The Stone of Destruction

~Chapter 21: Do you trust me?~

I'm running down. In the meantime I put an elastic band in my hair, so that - thanks to my not too good balance - I almost tumble down the stairs. I overslept and apparently expressed the alarm clock in my sleep, so I woke up only fifteen minutes ago.

In five minutes Pax will pick me up and I haven't even eaten yet. I sprint into the kitchen, almost running into a tired looking Mitch. His eyes widen at the moment when his meets mine and soon I look away.

Lately I haven't thought about him, but when he did come back into my head I thought about the moment in the classroom. After that confrontation I didn't see him very often and for a long time, only once in a while I caught a glimpse of him. At dinner he is not at the table and when I asked Samantha and Theo where he was, they answered that he still has things to do so he can not eat with us.

I know that I am just like him should behave. As if I don't care, because he doesn't care. But I can't forget the incident and everything before and after it. I have so many unanswered questions that I yearn for an answer so urgently. But Mitch seems to push me further and further away. He pretends that we don't know each other, that we are strangers to each other.

Whatever we are in my case, because I don't remember him. Is that why he is angry with me? Is that why he ignores me? Because I don't remember him?

I want to look up to him again. Asking why, but he rushes past me up the stairs. My throat is suddenly dry. He has indeed confirmed my suspicions, without saying anything.

It is only now that his message is clearly getting through to me: he wants me to leave him alone.

At the top of the stairs, he looks back. I want to yell at him, beg him for explanations. But I swallow my words and walk into the kitchen, when I see his gaze. His eyes are not loving, not warm. They are cold, empty and emotionless.

At the dining table Samantha and Theo are sitting opposite each other for breakfast. They are busy talking, but when I walk in they stop and look at me. I force a small smile and then walk to the kitchen.

Samantha has risen from her chair and wants to walk towards me, but Theo pulls her down - by hanging over the table - and softly murmurs: "Just let her go, darling."

I now throw them a more sincere smile and pull open the fridge. They probably want to talk about what time I came home yesterday. They hadn't said anything about it when I opened it, for which I am grateful. But I know they won't let it go. Just like they would bring in Pax.

I pour a little yoghurt into my bowl, which was already on the sink with a clean spoon in it.

I open the kitchen drawer, of which I found out a few days ago that it contains all kinds of dried fruit, and take out two plastic bags with dried pineapple and plums.

I mix it with my yoghurt and put the dried fruit back where I found it. I walk out of the kitchen and to my relief Theo and Samantha try not to appeal to me. Theo gives me a little smile, before he starts talking to his wife again.