One Day At A Time

Chapter Forty-Six: A Talk On Sunday Morning

Long after the sun comes up the next day, Lilly and Ava are still fast asleep.

But when they do wake up a little past noon, Lilly gets out of bed first, walking down the hall to the bathroom.

Her wet clothes are no longer by the hamper, but she doesn't pay it any mind.
She's too tired to pay it any mind.

When she goes to wash her hands, she looks into the mirror.

Her eyes are puffy and red, and now, they feel incredibly dry.
She hasn't cried as much as she did last night in a long time.

When she goes back into Ava's bedroom, she picks her phone up off of the nightstand and takes her phone off of, "Do Not Disturb" mode.

Her heart goes up into her throat when sees the text messages she'd gotten from her mom last night.

You can't stay at Ava's house forever

I know that is where you went

Come home now

You have to come home eventually

You have school tomorrow remember?

You ran away from me in the middle of a conversation. Do you know how ridiculous that is?

I'll talk to you when you come home

"I don't want to go home." She says flatly, turning her phone towards Ava, showing her the messages.

Ava squints at them, reading them over once or twice.

"I know you can't stay here forever. I wish you could." She sighs. "And I wish I could deal with her for you."
"You can't, I have to deal with her on my own. I just don't know how bad it'll be when I get home. I don't know what she'll say."

Ava reaches over to hold Lilly's hand.
She gets a sudden idea in her head, an idea that might not work.

There is a soft knock on her bedroom door.
"Are you both awake? Can I come in?" Donna asks.
"Yeah." Ava answers.

Donna comes into the room with Lilly's now freshly-dried clothes and looks at her.
"I wanted to check on you. How are you?"

Lilly shrugs half-heartedly.
"As good as I can be, I guess. My mom wants me home, she wants to talk... more."

The word, "more" comes out soft.
Soft and anxious.

Ava looks at her and then to her mom and her idea comes to mind.

"I, I don't know if this is a, a bad idea or not, but Mom, do you think you could talk to Lilly's mom?"

The idea makes both Lilly and Donna look back at her with curious expressions on their faces.

"My mom won't listen to anyone, she won't even listen to her own kid. I don't know if she'd listen to her." Lilly says, gesturing towards Donna.

"I won't talk to her unless you want me to, Lilly. It's not a bad idea. There's a chance she might listen to me."
"A chance." Lilly repeats, almost bitterly.
Hopelessly.

She looks between Ava and Donna, two of the most optimistic and positive people she knows.
Ava's optimism is one-hundred-percent inherited from her mom, Lilly believes that firmly right now.

"What do we have to loose? I don't know what the hell she'll say when I go home. So... I'm saying, 'Yes'. You can try and talk to her."

"Alright, then. I'll talk to her for you."
"What will you say?" Lilly asks.
"I'll tell her that what she does is cruel and disgusting to do as a parent. I'll tell her that she's wrong in so many ways, that you don't deserve any of this. You deserve to be loved, that's what mothers do, they love their kids."