Stranger Yet

Chapter 5: A Second Chance

Chapter 5

"GET YOUR GODDAMN ASS OUT OF THAT BED! DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED I WAS?!" Ayra's mother, Sarah, tore the blankets from Ayra's bed. Her normally pale face had turned into a tomato, one that looked about ready to burst. "I CALLED YOU, AND CALLED YOU, AND I TEXTED YOU, AND YOU DIDN'T EVEN HAVE THE DECENCY TO TELL ME YOU WERE ALRIGHT? I HAD TO CALL THE COPS, AYRA! Not that they did much." she grumbled. And then shook her head, "But ALL THE SAME! You scared me to death! and you disappointed me!"

Ayra was sitting up in shock, still trying to process what had happened, and what was going on.

"Where were you Ayra? Explain yourself." The more Ayra stayed silent, the more her mother's blood vessels pulsated in her neck. It made it hard for Ayra to concentrate on the question. Have they always done that when she's mad? She thought.

"Was it a party? Was it a boy? Or a girl? Were you doing drugs? Tell me it wasn't drugs! WELL?" Her mother huffed.

Ayra cleared her throat. It suddenly felt extremely dry. She didn't know how to explain. She knew she couldn't tell her the truth. But she couldn't tell a full-blown lie either. "Well, about that... This is going to sound like a lie, mom. But it isn't. Okay?" Ayra rose her brows slightly and tilted her head forward, looking at her mother expectantly.

"Go on."

"Well, I was on the bus, and Miranda got on." She paused.

"Ok. And then?" Sarah waved her hands around dramatically, trying to get her daughter to move it along.

"And well, she said some things. You know how she is..."

"Yes, Ayra, I know how she is. What then?"

"Well I got really angry. I was trying to stay calm but I started not feeling well, overall, like all the blood in my body had rushed to my head. And by the time we got to school, I felt like I was either going to punch her or vomit, and I didn't know which would come first. So, I ran for the trees to avoid her, and to avoid all of the eyes on me. I didn't want to embarrass myself by puking and I didn't want to get expelled and embarrass you by attacking her."

"This is the lamest excuse I have ever heard." Sarah, her mother, interrupted.

"I told it would be hard to believe. Just... Just give me a second to finish, at least, alright?" Ayra rolled her eyes slightly. Her mother's eyes scrunched up, deciding whether or not to bebop her child just for the eye roll alone.

Ayra saw this threat and hurried to finish her explanation. "And well, when I got to the tree line, I just sort of collapsed. I wasn't at a boy's house. I wasn't at a party. I stayed in the forest the whole time. It wasn't intentional. I just felt so hot and then everything turned black, and I wasn't really myself anymore." She shrugged. She knew it wasn't really a good explanation, but it wasn't a lie either. Her mother's expression softened regardless.

"Let me see you." Sarah grabbed Ayra's jaw and pulled her face towards her and put her other hand on her daughter's forehead. Her eyebrows pinched together as she concentrated. "Well, I guess you are pretty warm. You should NOT have taken off to the forest. Do you know how bad that could've been? With nobody knowing where you went. What if you hadn't woken up? What if we hadn't found you? What then? Well, we will talk about this more later. I need to think about how I am going to deal with this. Take a shower and get some rest." Her mother let go of her face and readjusted on her feet. She eye-balled her daughter one more time before walking out of the room. "You smell like you soaked yourself in coffee." she hollered from the hallway.

Ayra sniffed herself and then sighed. Sarah was right. She did smell strongly of coffee, but least the burn marks were gone.

She felt so relieved to be free of her mother's intense, prying eyes. She plopped down onto her back, took a deep breath, held it, and exhaled, trying to relax her muscles. She knew her mother was going to punish her eventually for not going to the school nurse and getting sent home. However, for now at least, she was safe.