Piper's POV
"What is it that you wanted me to say, sweetie? It's out of our hands."
"You know what, Mom? Just stop talking. Stop talking right now."
"Piper…."
"No mom. Better yet, why don't you do what Dad did and just stop existing."
"Piper Charolette Smyth, you willshut your mouth and get in the car right this instant. "
"Wow, Mom. Now you put up a fight. Why was that so hard when you found out dad was trying to take me away?"
"That's different! Can't you see I only tried to do what was best for you?"
I swallowed back my tears and whispered in a hoarse voice that didn't seem like it belonged to me.
"Then why didn't you want me anymore?"
I slammed my hand over my mouth, shocked at what I'd just said. Mom's face only changed for a fraction of a second, flickering back to the hard, expressionless grimace it had been before. I knew I had messed up, and walked to the car without a fight. Kendall was like my brother while my mom was 'on vacation'. Funny how my aunt thought I didn't know the difference between rehab and some sunny resort in Cancun. If it was a big, heaping slice of PMS-y Piper pie they wanted, that'd be exactly what they got.
I stalked out to the beat-up mini van, trying to magically turn myself into some kind of an optimist before I got a chance to slam the car door. Somehow, I managed to shut it noiselessly as I slid into the back, knowing I was gonna dig my hole even deeper if I sat next to Momzilla.
Now that I thought about it, Kendall and his parents had been really sweet to me. They took me in while mom was "on vacation", treated me like just another Schmidt sibling, made all the monsters get out from under my bed when I found out Dad was dead (this was after the divorce but pre-return of Mother of the Year up there in the front seat), and made me realize I had a reason to keep on living after my suicide scare in 5th grade. I was terrified to leave them when the woman I was forced to call mom came back on my 12th birthday. But alas, all good things must come to an end.
After that day, I hadn't seen any of them again. But now, just a few days before I turned 18, I was being dragged back to a place where I was actually happy. You might think of that as a contradiction, but oddly enough, it's not. I couldn't stand being happy again if I knew she was going to take it away as soon as it got good.
And man, were things about to get good.