My Life Upside Down

Chapter Twenty-Two

I stayed late one day to pick my Biology teacher's brain. By the time I left the halls were empty except for a janitor who was mopping up. I walked to my locker and opened it up, depositing the books I didn't need.

"You're here late."

I gasped as I looked up to see Andrew. "Oh. Yeah." I tucked some of my hair behind my ear.

"School or?"

"We don't need to do this." I looked at him. "I don't want to do this."

"Okay."

"Okay. Bye."

I left but my mood had soured. The whole way home I stewed the fact that Andrew had the nerve to even try and talk to me. By the time I got home my mood had gone from sour to angry. So when I sat down with my parents for dinner, I should've seen the writing on the wall that things were about to go bad.

I pushed my salad around on my plate next to the untouched salmon.

"You okay?" Mom asked.

I hummed.

"Is it the food? Can I make you something different?"

Once again I hummed.

"Something else happen at school?" Dad offered another option.

This time I didn't respond at all. My mom slammed her fork down. "Okay, I've had enough. It's been almost a year and I feel like this isn't getting any better."

I looked over at Mom who was seething. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I've been patient and understanding. I've given you space. I've tried to cultivate an environment where you feel safe to express your emotions." Mom shook her head. "I'm sick of getting nowhere. You're going to therapy."

"No I'm not."

Why?"

"Because it's fake! What am I going to do? Talk my way out of grief."

"Yes!"

"Maybe you should try it, Mom."

Mom's mouth dropped open then she closed it tightly.

"Okay enough!" Dad roared. Both Mom and I looked at him. "Look Rori," Dad took a breath, "Maybe you're not interested in therapy, but you mom and I are."

I shook my head, "Wait are you and Mom-?"

Dad nodded, "We've been seeing someone ever since the crash."

His confession took me by surprise.

"Darlin', your mom and I aren't just people who are randomly sittin' in the living room or kitchen waiting for you to have a crisis we can fix." He wrapped a comforting arm around my shoulder, "We're people too. What happened shook us to our core."

I swallowed trying to keep my emotions at bay. I looked at mom who was now looking down at her plate. Suddenly it was all beginning to click into place. The drastic change in Mom. My new freedom. Now as I looked at her I could see she felt the shame in admitting it that I did.