A Long Road Ahead

Chapter 3

Thank goodness for Sabrina being so willing to cover for me.

    Luckily, Massi's parents and sister work all day, meaning during the day, he has the house all to himself.

    This means that during the summer, we can spend as much time as we want together during the day, now that school is no longer in the way.

    I mean, work still is, but at least we no longer have school on top of that.

    "What do you want to do?" Massi questions me.

    "I don't know." I mumble.

    My head rests on his lap and my eyes start to close as I try not to fall asleep on him, as it is still the middle of the day.

    "Are you okay?" He asks me. "You seem to be really tired lately." He points out, as I am basically sleeping.

    "Yeah, I'm sorry." I tell him.

    All I ever do is sleep, and I feel bad that all we ever seem to do is sit on a couch or lay in his bed as I sleep.

    "For what?" He asks me.

    "For not doing anything besides sleep." I say to him.

    "Chloe, it's okay, I just want to make sure you are okay. Are you not sleeping well?" He questions me.

    "Well, not really." I admit.

    "Any reason why?" He questions me, moving a piece of my hair out of my face, before he moves his hand down to my calf.

    "To be honest, I think I'm way too stressed right now. And I don't feel safe at home." I admit.

    "Chlo, what do you mean?" He asks me to elaborate.

    "We have always said that 'the summer after senior year' is when we finally tell our parents about us. Now that it's here, I'm scared, Massi." I say to him, sitting up, tears forming in my eyes.

    "Chlo, if you need more time, we can wait, you do not have to do anything that you are not ready for." He tells me, wiping away one of my tears.

    "No, we need to tell them, I just, I have no idea what is going to happen. I have always told you that they will be mad, and they might disown me, but I have never really told you the truth." I admit to him. "My parents are terrifying, they can seem all nice, but on the inside, they are awful people. I do not even feel safe sleeping around them, especially now that I know how safe I feel around you. I just get such a bad feeling when I am around them, and it keeps me up for hours every night. Massi, they are going to be far more than upset when I tell them, they are so much more racist than I make it seem, they are so much more evil than you could ever imagine people being. I am scared that they may get violent. And when I say they might disown me, I mean that there is a zero chance I ever talk to them again. Once I tell them about you, that's it." I vent, sobbing by the end of it.

    "Chloe, you do not have to do anything you do not want to do." He repeats.

    "Massi, I am not scared of losing my parents." I clarify. "I couldn't care less if I ever talk to them again or not. I care so much more about you than I ever could them. I am just scared at what will happen." I explain.

    "Chlo, we will figure it all out." He assures me.

    "I know, I just want to be away from them, but I also want to be safe, and I want you to be safe too." I tell him.

    "Everything is going to turn out great." He assures me.

    "I love you." I remind him, resting my head on his shoulder.