into the wilderness - h.s.

eighteen

{ Talking Body - Tove Lo }

We spent the day lounging around the house. Tristan and Harry were having an intense Xbox battle in the family room. I had my laptop sitting on the island in the kitchen and I was trying to get some work done. I had spent some time looking into who my mother really was. I had learned some interesting things that I thought would be benificial for what we were about to do. I had called my dad this morning and had had a long, painful conversation with him. But I kept getting intrupted by angry bellows coming from down the hall.

"Kill that guy!"

"Which one?"

"The one in the black body suit."

"GODDAMMIT HARRY THEY'RE ALL WEARING BODY SUITS!"

"Jesus Christ, do I have to do everything for you?"

"No."

"We're in the middle of a fucking battle. At least listen to me?"

"HEY!" I yelled loudly from my spot in the kitchen. "Could you guys keep it down? Im trying to get some work done."

"Fine."

"Okay!"

I sighed and turned back to my computer. When my dad had answered the phone this morning, he immediately asked what I was doing and why I was using my phone when I was supposed to be "connecting with nature." I had brushed his comment off and started talking about mom. I asked as many questions as I could think of that might yield an answer with some information. He had known about her real job, saying it paid really well and that that was why my sister and I never had to worry about money. All this time I had thought my dad had some big fancy job in the city, bossing people around and attending fancy benefit dinners.

My mom had been part of the group that Bruce and his girlfriend were associated with. But, true to what Harry said, she was an insider. She worked in the field, often times disarming the bombs that had been placed and set to go off. She was the one who saved the Capitol from being hit by that last airplane on September 11. Even though she wasn't on the plane, she had still managed to get a message to her teammate who was one of the passangers. She managed to save a lot of lies that day. Some, but not all. I was proud of my mom. I was proud to call myself her daughter and I hope that I can grow up to be just as great as her.

There wasn't much information on the internet about what my mom did. Most of what I did know was from a brief article from an online Philadelphia newspaper and things my dad had told me. I wish I knew more. And more than anything, I wish my mom was here now so I could talk to her. I knew that she would have been able to walk me through this, to explain what has yet to be discovered and to help me know what to do next. She would listen to me as I cried about Jacob. She knew how to comfort me, like only a mother does. And, if she were here now, she would tell me to pick my head up, shake it off, and do the best job I could at whatever task laid before me.

I slammed my laptop shut and rested my elbows on the counter. I sighed loudly and began rub my eyes, trying to massage away the headace that was beginnng to surface from staring at the screen too long. I had somehow managed to get caught up on all my college work even though my mind was preoccupied.

"Here."

I looked up. Harry was standing in front of me with a glass of water in his hand. I must have been too focused on my work to hear him enter the kitchen, much less fill a glass of water for him and myself. I took the glass from his hand and took a long gulp. I nearly choked on my water when I realized what he was wearing.

"Haery, where are your pants?" I managed to ask after I finished coughing.

He shrugged. "In the family room."