Lauren Sanders is struggling to rebuild her life with her aunt and cousin after her family's tragic death. But what no one knows is the truth about two things: how her parents really died and her battle with schizophrenia.
One day, Lauren stumbles...
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As my aunt finishes writing a document on her laptop, I sat in her office in quiet. Being back at school has made my head feel heavy, and the hall's boisterous students' conversations have only made me feel more worn out than I did when I was at the hospital.
I yawned and sighed to myself as I looked off into the distance after growing tired of the clock's plodding movement that seemed to be nearly keeping me, hostage, in time. My aunt's laptop almost made me jump out of my seat, and when I turned to look at her, she was staring at me. We exchanged a brief moment of stillness before she started speaking.
"So, how's the situation of your mom? Is she getting better any time soon?" Kendra asks as she tilts her head to the side while resting her arms on the armrests of her office chair.
I nodded, "Thankfully, she is," I said. "Dr. Fhassan said that we can take her home next week and she can continue resting at home, as long as she continues taking her medicine."
"That's good," Kendra nods her head at the thought of it, "And your father?"
I stared at her for a moment before I responded, "He's good, too." I said briefly as there was nothing much to say about his progress because I cared less about him.
My aunt notices the expression on my face, points it out, and says, "You always seemed uncomfortable talking about him."
I find myself chuckling bitterly to myself, "With a father like that, who wouldn't? Especially for what he did," I said as I muttered the last part to myself.
"You still won't forgive your father or you just find it hard to forgive him?"
She and I both felt the same feelings towards him, so I know that she understands how much I hated him for what he had done. Though, she seemed to be taking dad's health issues and the topic of him in our conversation in a much lighter and approachable manner, which was new to me.
"Have you?" I asked.
She shakes her head, smirking, "You don't get to ask me a question when I'm asking you a question."
I shrugged as I faintly blow a raspberry, "I don't know."
"Well, if I were being honest with you, I never hated Christopher," she said, making me confused and quite shocked.
Were we never really on the same page as I thought we were?
"I could never hate him because he made Sarah happy. You should know that he helped me when I was struggling before. And, how could I hate him if he constantly tries to make amends with you, even though what he did broke you so much that it also broke your mom much more?"
I felt curious about what she was saying about mom that I found myself asking her to clarify the last bits.
"We're all aware that your mom was hurt by the fact he left a few times and went back as if nothing had happened," She says then continues, "But your mom was more broken knowing that you grew a strong hatred towards your father, especially knowing that you're very close with him."
