Don't own twilight.
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CHAPTER 2:
May, 2026 continued:
LPOV
Omar looked like he was ready for battle. He could have phased right there in our apartment in Chicago and I wouldn't have been shocked.
"Sethy, I think I have to go, okay? Talk soon," I said with a fake smile, all of my attention turning to my son.
He stood in the door frame, his jaw clenched, muscles tightened, and clutching Akeala's phone.
After I pushed the end call button he walked forward and showed me the posts and texts. My heart sank for Akeala. More like her dad, she was soft and sensitive.
"He's such a dick, mom. I told her he was a dick."
I shot him a glance. "Choose another word Omar."
"Douche?"
I inhaled and walked over to her room, knowing I would find her hiding under pillows and blankets. My face winced as I saw her right foot hanging out and heard a soft murmur coming from under the sheets.
"I'm here, sweetie," I said to her, stroking her foot, as I sat on the edge of the bed. She stayed covered in the blankets.
"I'm seriously going to murder that asshole," Omar bellowed from the door frame. I turned to him.
"Not helpful, honey," I said to him. "Let your sister handle this, ok."
Akeala peeled the cover back from her face. "Handle it how?" she said between tears. "Everything has already been done. Devin and I are done. Everyone I know, knows. The end." She sunk back under the sea of blankets as Omar rolled his eyes and went back to his room.
"Some boys can be just completely awful," I slipped out. The covers peeled back again with Akeala's swollen face popping out, some of her braids in her face.
"Mom, what would you know?" she tersely said to me. "You met daddy when you were 21 years old and you had a picture perfect everything." Her face popped back under the covers. There she went again. Calling him daddy. It had been six years, but I missed Antwan so much in that moment. Somehow he would know what to do. He and I together would be able to console her. I looked around her orderly room as I tried to figure out what to say. My eyes landed on her beloved scuffed up skateboard that rested near an old pile of stuffed animals. Her whole room was a mix of childhood remnants and new teenage interests. Relate to her. I need to relate to her, I thought.
"Well, everything wasn't always rosy, Akeala," I took a deep breath, "and besides. I had my heart broken before. Big time."
The sobbing stopped. Now I had her attention. I never spoke much about my teenage years or the heartbreak I endured. But something told me she needed to commiserate.
"I was actually only four years older than you. I dated my high school sweetheart for three years and we were… engaged." She was totally out of the covers now, staring at me, her eyes widening at full attention. Rare for a mother of a 15 year old. "And, then he cheated on me… and then he dumped me. With someone I was very very close with." My eyes wondered the room, but then met hers to drive home my point, "...and it royally sucked, Akeala. It hurt so bad." She folded her legs so she was sitting criss-cross, eyes still sparkling at me.
I took a deep breath, knowing she wanted me to reveal more. "And worse yet, I had a job where he was my boss! And I had to listen to him and be around all these annoying teenage boys who all took his side and loved him and his new girlfriend." I was talking pretty fast at this point, pretty uncharacteristic for me. I slowed myself. "...and that sucked even more."
She looked at me as if I just grew a second head."What was the job?" Akeala asked.
That's what we're focusing on, I thought. "Oh," I said looking around the room. "Camp Counselor."
"You were a camp…" she asked incredulously.
"Uh, huh." I smiled, "Uncle Seth too. And Ya know what? If all of that didn't happen, I wouldn't have left La Push, moved to Chicago, met your dad and had you and Omar. And you guys are the best things I ever did, Akeala. Ever."
I still had her attention, but I could tell she was still hung up on the camp counselor thing, which in retrospect was a stretch.
"Heartbreak sucks, baby. But sometimes things happen for a reason." I looked at her looking back at me. Maybe that was too cliche or cheesy, I thought.
She fell back into her pillows and put the cover back over her head, signalling she was done with me.
June, 2026
LPOV
Omar and Akeala were sprawled out on two twin beds in my childhood room. Both looked bored and slightly upset. Akeala blankly looked at an old Eminem poster on the wall that my mom never took down. She spun the wheels to her skateboard, back and forth while Omar played snake on his phone.
When I told them one morning over breakfast back in Chicago that we needed to spend most of the summer in La Push to help grandma, they were pretty understanding. Akeala seemed relieved that she wouldn't have to see Devin or Maya at the pool or a party, and Omar beamed at the idea of going on runs with uncle Seth. Of course, now that we were here they seemed less enthused.
"Come on guys, it's been two hours," I said, grabbing Omar's phone out of his hand. "Screen time is over," I said to him as he groaned, dramatically dropping his arms onto the mattress.
"I can't believe you liked Slim Shady," Akeala said with a tinge of disgust in her voice, still eyeing the faded poster.
"Ugh, Akeala. That poster is from 2002. There weren't a lot of exactly stellar options at the time."
"I don't know. Wasn't that the time of Avril Lavigne? Eminem is such a misogynist mom." I looked at the poster and became even more annoyed.
"It was a gift," I said in a perturbed breath. Then I moved to push her out of bed and then dragged Omar up. "Go spend time with your grandmother. That's why we're here. I shoved them out of the room and they went to sit in the living room with my mother who had just gotten up from a cat nap.
I sighed and looked at them settling in next to her. I am not sure exactly what I was expecting from my mom. It had been a couple months since I had been to visit, and she seemed fine on video chat, but when we pulled up to my childhood home it was as if she had aged another 20 years and I was completely ill prepared for it. She had lost a considerable amount of weight, was still mostly bald from chemo, but the fire inside of her had dimmed. Still, she lit up once Omar and Akeala joined her on the couch after her second short nap since we arrived.
I moved into the kitchen to clean up some dishes from lunch and saw a missed text from Seth.
Seth: Hey, so glad you are here! I now have to work all morning then patrol. Having Pack Barbeque at 5pm at my house. Come with kids. Love you.
Ugh, I thought. Pack barbecue. Am I still doing this, at 40? A small part of me felt guilty about my hesitancy about going, but thought seeing some other kids and familiar faces would be good for my kids.
Leah: Ok. Will be there.
I looked at the text for a while, then grew a pair and sent it.
Fuck my life, I thought.
