One
Start writing hereI sat across the small kitchen table, my parents, Didi, and Harry, on the other side. The three of us were locked in some weird staring contest that none of us wanted to lose. Didi’s, or mom’s, blond hair was recently cropped short, and now it swung wildly across her face as she shook her head at me. Harry, Dad, draped an arm over Mom’s shoulder and whispered something in her ear. He was likely trying to calm her because we all knew the tempers ran hot in the Adams family. Mom’s brows curved down, her tell-tale sign that she was disappointed with me.
”Why, Sera? Why do you do this?” Mom choked on a sob and dropped her head in her hands. For a split second, I felt something like guilt, twisting my insides. It’s not like I purposefully tried to disappoint them; it just came naturally at this rate. It didn’t matter what I did; nothing was ever good enough. I’d been saying for years that they didn’t understand me, always meticulously controlling every aspect of my life, like they could fix me or something. But I hadn’t been aware that I was broken.
I turned away from their stares, instead glancing out of the large bay window to my right. The window overlooked a perfectly manicured lawn, stretching from the edge of the house to the perfect road in the ideal little subdivision. I hated this place more than any other that we moved to. And we were always moving. This time we were in Seattle, Washington, and even though it was only August, we had moved three times this year alone. Seattle wasn’t all bad. I loved to take hikes through the woods, enjoying the scenery and the quiet. It was the only time that I felt like I wasn’t being judged. I faced my parents again, ready to get this argument over with. They were ticked to learn that I had been suspended from Lockwood High, once again. Being eighteen, I had planned to keep my head down and finish out my senior year. Had even looked forward to finding a job to earn enough so that once I graduated, I could flee all of it.
“If Lucas learned to keep his hands to himself, this never would have happened,” I stated calmly. Lucas Bryant was the bane of my existence, but was also the star of the school and the quarterback of the football team. In everyone’s eyes but my own, he could do no wrong. Clearly all the fame had run to his head, and not the one on his shoulders. I had been minding my own business, grabbing books from my locker when Lucas had walked by and slapped my butt. When I turned around to cuss him out, he’d leaned in for a kiss. I did what any sane girl would do in that situation; I grabbed his shoulders, gave him a sweet smile, and then launched my knee into his groin. He’d dropped to the floor, cursing my name. It was unlucky for me that Mr. Jones, my science teacher, saw the assault. But not what had led up to it. As a result, I ended up in the principal’s office, where I received a long lecture about how violence wasn’t tolerated and that I would be suspended. I never did get the chance to explain what happened; their minds had already been made up.
I looked up from where I’d been staring at my hands, my eyes finding Dad’s. I had hoped that he would support me, but he’d shaken his head. Mom massaged her temples with her fingers, not even looking at me. I stood abruptly and stormed from the room. Didn’t even bother waiting to be excused and made my way to the small room that I’d been forced to call home. I opened the door to a depressing sight, bare white walls surrounded a small twin bed, a bedside table, and a small dresser. There was one window that faced the neighbors’ trash cans, but I kept the curtains closed. Mom and Dad never bothered to paint any rooms whenever we moved, because we would just move again, and they said it was too much work. We couldn’t hang anything, couldn’t put holes in the walls. Nothing that would require to be fixed before moving again. I glanced at the boxes still piled in the corner and found myself wishing for something to change, anything to bring me out of this miserable existence.
I’d flopped, face-down, onto my bed and had been there barely a minute before my door opened. I could smell mom’s perfume before she’d reached my bed, and I sighed. She sat down at the edge of the bed and ran her hand through my long, dark blond locks. I waited, knowing she would have something to say. And I didn’t have to wait long.
“I talked to Principal Bracken,” Mom started, and I tensed. “He said he would revoke the suspension if you apologize to Lucas.” I jerked myself out of her reach and sat upright, my eyes wide with rage.
“I am NOT apologizing to that prick!” I argued. “He doesn’t deserve an apology for assaulting me. In fact, he should be the one apologizing!” I hissed. I watched mom’s face morph instantly from shock to anger.
“Yes, you will! If I have to march you to that office myself, Serafina, so help me I will!” She warned, her tone brooking no room for argument. I couldn’t speak, my chest was rising with my panting breaths. My vision blurred, and by the time I could see again, Mom was already gone. I reached for my pillow, bringing it to my face and roaring my frustrations into it. There was no way in hell I was going to apologize to Lucas. I’d rather deal with the suspension and the disappointment. Exhausted, I pulled back my covers and got under them, staring at the blank wall beside me. I fell asleep dreaming of kicking Lucas’s ass through the halls of Lockwood High.…
