Forbidden Love

8

Luna

After school the next day, I'm already late heading to the car so when I get a text message, I ignore it. It isn't until I finally make it to the opposite side of the school, when I get another text that I finally decide to read it. It's probably JJ texting in our sibling group chat asking to get taken off her driving ban.

When I check my phone, it's not her. It's an unknown number.

what time

hello

I stop in the middle of the hall and read the text over and over again. There's no punctuation, no name, no idea on who it could be. For a minute I almost decide to ignore it, but I end up texting back.

Who is this?

The message comes almost immediately.

jaxon

My phone almost falls out of my hand. I've been avoiding him all day. How did he get my number? And why did he assume he's the only "Jaxon" I know? He didn't even add his last name. I debate whether or not to answer it. I stand there for so long that he texts again.

what time are we meeting

A desperate nervous whine comes from the back of my throat, and I shove my phone back in my pocket. Out of sight, out of mind. I told myself yesterday that I wouldn't help Jaxon. Maybe if I avoid him, he'll let it go.

I hope.

I take a minute to gather myself and head over to the student parking lot. All of my siblings are already in the car. JJ has her feet on the dashboard, her earbuds in her ear and she's nodding her head along with the music. Corey's in the driver's seat, his head in his phone, and Joseph is in the back. I get in behind Corey.

"Finally," JJ huffs from the passenger seat.

"Sorry, I got held up." I say and my phone buzzes again. My heart races thinking of Jaxon texting me while I'm less than a foot away from Corey.

It makes me feel as if I'm doing something wrong. When we pull out of the parking spot, my phone buzzes again. I ignore it and Joseph glances at me sideways. I stare out the window and watch as Corey tries to maneuver us out of the packed parking lot. My phone buzzes again.

"You gonna get that?" Joseph asks.

"What?"

"Your phone."

I awkwardly shake my head and look back out the window. A couple moments later it buzzes again. I ignore it again.

"Answer your phone, Luna." Corey says. "It's not a prop."

Instead of saying something back, I decide not to get Corey any more curious as to who could be texting me.

it's not that hard to text back

are you ignoring me

luna

"Was that Mom? Is she okay?" Corey asks.

I shake my head. "It wasn't about Mom." I assure him. "I got signed up for something and now it's blowing up my phone."

Technically it's not a lie. I did get signed up to help Jaxon. And now he's blowing my phone up. I know Corey would see it as a lie, but what he doesn't know won't hurt him.

I mute Jaxon's messages and slide my phone back in my pocket.

Wednesday evening, JJ is with her friends and Joseph is at Sebastian's. I make my way to the kitchen after using the bathroom. Corey's in there making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, which I assume is for Mom. I was supposed to be watching her, but my bladder needed the break. I was only gone for two minutes, he better not get on my case. When he hears me, he glances up. And a memory from about five years ago hits me.

Mom looked up then. Her memory was getting worse, but it wasn't too bad. She mostly had trouble remembering everyday items, not the big stuff. Not her kids.

"Who are you?" She had asked, picking up a knife in her hand. She was slowly losing her mobility as well, so her legs shook under the weight of herself.

"Mom? What are you—"

"I'm not your mom. Why are you in my house? Why are you lying to me?" There wasn't any warmth in her tone, only the chill of fear. The bite that she grew to have over time.

"Mom, please." I started to walk to her, but apparently, she got irritated with the word "mom" and lunged at me.

Thankfully, Joseph had been walking down the stairs. He grabbed on to Mom until she got control of herself. It was the scariest thing I'd ever seen.

A few weeks later, she almost took Corey's head off with a sword. It's safe to say we don't keep swords in the house anymore.

Mom didn't forget us often—she mostly lost herself—but recently it's gotten worse. She's forgetting who we are more and more. We had to come up with a plan that whenever she forgot who we were, we'd say that we were visiting Jack. My uncle who actually lives halfway across the country. He's in the military so he moves a lot. He tries to visit as often as possible, but I know it hurts him to see her like this.

Living in Mom's childhood home really helps things. She feels comfortable and she doesn't feel like she's in an unfamiliar place most of the time.

"Luna,"

Corey's voice brings me back down to earth. "Sorry, what?"

"What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing," I shake my head. "What are you doing?"

"Making a sandwich for Mom. Want one?"

"That's okay, I had leftovers earlier." I leave Corey to his sandwich making and head back to Mom. She's sleeping, as usual, but she was up about an hour ago when Nurse Chelsea was here. She was getting irritated and crying in frustration because she couldn't use the bathroom on her own.

Which brings me to the question that weighs on my chest day in and day out. Why do bad things happen to good people? My mother was one of the best. She was happy and positive. Now she can't use the bathroom without breaking down.

I stick my head out of the door to tell Corey that Mom is sleeping when I hear a knock at the door. My brother glances from the door to me.

"Are you going to stare at me or get that? I'm making food." Only because I'm irritated at his attitude do I not tell him Mom is sleeping. Instead, I head to answer the door.

My mouth drops open. "What are you doing here?"