A second chance

In a heartbeat

          I open the door to my house. It's around 5 pm. About dinner time.

         "I thought I told you to tell me where you're going before you leave." My mom comes walking up to me.

        "Oh yeah, I kinda forgot," I admit rubbing my arm. Her face then fades from mad to sad.

        "Next time answer when I call you." She murmurs.

        "Oh, I must have left my phone on silent." I lie. I didn't want her to ruin the day. Today was great until now. She stays silent for a bit. Like she's trying to find what to say. I can't read the expression on her face well. All I know is that something's off. The house feels quieter than usual. Something is missing and I can't quite figure out what it is.

        "What's wrong." I try to read the expression on my mom's face but the silence is so loud I can barely concentrate. "What happened." As soon as those words exit my mouth my mom starts to tear up.

        "I'm sorry I did all I could." She tries her best to hold back tears. Wait what happened. That same sick feeling fills my stomach. Not again.

        "What-" my mom then Interrupts me.

           "It's Mai."

        "Where is she!" I shout "What happened?!" My mom then gestures to the living room. I then make my way there to find the cat laying on the couch with no breath in her body. I cover my mouth with my hands.

        "What happened?" I repeat.

        "I don't know. I was just sitting here and she collapsed." My mom says frantically. "It happened so fast I was freaking out." She just collapsed? Why didn't my mom bring her to the emergency vet? Or was it too late? Was this her fault and this is all an excuse. I look over at my mom. I don't think it is. She seems genuinely upset. Unlike how she felt with Taz.

            Just then I hear a knock on the door. I walk up to the door. Who could be here now? I open the door to see Jaiden standing there. His expression changed when he saw me. my face was wet with tears.

      "what happened."He asks. "Why are you crying."

"My cat just died," I mutter softly holding back tears.

          "Well, it's terrible such an amazing person like you has to deal with stuff like this." He says. I welcome him inside the house.

         "How'd you know that this is where I live," I question.

         "Well we were on the same bus and I know this is near your stop it just took some asking around." He admits smiling trying to make me feel better. I walk over to the living room and sit on the couch Jaiden follows behind. It seems my mom left out the back door and brought Mai with her.

        "Why'd you come anyways," I ask

      "You forgot this." He then hands me a necklace with my name written out on it. My dad got me this necklace a while ago.

             "Thank you I say." Still upset about Mai though Jaiden seems to have lifted my spirits slightly.

          I wish I had some to comfort me years ago when I really needed it.

           

           I was upstairs sitting in the corner of my room. It was late and dark outside. The yelling of my parents was what was keeping me up. The yelling lasted for hours. It only stopped when my dad would leave the house. I heard footsteps as my mom was coming up the stairs. Quickly I tried to find a spot to hide.

            I ran through the hallway and into my dad's office. Panicking I hid under his desk. As I was making my way under the desk I hit my head on the top of the desk knocking a mug over and onto the ground. It shattered against the hardwood floor which got wet from the water that was in the cup. My mom came Into the room.

        "Brat, why must you break everything you touch." She shouted, dragging me out from under the desk. I stayed silent, afraid if I said the wrong thing I'd be in more trouble. I sat in front of the desk looking at the ground. She then slapped me across the face. Even more afraid I started to cry.

             "I'm sorry for breaking it." I sobbed "it was an accident." I looked up at her. She was mad not at me though. I was just a way to take out her anger. My mom was looking around the room. What was she looking for, I thought.

        I only realized what was going on when she picked up a piece of glass from the pile of shards on the ground.

         "Look what you did." She held the shard in front of me "This was your father's favorite cup. It was the last thing he got before his father died." She then moved her hand to the side and then back to her side dropping the glass on the ground. The glass that was in her hand and cut my face. It cut right under my right eye. I put my hand over the cut crying even harder now. The blood from my face dripped onto the floor.

      "Clean the floor and then go to bed." My mom then left the room."

         I wipe my eyes. I was in such deep thought I didn't realize I was crying. I look at Jaiden who is looking at me. I then look at the clock. It's getting late.

       " Jaiden you should go, it's getting late, " I say whipping the rest of the tears from my eyes.

         "Your right I didn't notice the time." He says and gets up to leave. "If you need anything don't hesitate to call me." He then walks out the door and I'm left there alone with no one but myself.

          I then get a text from my mom saying that Mai died from a failure in her heart.