Be Mine

five: "you're all red, you know that?"

"You're going where?!"

I knew this would be her reaction; I didn't expect anything more or less. Most of the time my mother was overprotective but she also had moments when she didn't care at all. When I was failing school she fell into madness. She yelled at me and made sure to repeat as many times as possible that if I didn't finish my education I would never get a job. Her monologues weren't very encouraging. My mother worked as a nurse and was taking care of my father when he was sick. She's never seen any other future for me than working in a medical field and finding a cure for cancer. Studying was consuming my life. When my father passed away I realized that it all was for nothing. I couldn't save him. 

"You should be studying and preparing for your senior year... again."

"I am," I said but I was sure that it didn't sound convincing enough. At least not enough for her.

When we were at the mall, Sebastian explained that there was a summer house which his parents owned. Of course they had a summer house. I was equally surprised when Sebastian said that I could come with them if I had no other plans. I agreed as soon as he said those words but then I realized that telling my mother would be a nightmare. I wasn't wrong about that, as always.

Later in the day I got a message from Gina encouraging me to go and hang out at Laura's. She wrote that they were having a girls night I should definitely be a part of. I agreed and used the fact that my mother had a night shift at a hospital so it was easy for me to sneak out.

Whenever I had to move from point A to B I always used my bike. It was just way more convenient than having a car. Cars are big, it's often difficult to find an empty spot to park in and also wasting time in traffic would've made me angrier that anything else. With a bike I avoided all of that.

I knew the way to Laura's house by heart. I had an excellent memory which also made it easy for me to study so much. Also made it hard to forget about dad.

I ringed the doorbell and in no time Laura appeared in front of me. "Hi," she greeted me with a warm smile.

Out of three of them I liked Gina the most and Alice definitely the least; that's why when I saw her sitting on a U-shaped sofa in the living room I sighed. She just didn't, by any means, make a good impression. I might've been prejudiced but I didn't give it too much thought; I knew we wouldn't be the best of friends. Ever.

She wasn't ecstatic to see me either. I just wanted to try and have a great time with Gina and Laura.

"Aren't your parents home?" I asked when Laura gave me a glass filled with champagne.

She laughed. "Yeah. In theory they should be here all the time but as you can see," she spread her arms and waved them around. "it's not the case here."

I frowned and instantly felt hit by an overwhelming confusion. Laura noticed it and answered the question that was on my mind before I could say it out loud. "Well, my parents are older and they decided that they wanted to enjoy life so they travel a lot.

"Don't you feel lonely sometimes?" I immediately regretted asking her such a personal question.

Laura shook her head. "I'm happy for them. I miss mom from time to time but we call each other and FaceTime a lot."

I smiled but in the back of my head I had this weird feeling; she didn't mention her dad. I decided not to dig in any further because the air was already getting heavy and I didn't want to worsen the mood.

"Fuuun. Great start of the night," Alice rolled her eyes. I ignored her comment and turned the other way.

"Becky, Ocean City. We're leaving in three days."