Chapter Four: Act One

Moms luggage was plentiful. Four bags dedicated to clothes, three to random things, three for curtains and sheets, and one for pictures and sentimental things. Dad had left for Sunyshore a day earlier, and, to my knowledge, the two of them hadn't even whispered a goodbye. That first night my mom was locked in her bedroom with Nella there to comfort her, while my dad slept in the spare bedroom like nothing was wrong. But it was wrong. So wrong.

The last time I had witnessed my mom cry was when her mom died a few years earlier. She wasn't one to cry. But listening to her bawl for a whole night made you think she cried professionally. Maybe she was a professional now. My dad acted as if everything was okay. He went to bed at his usual time, woke up at his usual time, ate breakfast, readied himself then left off for business. Maybe he never cared about my mom the way a husband should. I had only seen any affection when they had parties. My mom would wrap herself around my dad's arm like a prize. They never spoke lovingly to one another, held hands (Out of public), hugged or kissed unless they were being watched.

I never knew how oblivious of a child I was until that moment I watched my mom walk out the door, frown planted heavily on her reddened face, bruise on her jaw, eyes swollen from tears; and never planning to return. She gave me a look of sorrow, not of love, and continued down the front porch. No goodbye. I didn't say anything, either. What were you supposed to say? 'Goodbye Mom, sorry my father is such a bad person and broke your heart. See you never.' We both knew that, there was no need to state the obvious. I thought about saying 'I love you' one last time, in person at least, but thought against it. What was love?

When I thought of what love was, my instinct was to think of my parents. That was the "love" I had seen my entire life. Or suppose-to-be love; but was nothing but an act in a play. The thought Do I love my mother? echoed in my mind. My heart ached at the thought of her leaving, but not in the way I thought it should. I missed her already in the mere minutes she was gone. But why?

The routine. I thought. The routine of seeing her every day, talking to her, possibly hugging her, knowing she's been with me my whole life, she carried me before my first breath, she was the first person to hold me… Naturally I loved my mother. In such a forced way. Not the way I loved Nella. I loved Nella because I knew that, no matter what, she would be there to hold me if I broke down in tears. She would sit there while I scraped dishes with my fingernails. She would be the person I'd see right before I went to bed, and when I woke up. I loved her the way I should love my mother. In my mind, she was my mother. She always has been.

So I didn't say or do anything while my mom left. I pushed away feelings of hurt and abandonment. "Do not let yourself feel this way." The voice said. I nodded and swallowed the lump in my throat. I changed my emotions completely and callused myself a little in the process.

Two days later I sat in the living room. Nella was sitting next to me, flipping through a book mindlessly. In those few days this had been the normal scene. I didn't do anything. I knew Nella was worried about me. I wasn't the person who was content not doing anything. But I just sat around. I could feel the "thing" that bothered me around more and more often. I would find myself thinking about what I was going to do about him…But overall I didn't think much of it.

I heard the front door creak open and swing shut. "Barnella!" I heard my father bellow. Nella scrambled to her feet and scurried into the foyer.

"Yes, Master Saydan?" I heard her say.

"Get me a drink, now. Then get my bags out of my sight." The study door slammed, and Nella ran through the room with my dad's bags and briefcase. I heard glass cling in the kitchen, and she ran through with a drink for my father. I rolled my eyes. My father wasn't in a good mood.

"Surprised?" The voice asked.

No, not anymore. I answered telepathically.

"Why are you sitting here sulking?"

Because, there's nothing else to do.

"You lie. You are upset. Angry, even."

Yeah, I'm upset…Why shouldn't I be?! My life is falling apart. I thought. I sighed. The familiar feelings returned.

"How is your life falling apart? From what I see, you are sitting on a custom made couch, in a living room filled with antiques and expensive things…In a mansion. Your family is that of riches, are they not?"

I frowned. "Money isn't everything." I murmured aloud. "That's what my friends think…" I stopped right there.

"Friends? What friends?" The voice had a point.

"My old friends. Cloud, Tails and Haystack." I whispered their names. I missed them.

"They are worthless…Why are you even thinking about them?"

"Because once, they were a big part of my life…You can't just let that go."

"Why are you hurting yourself thinking about them?! You need to let them go, Samuel Lea. Do not ever let them cross your mind again." I opened my mouth to answer, but I heard my dad yell a command to Nella and I decided to go upstairs.

I walked into my room and closed the door. "I'm not intentionally hurting myself." I answered.

"Yes, you are. You need to let them go. Promise me you will."

I thought about it. "No." I spit. "I'm not gonna promise you anything."

"Are you speaking that way to me? I have been nothing but nice to you, and you treat me with such…Rudeness?"

"Nice?! How have you been nice?!" I laughed humorlessly.

"I, Samuel Lea, have been your only friend…I have been here when you have been troubled, not your so-called friends. They never were your friends. What was that thing they called you…?"

I scowled at the thought and muttered: "Richie."

"Friends do not do things like that…Calling you awful names, while you sit back and take it? Were they ever your friends?"

"No, they weren't." I huffed. "I never even thought…!"

"Your obliviousness is a weakness." The voice said. "You must fix that."

"Now you sound like my father." I sat on the seat in the corner of my room.

"Who said that was a bad thing?"

"No one, I guess…It's just that I've never completely agreed with my father's beliefs."

"Which is what, exactly?" It questioned.

I had to think about it for a second, then I said, "That it's okay to have a wife only for your own personal pleasure, and treat her like nothing but…A trophy wife. He thinks it's okay to deceive for business purposes, I've seen it happen myself. It's okay to have a child and not act like a parent but one-fourth of the time. That's just a few, I could make a long list." Talking about it made anger burn inside me. I was hugging my knees to my chest tightly.

"Your father makes you angry?"

"Yes." I said through gritted teeth.

"Do you not care for him?"

"Hardly. He's not someone worth caring for." I couldn't believe the words came out of my mouth. If Nella heard me, it wouldn't be wrong for her to slap me. She always hated it when I said negative things about either of my parents. "They're yer kinfolk." She had said. "You have t' like 'em. And deep down, you never stop lovin' 'em."

"Then why are you still here? Still under his roof, overall living by his rules?"

"I have nowhere to go."

"Then change the way things are around here…Go have a talk with your father."

I nodded. "That's a good idea." I stood up and walked down to the study. Nella didn't notice me pass since she was busy cooking. I knocked on the wooden door.

"Come in." I could tell there was some aggravation in his voice. That made my anger go up a few notches. I opened the door and shut it calmly. "Samuel Lea," my dad greeted, "have a seat." He gestured to the velvet sofa. I walked over and sat down. "Did you want to talk to me?" He scrawled something on a piece of paper in front of him.

I realized I hadn't thought of anything to say. I opened my mouth, hoping something would come at the fly, and nothing did. Wow, that usually works. I sat there silently.

He looked up at me. "Well? My patience is not great."

"H-how was your trip?" I tried.

"Fine." He went back to writing. "Will that be all?"

I swallowed. "No, actually. Dad, I don't like the way you treated Mom." Once the words were out, a sensation of accomplishment filled me. Then fear quickly replaced it.

Dad didn't respond at first. He finished the sentence he was writing and looked at me. He seemed utterly calm. "I apologize that you didn't like it." That was all he said before shuffling through other papers. He pulled out a document and showed me the cover. It was a logo I didn't recognize. "Does that change the fact I have this in my hand? The divorce papers? I think not." He put the paper back down and waited for my response.

That made me mad. Words spilled out of my mouth. "It might not change the fact, but maybe if you changed your—"

"You get your mouth from your mother." He cut me off. "To be successful, you need to learn to speak when needed…And to think before you speak."

My eye twitched. "Seriously? You're just going to…To…"

"To what? Remember, choose your words carefully."

"Be a jerk!" I yelled. "You need to choose your words carefully!"

"Don't raise your voice at me, child." He still acted cool and calm.

"I am not a child. I could leave right now!"

He chuckled. "You are right, but you haven't, have you?"

"Well, no." I scoffed. "But I could!"

"What's stopping you, Son?" He asked.

"I don't know, maybe I keep expecting you to turn into that father I never had! Maybe I feel like I'm incomplete, and I need to be complete before I can leave! Maybe—"

"Enough!" Dad shouted. "I'm done with you! Barnella!" Nella immediately walked through the door, she was eavesdropping. "Take my son to the washroom, he'll be scraping the dishes for you, then lock him in his room until I say otherwise!" Nella grabbed my wrist and yanked me off the couch. She took me to the washroom and closed the door.

"Samuel Lea," she started, "what on Earth made you do that?!" She whisper-yelled.

"I'm not sure…" But I knew. I knew it was my voice talking me into things. In reality, I would have never done that.

"Well you're crazy!" She huffed and put her fingers on her temples. "You're turnin' me crazy." She pointed to the sink and sat at the old table. I looked in the large sink, there was only one or two meals worth of dishes. I started my hand-cleaning.

Locked in my room wasn't as bad as the thought of it. I had plenty of things to keep me occupied. The main one being the television. Even after a while of watching pointless comedies it didn't get old.

There was a knock on my door, Nella poked her head. "Best get t' bed, your daddy wants you up for breakfast tomorrow mornin'."

That was weird. "Why?"

"I don't know, and I didn't ask." That was understandable.

"Alright, I'll go to bed."

"You better." She gave me the look. "Now, you hear?"

"Okay, okay." I chuckled and stood up. I walked over to the door and gave Nella a hug. It wasn't very long, just a quick squeeze. But it was enough. "Goodnight." She nodded and closed the door and I walked over to my bed. The nightstand caught my eye. I forgot about that picture. It was of me and my parents a few years earlier when we visited Sunyshore. We were on the beach, all hugging each other and laughing. Was all that Act One, too? I thought back to the trip…

Ten-year-old me, splashing and playing in the waves. The beach was a new experience. The sand under my feet; in-between my toes. Nella lying on a towel on the shore, laughing whenever a wave would smack me in the face. Mom trying not to get her hair wet. Dad rolled his eyes and pushing her under the water, causing her to scream but then burst out in laughter. "My hair!" She screamed and laughed. At first she attempted to fix it, but quickly gave up and tried to push my dad under. She was severely unsuccessful.

I was laughing so hard my stomach ached. I rolled around on the creamy sand giggling. Dad scooped me up and dumped me into the ocean. I scrambled in the tide, but he held me and kept me safe. The three of us swam out until Dad couldn't touch the ocean floor. I looked for Nella, she waved from her spot. "Nella!" I yelled. "Look at me! I'm all the way out here! You look like a spec!"

"So do you!" She yelled back; laughing. Waves rolled through, making us bob up and down. I clung to my dad.

"Are you scared?" He asked me.

"Nope, I'm never scared." Truth is: I was terrified. But he made me feel okay. Safe, even.

We swam back to Nella, where she unpacked a picnic. Soggy sandwiches and bottled water. It wasn't spectacular, but it was all amazing to me. The feeling of being a family was amazing. "Mom!" I chirped, "Did you see that Pokémon fly by?! He was right there!"

She laughed. "I see it's time to get you in Trainer School, huh?" She looked at my dad; her look softened. When they sat side-by-side, you could see the age gap between them. My dad was significantly older than Mom. Fifteen years, to be exact. But they seemed like a perfect couple. "What do you think, Endell?"

He smiled at her. "I think that's a great idea." I grinned and laughed. I threw my arms around my mom, and then continued my sandwich. We stayed on the beach until the sunset. Then sometime after I fell asleep and woke up the next morning, greeted by my happy parents. I remember being so happy, just because they were happy. We had a big breakfast, then dad left for a business meeting, leaving Mom, Nella and I to do whatever we pleased. My mom and I ended up having a good day walking around Sunyshore. The city atmosphere was so foreign and exciting. She even bought me a toy sand castle building set, and let me try it out at the beach. We had such a nice day I thought. We went to the house we were staying at and shortly after my dad came back. I was so happy to have us all together again, but that quickly changed when my mom started yelling at him about leaving her all day. I was so hurt I curled up in bed sobbing. Luckily Nella was right there to comfort me; otherwise I would have never gotten over that.

I sighed and looked away from the picture. No wonder I made myself forget that memory. I slammed the picture frame down on the table; the glass shattered. I pulled out the picture and forced myself to look at it. I could feel tears form around my eyes.

"Get rid of that thing."

I didn't think twice about it. I ripped it two times and flung the worthless pieces of paper on the floor. "It was all an act…" I sat on the bed and felt sorry for myself.

"Sounds like it was your mom's fault…" The voice spoke. "She picked the fights, didn't she? She was the one who wanted the divorce, she wanted to leave."

I nodded. "Yeah, she was…Weird. I guess I got used to it through the years." I shrugged and laid back. I let all those bad feelings go, something I knew I had to learn to do. I just glossed them over. "At least she's gone now."

Authors Note: I would just like to give a big thanks to everyone who reads this, you're all rock stars. And! I'm excited to say that I have the plot fully figured out...AND I'M SUPER EXCITED to write it out! Get excited, big things will be happening for this story. Let's just say, someone named Ace of Hearts will be involved soon enough.

How am I doing? This chapter is iffy...Don't worry, things will be picking up soon.

Oh, and have you guys read Espeonage Espeon's stories? They're some of my favorites on this sight, and that dude is pretty awesome. Go check it out! 100% recommended

Thanks for reading

Thanks for reading!