Dawn took a deep breath and continued talking.
"I know you may be mad now, but I just hope you will find it in your heart to forgive me. I love you, Mom. I'm sorry."
Dawn hung up, finishing her voicemail to her mom, who refused to pick up the phone.
"Are you alright?" asked Sunny from the passenger seat.
"Yeah. I'm ok" Dawn answered as she looked at her puffy eyes in the rearview mirror. They looked terrible but Dawn felt good because she knew she would never shed another tear for Jeff again.
Even though she knew what Stacey had said was right and she would look like the bad guy for a while, she still felt a sense of peace because she knew her Dad and Carol would forgive her. In time, so would her Mom.
She glanced over and looked at her lifelong best friend next to her, Sunny's strawberry blonde hair and freckles looking exactly the same as they did when they were teenagers and she felt so lucky to have her. While her relationship with her brother may be over, Dawn realized that sometimes, the closest and most important bonds aren't necessarily the ones you are born with but the ones you find along the way. She had Sunny. She had Carol, Ben and River. She had a wonderful stepfamily and her oldest friends Stacey and Claudia, once thousands of miles across the country were now just a car ride away.
Despite this little bump in the road, Dawn's life was still good and she was determined to keep it that way.
THE END
