Hope wakes up and gets ready for school like every other day. She goes through the same routine she’s used to. She does the same cycle over and over. She never does anything different even though she secretly wishes she could do something different every second of every day.
Hope is at her locker now. She gets the book she needs for her first class. She goes through her classes like a robot. She writes what she needs to write, remembers what she needs to remember, and talks when she needs to talk. She talks to her friends and her teachers like everything is fine because it is. She smiles and laughs. She fits in perfectly. She’s just an average girl who lives an average life.
Hope is walking home now and she’s slowing down as she nears her home like she does every day. She reaches her house and stares at it. It looks like your typical American home, white fence and everything. She slowly walks the ten paces she hates walking every single day. She opens the door and she knows what’s coming because it’s her cycle. It happens over and over again.
“Why are you late?”
Her mother’s words are always the same. They’re never different in any way, not in tone, length, or disappointment.
“I’m sorry, mother.”
“Why must you be such a disappointment to your father and me?”
Her words shouldn’t sting because they’ve been the same for years. Yet, they still always make her heart ache.
“Do you need any help today, mother?”
“You can help me make dinner for your father.”
Hope and her mother go into the kitchen and make her father’s favorite meal. I guess you could call today a little different. Her father is coming home from his business trip. He hasn’t been home in weeks.
Two hours later, they’re setting the table and making sure everything is perfect before he arrives.
At exactly 8:00 he walks in. He looks the same as he always does. He’s wearing the suit her mother got him for his 35th birthday. He has a blank look on his face as if he doesn’t want to be here. They all know that none of them want to be there.
“Maria. How have you been?”
“I’ve been fine. How was your business trip, John?”
“It went fine. Thank you. Is dinner ready?”
He asks this as if he doesn’t already know the answer.
“It is. Let’s all take a seat and eat.”
To anyone this talk between a married couple would definitely be alarming, but in this house this exchange was very civil. It was as normal as they could get.
YOU ARE READING
The Missing Piece
Teen FictionHope is your normal girl. She gets good grades. She has normal friends. She's average looking. She's just like every other girl. In public. But what is her life like behind closed doors? Xavier has lived a bad life. He's never had someone to be prou...
