Remembering October: Falling for You Series

Chapter Four: Together

I slam the front door shut, making the sound echo throughout the house. I walk to my room, shutting that door loudly as well.

I never thought that one girl would make me so frustrated. Why couldn't she just run away like all the others? Why did she have to talk to me at all? Maybe she just underestimates me.

Or maybe she's just stupid.

Sighing, I throw my back pack across the room and flop onto my bed with a loud groan. I feel a headache coming on, the throbbing in my head more annoying than actually hurting, but I know if I don't take something now that it'll only get worse.

I get up and walk to the bathroom, taking out a few aspirins from the medicine cabinet, swallowing them with a handful of water from the sink. I look at myself in the mirror for a moment, thinking about how I got myself in this position.

Here I am, whining about a girl, when I should be thinking about how I'm going to find a job to support myself and my mom.

Then I let out a small groan. What am I going to do about my mother? The last time I saw her, she'd forgotten to pick me up from school. Then I remember how, when I was going to school this morning, she'd still been sleeping.

I walk out of my room and down the hall, stopping in front of my mom's door. The light underneath the door isn't there, just like this morning, making me frown. I knock on her door, but there is no answer.

Worry immediately spikes and I storm into the room. Empty. The bed looks like it hasn't been slept in for a while and when I walk to the kitchen, her purse is still lying on the counter, like she'd maybe forgotten it?

I look throughout the whole house. She has to be here somewhere, right? But no, my mother isn't anywhere I look.

I have the car today, so the only other place she'd even be able to go on foot was . . .

"Dammit!" I swear and tear out of the house, barely hearing the screen door slam shut behind me. I don't even stop to look both ways down the street before I run down it, my heart pounding.

I should have known. Why didn't I notice? She'd probably been in her bed this morning like I assumed, but there's no telling how long ago she left the house.

How long she's been sitting where I know she is.

The fact that I never asked her about her interview runs through my mind. Did they reject her? Did they tell her they wouldn't hire someone of her background, personal and professional, like the interview from a few months ago? Did they tell her they didn't want someone like her working for them? 

It isn't that far down the road. A mile maybe, but that's the farthest I'd say it is away. My footsteps pound on the ground, making it the only sound I can hear other than the blood pumping in my ears.

I make it there in record time, my breathing calms once I slow down and break through the heavy, iron gates. I go through the familiar pathway that I know too well, not because I've willingly visited, but because this isn't the first time Mom's done this. My heart beats fast but I'm not stopping. The crisp air isn't cold enough to make me shiver underneath my jacket, but I still have goose bumps on my arms, just being here.

The sounds of her sobs make it to my ears before I actually spot her, and I walk faster. She's there, kneeling in front of the seemingly overwhelming stone, sobbing.

Once I make it to her, I drop to my knees and wrap my arms around her frail body almost immediately. She cries into my shirt while I hug her tightly to me, trying to soothe her.

"What have I done?" she cries. "What have I done?!" She screams the second question, the sound being muffled.

"Nothing, you haven't done anything. Everything's alright," I try to tell her, but she pulls away from me. Her green eyes are glassy and swollen from crying as she grips my arms.