Attractive Idiot [NaNoWriMo]

14

Alexia’s POV

I put on some dry clothes as soon as my feet touched my carpet in my room. 

Then I fell face first onto my bed, and went into what could be classified as hysterics. 

I can’t believe he played me like that, and I was too stupid to question it. Too stupid to question any of it.

“I’m so glad I’m done with him,” I sniffled, wiping at my eyes. “I just need to push that entire part of my life away and work on building a relationship with my parents and Lee again. That’s it, family and school.”

Even as I stood on shaky legs, determined to make it through this and not be one of those girls who got hung up on someone, I still felt like curling up in a ball and crying my eyes out. 

But instead I forced myself into my bathroom, cleaning up the tear stains and coming up with any distractions possible. 

It was close to a miracle I got myself to stop crying as soon as I did. I just kept thinking of how Colin screwed up my entire life, and I just needed to remain strong in order to get it back on track. The will to prosper in this situation is what drove me to walk downstairs in a confident manner, disguising my sadness as nervousness. 

“Mother?” I called out as I entered the kitchen, fidgeting with my thumbs slightly.

My mom looked up from where she hovered over the stove, cooking dinner. She still had that icy look in her eyes, eyes that were now guarded and cautious. 

“Yes Alexia?” Even her voice was careful, suspicious of me. It hurt to hear her sounds so distrustful of me. 

Pushing that feeling away, I let a tentative smile slip onto my face before I gestured to where ingredients were lain out on the counter. 

“Do you need any help preparing dinner?” I offered, knowing fully well I was a terrible cook. I could cook a plate of scrambled eggs, but even those came out burnt. I just figured that since my mother loved to cook, I might as well start with this if I’m to reconstruct our relationship. Maybe even improve it from what it was before. 

“Sure,” my mother replied, slowly. 

My smile widened, and I took the spot next to her, looking at everything in confusion. “What do you want me to do?”

“For now you can finish chopping those vegetables as I make this soup,” she instructed, going back to putting in spices and herbs into a large pot. Just by the scent I could tell that she was boiling chicken and chicken bones in order to give the soup some flavor. 

I nodded, grabbing the knife and carefully slicing up the vegetables. Looking around the kitchen, I saw all the ingredients needed for my favorite dish. 

“Mother? Are you making fried rice?”

She gave a brisk nod. “Yes.” There was silence for a bit as I continued to chop the carrots into tiny neat cubes, before moving onto the onions and a few other ingredients. “Don’t think you’ll be receiving your driving privileges back any sooner since you’re helping me,” my mother told me. 

“I wasn’t even thinking of that,” I answered in all honesty. “I broke it off with him,” I said afterwards, much quieter. 

“The idiot?” my mother questioned, and I nodded, flinching at the word idiot. It only served to remind me of my mistake. 

“Yes.”

“Good. You’ll be much happier with Lee.”

“I know that now, Mother. Thank you for opening my eyes,” I said with as much sincerity I could muster. I knew fully well that she had done nothing that would make me want to break it off with Colin aside from simply telling me to do so, but it was nice to see her eyes show a glimmer of appreciation at my words.