a long way from home ; g.d.

n i n e

"Chavelle Nicole Jordan where in God's name are you?" My mother's shaky voice over the phone made more tears fall from my eyes. You could tell that she had been crying, even through her angry and flat tone.

"Mommy," I sobbed. "I'm so sorry." Man, I must be really upset to call my mom "Mommy". At this point, she was yelling. "What the hell do you mean you're sorry?! Where are you? Are you hurt? Has someone kidnapped you? What in the world is going on?!"

I immediately regretted everything. Buying the plane ticket, getting on the plane, flying to New York, renting a hotel room, all of it. I couldn't stand my parents, but all I wanted at this moment was to be home. Kind of pathetic of me, I know. To wanna leave behind everything that happened tonight just because of one phone call from my mom. I took in deep breaths and managed to calm myself down. I cleared my throat and wiped my eyes.

"Mom, I'm fine. No one kidnapped me." And at this point, she was screaming. "Then where are you?! I will not ask you again!"

"I'm in New York," I finally said.

"New York. You're in New York. Fantastic. Mind telling me what you're doing in New York? Besides being a spiteful teenager that runs away from her problems."

And at this point, I was pissed. I felt my grip tighten around the phone, and I stood up from my bed and began pacing around the room.

"Well, mom, this spiteful teenager is in New York so she can get away from her crazy, evil mother and father."

"Real mature, Chavelle."

I scoffed. "This, right here, is the exact reason I ran away. Because you are crazy, and you make me feel awful about myself, everything little thing I do. You were driving me out of my mind, mom."

"I'm your mother, Chavelle, if I wanna quote-on-quote, 'drive you out of your mind' then I will. It's my right."

"No, you are far from right. No one has the right to make anyone feel that way about themselves. And if you can't even realize that what you did was wrong, and won't even try to make it right, then we're done here. Don't call me again, I mean it."

"Do not test me, young lady! I'll have you tracked down by the poli-"

I cut her off by flipping the phone shut. I stuffed my phone into my backpack and pulled out my ziploc bag with my toothpaste and toothbrush in it, and headed to the bathroom to brush my teeth.

The lights in the bathroom seemed brighter than before, and I had to blink a few times to adjust my eyes. My mascara was running from crying, so I splashed my face with water to wash it off the best I could.

After brushing my teeth, I turned off the light and stripped down to my bra and underwear, and pulled back the covers on the bed after turning off all the lamps and lights. The sheets were cool, and the comforter was warm and large, but I still didn't feel as warm and safe as I did in the small amount of time I spent hugging Grayson.

I fell asleep watching Property Brothers, crying, and hoping that tomorrow would be better than today.