Page 10 of Barron's Second Chance
She whirled around and shoved him back before he could collide with her.
"Do not follow me!" She hissed out at him, her face hot with anger.
He jumped back and held his hands up, his expression still frenzied. "E -" he started.
"No!" She sliced him. "No E, no Eden, no baby - nothing! You get nothing! Don't look at me, don't speak to me, and don't ever touch me. We are nothing to each other, do you hear? Nothing!"
And with those parting words, she turned and shot out through the school doors. Barron didn't follow her.
As it got closer to Winter break, Eden had another mini breakdown when she walked into the school cafeteria and saw Lissa sitting on Barron's lap, kissing his neck. She turned around and walked straight out again.
Her mom had come home and found her buried under mountains of blankets, sobbing. It was always one step forward and thirty steps back with her emotions. She couldn't wait for the school year to finish so she wouldn't have to see or speak to Barron or Lissa again. She could do it, too. She was taking some time off to see her Dad and half-siblings in Bakersfield before returning to enroll in the local community college and hopefully transferring to a four-year college. She thought she wanted to stay in Pennsylvania, but now an out of State school sounded like a dream.
The original plan was to start community college with Barron before transferring to a four-year college in their State. Yeah, that wasn't going to happen. She had no idea if his plans had changed, too.
Her mom pulled back her comforter; her mouth turned down in sorrow at seeing her daughter in pain.
"Aww, baby, please stop crying."
"Why won't it stop hurting?" She hiccuped. "One day, I'm fine, and the next, I see them together, and I'm back to that first day, seeing them in the pool."
"Come here." Her mom opened her arms, and Eden soared into them without hesitation. She cried harder as her mom stroked her hair lovingly, making soothing noises.
"Grief is a tricky thing," she said. "There's no linear movement to it. It's up, down, zig-zag, and cross wards. I was the same when your father left. I went one year feeling great, dating again and all that. Then our favorite song came on the radio one day in the car. I had to pull over."
She pulled back and stared at her mom with red-rimmed eyes. "How did you ever get over it?"
"Time," she simply said. "And something else that I won't mention," she joked as she gave her daughter a saucy wink.
"Ew, Mom," she laughed, wiping her face with the back of her arm.
"Hey!" Her mom suddenly brightened. "I have an idea."
"What?" Eden warily eyed her.
"Let's go on a girl's trip to New York!"
Eden laughed and stood, wiping her face with the bottom of her shirt. It was gross, she knew, but hey, she was grieving.
"C'mon, it'll be fun! We'll be tourists for the week - stay at a fancy hotel, take the ferry to see the Statue, visit Central Park, sightsee out the Empire State, eat our weight in junk food at Times Square... c'mon, it'll be a blast. One last trip with dear old Mom before you go to see Dad. Pluuuuus...." she sang out and wiggled her eyebrows. "You won't have to see Barron and whats-her-face for a week."
Well, now, that did sound appealing. One week reprieve from having to check the hallways first in case Barron and Lissa were making out at their locker. She only had a little left to do in her classes now that winter break was coming. Anything she needed, she could have Sofia fill her in.
New York. It was only an hour's flight from where they lived, but it still seemed like a different world. Yeah, fucking why not?
"I take it by your silence that your old Mom has some good ideas left in her?"
She turned and smiled brightly, her first genuine smile in a long time. "Yeah. Good idea, Mom. Let's do it!"
Her mom pumped her fist in the air. "Yass, girls' trip! You never know; you may come back as a brand new girl."
If only she knew how true that would be. Because as soon as their flight landed in La Guardia two weeks later, her life changed forever.
4
Regret
Lissa:Wannameetuptonight? I can come over. ;)
