Mint 2 b

Unforeseen News

It had become nightfall when the small broken family walked out of the large elementary school. April was clearly upset, blowing hot air out of her nose as she rambled on. "Violent? She called out daughter violent?" She cried out.

Jackson rolled his blue-green eyes as he followed her to her car. He held an awake Harriet in his arms, close to him, as she played with the collar of his blue shirt. "She didn't say that."

"She practically did."

"No, she said that Harriet has shown violent behavior towards her classmates. She didn't call Harriet violent. Though, April, we need to take this seriously. It's not okay for her to be hitting other kids."

April threw a nasty glare at Jackson, reaching her car. She opened the car door next to the car seat, before grabbing Harriet from his grip and placing Harriet safely into the seat, and buckling her up. "Kids hit. That's what they do."

"No, it's not. Don't try to write Harriet's behavior off. She needs consequences for her actions."

April gave Harriet a small smile, before closing the door. She walked past Jackson and around her vehicle, with him following closely behind. "I'm not trying to write off her behavior."

"You kind of are."

April turned around, crossing her arms over her chest. "Okay fine. I'll...take her toys away for the weekend. Happy?"

"You need to talk to her about why what she did was wrong."

"Why do I have to talk to her? Why can't you talk to her?"

"Fine, then I'll talk to her." Jackson made a move to get into the car, but April put out her hand to stop him.

"Fine. I'll talk to her," she said. She got into the driver's side, shutting the door and turning on the car, before putting her seat belt on. Jackson stood outside her window. She waited for him to leave, but then he knocked on it. She sighed, before putting it down. "What now?" she asked, her shoulders slum. She just wanted to go home.

"We should also think about what she said regarding why Harriet is acting this way."

"You mean when she accused us of fighting?"

Jackson nodded his head.

"I don't know what she talking about. That's ridiculous."

"So are you saying that you and Mathew don't fight?" Jackson asked.

April opened and closed her mouth a couple of times as she looked at the large tree she had parked in front of. She didn't know how she wanted to answer this. It was normal for couples to fight, healthy even, but admitting that it was happening to Jackson seemed too vulnerable. April didn't understand why, but she wanted Jackson to believe she was happily in love all the time, even if she wasn't. Eventually, she looked at Jackson with his eyebrow raised and ended up asking, "Are you saying Maggie and you don't fight?"

His expression changed. He looked down at his shoes. "No, we don't." For a split second, April wonder if Jackson felt it too. The need to pretend like everything was okay with their love lives. They were adults, full adults with a kid now, so admitting that maybe they weren't where they wish to seem almost like a failure. But that idea went straight out the window with his next set of words. "Actually, Maggie and I broke up, so."

April's eyes widen. She sat closer to the window, her hands grasping the ledge. "Jackson, I'm so sorry. I didn't know." He brushed the idea away with his hand. "When did you guys...?"

"A little more than a month ago."

"Oh." April pulled back her hands. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well, it's not something you just announce during a ten-second conversation and that's all we've been having lately. I was going to tell you when the time was right, it just never seemed right."

"Right." She wanted to ask why they had broken up. She wanted to ask who had broken up with who, but she didn't want to pry into his business. She also felt she wanted to know for the wrong reasons. "Well, I'm really sorry it didn't work out." She thought that was the end of the conversation and smiled at him kindly, before about to press the window button.

"What about you?"

She removed her hand from the bottom. The conversation was still alive and running. "What do you mean?"

"Mathew and you? Do you guys fight?" he asked.

April didn't understand why he was asking when he clearly knew the answer. If Jackson and Maggie aren't together to fight, that only leaves April and Mathew to be the reason behind Harriet's' violent' behavior. She looked towards the backseat to see Harriet playing with her favorite toy, before looking towards the radio. She made sure the air was on, before getting out of the car. She shut the door behind her before crossing her arms over her chest once more to bring some kind of comfort.

"He got a job offer in California," she said.

"Oh. Are you going to move to California?"

"He wants us to, but I don't want to. My life is here. You're here." April paused and watched as Jackson's eyes looked at her like they did before. It brought feeling to her stomach as they kept eye contact. The air around them felt thick. She quickly looked down. "I mean, you're Harriet's father. I don't want her growing up with her dad being miles away." Jackson stayed silent. "Anyways, we've been arguing a lot about it. Him trying to convince me that it's a good idea to go and then getting upset when I tell him I don't want to." Mathew also usually turned their argument into something having to do with Jackson, but April didn't bring that up.

"Do you want me to talk to him?" Jackson offered.

April made a face. "No, no, that's okay. We'll figure it out."

Jackson looked down to the ground. "He doesn't deserve you, April." He said. April's eyes widen. Before she knew what she was doing, she slapped him. Jackson quickly touched his cheek, his eyebrows pressed together. "Ow. What was that for?"

April covered her mouth with her hands, surprised that she had done that too. "I-I'm so sorry, I am...but how could you say that? You encouraged me to marry him." Jackson held his check as they looked at each other in the dark. When she realized that he wasn't going to say anything, she turned around, opening the car door once more before getting in.

Jackson quickly stood in front of the down window, his eyes lingering on her as she placed her seat belt on. "I'm sorry. You're right. I shouldn't have said that. I don't know why I did."

April placed her hand on the stick but felt Jackson's hand on her shoulder. She looked at Jackson. She could clearly see some red on his face and immediately felt ashamed for her own actions. "I'm really sorry," he said.

April grabs the hand on her shoulder, before carefully pulling it off. "Good night," she told him before finally raising the window up and putting her car in reverse.

Dear readers,

We have like two more chapters to go, isn't that awesome? I'm thinking of post this on my Tumblr as well under the same username as my wattpad. Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. Also, does anybody find it a little strange that violent and violet only have a word difference? 

From yours truly,

a.a

p.s. did anybody notice I changed my name to Alone Alondra? Classy. I know. There's a good story behind it. Maybe one day I'll tell it.