15. Tantrum

The sudden memories of her mother er were so overwhelming, she felt like she was choking on them. She tried to wash them away in a warm bath, but she wasn't accomplishing anything. Her eyes still threatened to spill tears and her throat still hurt from the struggle of holding them down. She held her breath and slowly slid under the foamy water. One Mississippi, two Mississippi, three Mississippi. She pulled up and wiped the bubbly water off her face and let her head fall slack against the corner of the bathtub. She stared at the white ceiling, her mind empty of thoughts.

"And they scream," she mumbled softly, her words coming out uneven. "The worst things in life come free to us. 'Cause we're just under the upper hand…" she sighed, cutting off her soft muttering she stood up, pulled the plug of the tub and dried off. She lay in bed, staring out through her window at the stars. She thought it wasn't fair. When her father left, he had left both of them, not just her mother. What should've happened was an alliance, a bond between them that would hold them together and not desert each other just as their husband/father had done. It should've brought them closer together, not drive them so apart it's like two strangers living in the same apartment. She sighed and forced to keep her eyes closed as she slowly drifted off.

When she opened her eyes again, heavy sunlight poured into her room and for an instant she thought she was late for school. She sat up, but when she looked at her room she felt like she couldn't breathe. The walls of her room were bright blue with puffy white clouds painted around the top, with small musical lyrics dotted randomly around the walls. She had purple curtains framing her window and there was a kid's guitar leaning against a stand next to the door.

This was her old room; when she was seven years old. Her breath grew quick as she stared at what her room used to look like. Suddenly, someone called her and opened the door to her room. A black-haired woman walked in, looking so different Thalia barely recognized her.

"Mom?" she whispered.

"Get dressed, we're going to be late!" she said, as she grabbed the sheet and pulled it off Thalia. She was almost speechless as she stared at the cheerful version of what used to be her mother.

"Come on!" she urged as she turned to look into Thalia's mirror. She passed her fingers through her hair as she tried to fix the few pieces that were out of place and patted her jeans to get rid of the wrinkles.

"What's going on?" Thalia asked, as she stared at the old image of her mother. She laughed.

"Get dressed! I'm going to miss my audition! I'll make some food, but we can't be late!" she said, as she walked out of Thalia's room, leaving her bewildered, shocked and slightly afraid. Thalia slowly crawled out of her bed and walked into the kitchen. Her mother was at the stove, making scrambled eggs. She turned and poured the eggs into a plate, grabbed a fork and placed it on a small pink mat on the island.

Her mother looked at her and smiled. A feeling of love fell over her, threatening to knock her over from the force. Thalia was about to say something when her mother's eyes fixed on something behind her. Confused, Thalia turned to see an empty living room. When she turned to her mother again, she jumped back. Her mother had mascara running down her cheeks, her lips were chapped and her hair was a rat's nest.

"Mom?" Thalia whispered, daring to take a step forward. Her mother looked at her with narrowed eyes.

"Go! LEAVE ME ALONE!" she yelled. Thalia's eyes snapped open and she was back in her old room. She was panting and she leaned on her knees as she tried to hold back her tears. In a nutshell, her dream – correction, nightmare – had been the two versions of her mother. The sweet, happy mother she had come to love, to the person she was now; cranky and drunk. Taking a deep breath, Thalia got ready and made her way to school. A cold wind ruffled her hair and she crossed her arms to contain some of her warmth. She finally walked into her school, its heat swarming around her. She walked into her first period class and the first thing she smelled was an overwhelming smell of Chanel; so much she almost gagged. Following the scent was a laugh that echoed through the classroom and Thalia knew immediately who it was. Seems like the wicked witch of the west is back.

As she walked to her seat, she passed behind Cindy who sat sideways in her desk with her legs resting on the lap of a boy across from her. This time, Cindy ignored her, but Thalia knew that Cindy was going to come after her at some point, because sweet little Cindy never gets suspended and she would definitely rebel by pouring her anger on, you guessed it, Thalia. But instead of waiting for the impending doom, she enjoyed her ignorance.

The next four periods were normal, and like always, full of work. The bell rung and Thalia made her way to the lunch room. She always sat on the corner of the last table, as far away from people she could possibly manage. She ate her poptart in peace and pulled out her English homework. She spent the next twenty minutes thinking about where Juliet found such low-quality poison and why they couldn't wait more than a few hours before they killed themselves. Thalia glanced at her watch; ten minutes before the bell would ring. She packed up her things and left for her next class early enough to avoid the herd of teenagers that zigzagged through the halls. As she walked on the white linoleum floors on the second floor she heard voices up ahead. She slowed down and pressed herself against the wall as she peered around the corner of a hallway that branched out from the main one.

Down the hall, she saw two people. A boy, that seemed vaguely familiar, stood there with his head hung in shame, while the other, a tall blonde girl, whom Thalia immediately recognized as Cindy seemed to be scolding him. Her hands were shaking and she would occasionally stomp her foot in frustration. Suddenly, the boy raised his head, said something and then left in the other direction.

"You'll regret this!" Cindy yelled after him. With a small tantrum she spun, and stomped down the hall. Thalia took a few steps back and acted like she had just walked by. Cindy whirled around the corner and bumped into her shoulder.

"Get off me!" she complained as she stormed passed, not even noticing it was Thalia she had bumped into.

"Angry much," Thalia breathed as she turned around and left for her next class. She wondered what Cindy had been so angry about, that she hadn't even seen her. And she was curious as to who the boy was. He seemed incredibly familiar, so much Thalia kept mentally smacking herself because she knew she should remember who he was, but her mind kept drawing up blanks. With a sigh, she tried forget Cindy's scene and focus on her classes. Obviously, she wasn't remembering who the boy was and she didn't need to worry over anything concerning Cindy.

During last period, Thalia kept daydreaming about making herself some hot cocoa and snuggling up away from the cold outside to watch Ghost Rider. Her mind was somewhere else, thinking about little marshmallows floating on her hot chocolate when her teacher stood in front of her.

"Thalia," he said, and Thalia's eyes snapped up.

"What?" she asked, as she realized all eyes were on her. The teacher sighed.

"Please pay attention next time," he said, then he turned and added, "Timothy, do you remember who the fourth president of the United States was?" Thalia sighed. Stop wandering off topic! When her last period was finally over, the teacher called her over to his desk before she even had time to get up and leave.

"Yes, Mr. Chiski?" Thalia said as she came up to his desk. He grabbed a green piece of paper.

"Here you go," he said, as he handed it over. Thalia read it: Guidance Office Dr. Woodrow 3:00

Thalia sighed. Of course, she'd forgotten today was Friday. Gritting her teeth, she walked to Dr. Woodrow's office and knocked on her door.

"Come in!" a muffled voice answered. With clear reluctance, Thalia opened the door to see Mrs. Woodrow putting her things away and preparing to ask Thalia a bunch of questions she didn't feel like answering. Thalia sat down and interlaced her fingers on her lap. Dr. Woodrow looked at her, clearly waiting for Thalia to begin, but she did nothing except look at her with her piercing blue eyes.

"Okay, I'll start," Dr. Woodrow said, leaning back in her seat and crossing her legs. "How are you?"

"Really?" Thalia scoffed. "Look, I've got nothing to say, so no matter how many questions you ask me, you're still getting the same thing; nothing."

"Thalia, I think you should at least try and talk to me. Whether it's about what happened in Mr. Robert's class –" Thalia winced at the memory, but hoped Woodrow hadn't noticed. "Or what's happening during lunch, or even back at home. Thalia, sometimes you just need to talk."

"No, I don't," Thalia retorted. "I'm perfectly fine the way I am." Dr. Woodrow looked at her sympathetically.

"Are you really?" she said softly. She gave Thalia a warm smile that fit perfectly with her curly blonde hair. Thalia hesitated. Maybe longer than she should've, but Thalia knew she was right, as much as she hated it. Woodrow knew she was far from being fine, but that didn't mean Thalia had to admit to it.

"I'm absolutely sure," Thalia replied firmly; trying to make it clear to Woodrow that the subject was no longer open for discussion.

"Well, at least you're talking back to me, so that's a start. I'll be waiting for you next Friday," she said, as she grabbed her pen and smacked the bottom against the desk. Thalia stood up to leave. She walked outside and the cold wind picked up and whirled her hair around her cheeks. She shivered as she zipped up her jacket and made her way back to her apartment.

Thanks for the reviews/favorites/alerts guys! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and please review to let me know how I'm doing :) By the way, I do not own the lyrics at the beginning of this chapter and it's A Team by Ed Sheeran. Until the next chappie :)