Of June

16- Silver Tears

"Here", Joan pushes forward an open box of pizza, "Eat up."

For a moment, Adam catches sight of the cheesy delight placed on the dining table, his body slumped and features gloomy before he stares back at his lap. Normally he'd already spill drool upon the sight of his favourite snack, but today was different- and the reason was crystal clear.

"Isn't this what you kids prefer nowadays?" She questions, her tone strict. "I ordered it because you both did a lot of hardwork cleaning the backyard. If you don't finish it, I will."

I can't help when a satisfactory smile finds its way to my lips as I exchange glances between the duo- Adam seated in front of me and Joan to my left. It's evident that this is nothing but her way of showing guilt and additionally, an apology on behalf of her behaviour earlier during the day. Happily, I drag my chair further and pull out a piece from my box, the cheese stretching like elastic before finally arriving at my mouth.

"This is delicious Adam, no kidding." I praise in between my savory bites. "Try it or you'll regret it."

Another smile pulls my lips when he pulls his box closer and tears out a piece. I'm glad things got sorted out between them somehow, and moreover, there's an immense sense of relief flowing inside of me, specially since the thought of being the cause of the two of them drifting apart had been chewing up my brain.

We eat in awkward silence as Joan keeps watching over us with folded arms, but I don't mind- not when I caught a couple of glimpses of her faint curve of lips. I'm about halfway done when Adam rises up from his seat, his chair scraping back against the floor, catching my attention. His empty box lays before my eyes, though I'm not really surprised at his speed considering he barely ate anything ever since the Principal came, and even skipped lunch.

It's not until he's a few steps closer to the entrance that Adam turns around. "I didn't help raking the backyard, Madison did all of it. You should be thanking her, mom." He says, then slowly makes his way out of the kitchen.

Joan shifts her eyes to me, lifting an eyebrow. "So you'll never listen."

I grin sheepishly. "Uh, he wasn't looking in the mood to help me, so I thought I'd just do it alone. Didn't take much time, though." I admit. Serving the punishment alone felt nothing compared to Adam taking up all the blame for the chaos we caused today. If anything, I deserved it.

"Atleast he finally said 'mom' for the first time since morning." She sighs, eyeing me with a smile, and I do the same.

-

In the next few hours, the sky gradually gets darker while the atmosphere of the house lightens, a contrast to the the jarring tension that morning. I'm in my room, lying down on my stomach with a jigsaw puzzle piece in between fingers, and about half of the image of a forest already assembled down before my eyes.

Three weeks.

I've spent about three weeks in this house by now, and with the increasing numbers of days away from mom and dad all my anxiety has been accumulating up, making me yearn more for the family I always took granted for. Another thought that is nothing short of a crippling fear in itself is that of leaving behind everything I've gathered up all here. It's plain obvious that the more I devote my time and heart to this family, the more difficult it'll become for me to part ways in the end.

One rational plan would be to not let myself be attached to this place anymore- particularly the people living here- Adam, Joan, and even Max, somewhat. But that's just a wishful thinking, easier said than done.

I try to find the correct fit for the puzzle piece in my hand as these wave of thoughts grapple with each other, creating an aching storm within my head. I bring up my fingers to my forehead, still struggling to come up with a solution, if there's even one.