gave of herself too much, and forgot what was most important. She always was feisty and headstrong.”

My throat felt a little parched, so I tiptoed away into the kitchen for a quick drink. I tried to process everything Mom had just said. It all seemed confusing to me. From the kitchen, I could hear my mother's muffled voice,

“It's okay to cry. You've held it in for far too long. Stay strong, love, you hear me? I know you can because every time I look at you I see your mother, and she would want you to be happy.”

I waited in the doorway again watching as Alicia stood and gave my mother a hug, before trudging over to me. I don't know if she didn't see me or if she was just ignoring my presence, but she brushed past. At a random urge of desperation, I grabbed onto her arm. She stopped and her pale eyes sliced into mine.

“Are you okay?” The words slipped through my lips unintentionally. She studied me, as if trying to gauge my level of sincerity before whispering,

“No.”