Heartbroken

Chapter 9: Allegra

"So..." I said. "How should we do this?"

I stood at the door to Milo's room, watching as he sat on his desk chair. He shrugged.

"Um. Okay."

At that moment, Mercy burst into the room, automatically jumping on his bed. He looked over for just a moment, and the tension in his shoulders -- that I didn't notice before -- started to even out a little bit.

"Are all beds this bouncy?" Mercy asked, falling down and dropping onto the floor. She crouched down next to Milo who was still scavenging for supplies.

"What are you doing?"

He glanced at her again, his mouth quirking up in one of his telltale smiles. I looked around the room as I waited, Mercy and Milo conversing in the corner. Milo's bed sat in the middle of the floor, a desk set directly perpendicular from it. A large shelf covered an entire wall next to the door, full of books. Posters and odd little bobbles were strewn about on the walls (and the floor), but what was most memorable was the picture of his mom.

It hung over his desk, a different smiling picture than the one I had previously seen. Milo stood up, and Mercy grabbed his hand. She pointed to what I assumed was a walk in closet.

"What's in there?"

He opened the door in response. There were three racks: one occupied with dark shaded shirts, the other two dedicated only to scarves of varying colors. His scarf collection was almost more impressive than his actual house, and my jaw dropped as I found a scarf for every occasion.

"Can I wear one?" Mercy asked, impressed. Milo nodded, and she picked a very colorful rainbow scarf. She swung it around her neck and then took Milo's hand again, pulling him through the door.

"Let's go!" she yelled, excited. She grabbed my hand too, and we walked down the hall together, Mercy in the middle.

Milo glanced over at me, and we held each other's' gaze. He raised his eyebrows, and then looked down at Mercy, as if to say, is she always this way? I nodded and smiled a little. Milo stared for a little bit longer and almost ran into the wall. I laughed nervously.

"Aren't you going to tell your dad that we're leaving?"

He shook his head. "He wouldn't care, anyway."

I decided not to argue.

Mercy rolled down all the windows in the car, relishing every moment that the wind blew on her smiling face. She was especially excited when Milo gave her a pair of sunglasses, and tried to look cool by pouting out her bottom lip.

"So, where are we going?" I asked, hoping to get an actual answer.

Milo pulled into a side street, kept driving, and then pointed to a park. My park.

The green grass grew with no limitations because the park wasn't used anymore, so no one saw any purpose to mowing it. The swing set and playground were slowly being devoured by vines, and the open pavilion now had a nice canopy. A small stream gurgled nearby, winding happily through the park, its banks full of trees and wildlife.

I smiled sadly, remembering the bittersweet memories I had made here with my mom. I could practically see her beaming face as she pushed me on the swing, her laugh a glorious sound that encompassed me and made me feel safe.