My cellphone buzzed in my back pocket, so I pulled it out and saw a few texts from my best friends, Jane and Max on Bubblechat.
Max: GURL, we need to talk!
Jane: Hahaha
Max: Jane, chill, it’s not a joke.
Max: Are you drunk again?
Me: Sup? TTYL, K?
Max: SOS?
Me: SOS :/
My girls and I had our own language on Bubblechat. Apps like this allowed it, and Bubblechat was fun to use. With our language, our code, it meant that I had an emergency or something important to do, and I would chat with them later. They completely understood my situation.
My father then interrupted my thoughts with, “Celia, can you help me take your mother upstairs?”
I held one of her arms, and he held the other, and we both went upstairs to their bedroom. I gave her her medicine, and before I went off, I said, “Goodnight, Mom.”
She didn’t reply, and kept looking at the open window that blew cool air inside the room. I pretended that it didn’t hurt me. My father looked at me with grief in his eyes, “I’ll take it from here,” he said.
I walked out of their bedroom, and went to my bedroom. I took out my phone and started texting.
Me: It hurts :)
Max: I know, baby.
Max: We’re here for you.
Max: Right, Jane?
Max: JAAAANE!
Me: She must have passed out…
Max: Typical Jane.
Me: LOL
Me: I love you guys.
Max: We love you too :)
Chapter Two
My dad and siblings went to school that morning, and I was home with my mom, to take care of her. We were sitting in the living room watching TV, as I watched her eyes drift away from reality to another world. A world inside her brain. It was like her personality was locked inside a cage in her brain, and would never come out.
I knew she was suffering and that’s what made me feel upset sometimes. I turned to the television where they aired The Early Show. The hosts talked about makeup, celebrity gossip in general, and I wondered what kinds of private lives they had behind their bright smiles. What did they suffer from and how well did they hide their personal problems from the audiences?
My phone beeped. It was a text from Kent.
Kent: Hey, sexy. :P
Me: Hey!
Kent: Wanna go somewhere?
Me: A date? ;)
Kent: We haven’t gone on a date in a while, so, yeah.
Me: Sorry, but I have to stay with Mom through the day. :(
Kent: Too bad.
Me: …
Kent: Maybe next time?
Me: Sure.
I closed my phone and looked at my mother, who slept on the sofa with an open mouth. Those medicines left her like a sloth. She was asleep most of the time, and her appetite was getting worse. Her legs and arms were swollen, and when we asked the doctor about it, he said it was the side effect of the medicine. Sometimes I wished that her suffering would end, but I erased that thought. I didn’t want her to die, but I didn’t want her to suffer, either.
****************************************
At night, everyone had come home, and father cooked dinner. We sat around the table in the big dining room. My mother almost snoozed, but tried to keep her eyes open. My father kept looking at my mom, and eating his steak. Amelia couldn’t cut the steak with a knife, so I cut it in to pieces for her.
On the other hand, Adam was listening to music with his headphones, and bobbing his head while eating. I couldn’t blame him. He was distracting himself from what was going on. Music was his escape from the real world.
“How was school, kids?” my father asked.
“Huh?” Adam wanted to know. He hadn’t taken off his headphones.
“He’s asking about school, you idiot!” Amelia started.
This remark got through. “Stop calling me an idiot!” Adam shot back.
Amelia stuck her tongue out at Adam.
“You’re a brat,” Adam grumbled with bunched fists on the table, which made Amelia fold her arms and scrunch her face in annoyance.
“No I’m not!” she screamed.
“Yes, you are,” Adam said and banged his fist on the table, which made the plates vibrate. My father sighed and rubbed his forehead with his hands.
Me, I couldn’t take it, anymore, and yelled, “Stop it, both of you!”
They stopped. Amelia and Adam’s jaws dropped, and they blinked their eyes a few times. I let out a breath from my nose. “I can’t deal with this right now. I’m going upstairs.”
I got up from my chair and climbed the stairs to my bedroom. My phone beeped, and when I checked it, I saw a text from Max.
Max: Hun :0
Me: OMG, what?
Max: I saw Gabriel yesterday!
Me: No shit!
Max: YES
Me: DID HE ASK YOU OUT?
Max: err
Me: oh uh
Max: I asked him how he was and he said fine
Me: Just fine?
Max: Yeah, and I have a huge crush on him :(
Me: You’ve been studying with a guy for few months and he hasn’t asked you out yet?
Max: Yes
Me: well, he’s a loser then?
Max: No, he’s perfect
Me: Okay, let’s not jump to conclusions
Me: Maybe he’s gay?
Max: He had girlfriends before
Me: shy?
Max: He looks fine to me
Me: Don’t get your hopes so high
Me: Just be careful
Max: WTF, I’m not careful enough?
Me: Remember the band boy last year? Huh? That didn’t go well
Max: No need to mention
I got another text from Kent in the middle of a conversation with Max about her love life.
Kent: Miss you, boo
Kent sent a heart
