My Salvation

08.

Chapter eight | sunsets

Camilas' pov

My week has taken an interesting turn of events, causing my mental state to be almost bearable. Maybe that's just because Lucas has been out of town, or maybe it's just because I've drown out my emotions.

On the first day back at school after the chaos that occurred Sunday night, Lydia chased me down, and forced me to sit with Charlie, Danny and her. The boys and her said that me having a screwed up background didn't bother them at all, evidently leading to a heartwarming afternoon at their abandoned building.

They all went more in depth about their life stories. Charlie said he, Lydia, and Danny felt like they owed it to me. They didn't, but it was an extremely thoughtful gesture nonetheless. I'm not sure about Lucas, but turns out the rest of that friend group has some fucked up shit in their lives too.

I learnt that Danny's mother has schizophrenia, and is in a sort of nursing home, he says it's a nice place, but he misses her a lot. His father was never really in the picture either, he had a drug problem when Danny and his little sister were younger, I believe he's clean now, but they only really see him on Father's Day and some Christmas'. He and his sister live with his grandparents now, and Danny says he couldn't ask for anyone better to raise them. According to Lydia, his nana makes the best apple pie ever.

Lydia's life story was also shared. She moved from Ireland when she was four, and she has a little sister who's Carlos's age, but I already knew that. The deep stuff she shared was why three years later she moved back to Ireland, and why four years after that she then once again moved back here. Initially, her parents thought moving to America would be fun, but they had no family, no friends, and no money once they arrived here. The three of them lived in a small two room apartment, and lived off cheep food and below minimum wage jobs for three long years.

Lydia was sent to the supposedly worst public elementary school in the state, but she didn't mind. What caused them to move back to Ireland was when her mother found out she was pregnant. The family decided they were going to start the babies life in a happier home back with the rest of the family. So they did. But about a year or so after Lydia's sister, Sage, was born, something they had hoped wouldn't return did, their mothers leukaemia. It was a long fight, but fifteen months and twenty six days later, leukaemia won.

The grief the family suffered, especially their father, was so skull crushingly overwhelming that they packed their bags and caught the first flight back to Seattle. They're doing a lot better now, her father has a good job with steady income, and Lydia helps out with the bills when she needs to as well, hence why she works for Jess. Lydia says that her parents used to be real hippies, but not so much since the death of Mrs. May. She also says that her heart breaks a little bit every time she sees her father staring at a photo of his late wife; his eyes glossy and red.

Charlie's home life is significantly different. His parents split when he was ten. His father ended up moving to New York for a job opportunity, so Charlie doesn't see him much anymore. He's pretty sure that his dad still loves his mom, but she has a new boyfriend, who is a real jerk.

He has two sisters, one older, one younger, but it's just him and his younger sister at home. The older one has already graduated and is a junior in collage. He knew his dad was never too accepting with the LGBTQ+ community, but he's getting better. His mother totally accepts him, and her boyfriends pretty okay with it too, so that's cool.

I don't say much about my self though, I'm not really ready to share. I just say the stuff they already know, but I do open up about my siblings more. I mostly express how I feel responsible for everything that happens to them, and that I love them more than anything.