supernova

15

I was horrified at the view in front of me. I was so sure, we had come so far, but I guess it wasn't enough.

I wasn't enough.

My mom sat on the kitchen floor bawling her eyes out with a bottle of bourbon.

"Mom!" I said rushing towards her going to grab the bottle from her hand, but she threw it. She looked up at me and started sobbing again.

"Belly, I don't wanna die. I don't wanna go," she cried and I had to blink away the tears from my eyes.

"Then don't drink," I said and regretted it and soon as it came out of my mouth.

It had been a while since she had gotten drunk.

"Excuse me? I'm your fucking mother. Don't you dare tell me what to do. It would have been so much easier to lose you because I still would have had him. I wish you were in that car sometimes."

"If you don't wanna die, don't drink. You have liver cancer and are ruining your liver," I said and she thought about it.

"No. I have nothing else," she said and threw a piece of the bottle from the floor at me. I tried to block it, but I was lucky it scraped my temple instead of my eye. It wasn't a small nick this time. The scar was medium sized. I could cover it with a bandaid and just say it was an ugly bruise from a flat iron. No one was going to see it once I covered it up anyways.

"Mom, you have me," I said. I don't know what kind of reaction I was hoping for because she just threw another piece of glass at me. I dodged it this time.

"No. No I don't. You killed the love of my life," she said and started crying again.

If she kept drinking like this, she'd be in bed rest by December. Maybe I should talk to the doctor about it.

"Fine. I'm sorry I ruined your life and killed your husband and I'm sorry for everything else I've done. Just get up," I said and she complied.

I cleaned up the kitchen before addressing my wound right before I left for work.

~~
"Oh, what's wrong with your face?" Brian asks me while we're doing the dishes together.

"It's an ugly bruise from trying to use the flat iron. Tip, don't try to use a flat iron after school when you're exhausted," I said.

"Hope it gets better soon," he said and I gave him an appreciative smile.

"Arabella! Table number 5!" I heard and I head out after drying my hands.

It was Reed, Alexa, Michelle, Michael, and Fred.

"Hey guys, what can I get you?" I asked them.

"I didn't know you worked here?" Michelle said. "If I did, I would've come more often, girly."

"Feel free to stop by during a breakfast time over the weekend. The strawberry chocolate pancakes are to die for," I said.

"Well, I'll have a cheese burger with fries and a frosty," Michelle said smiling at me. She had gorgeous teeth.

"I want a grilled cheese, can you add bacon and extra basil?" Reed asked and I nodded.

"I want a chocolate frosty with a salad and fries," Fred said and then changed his mind. "Wait no. I want Mac n Cheese with a salad on the side and fries."

"I'll take the same as Michelle," Alexa said and I finished writing all their orders.

"Okay, your food will be here soon," I said and they nodded.

That's how the rest of my shift went.

Busy. People usually stopped coming in around seven thirty, but it was almost time to close and people were taking things to go.