Chapter 2

I slowly blink my eyes open as I awake to gentle nudging. "Hey sleepyhead," Avi gently says. "You were sleeping hard. I was getting kinda worried for a second. Your mom just knocked on the door for breakfast. You want to go down and eat?"

I feel the mental heaviness across my whole body and I start to shake my head but instead, I say, "Yes." Avi's smile locks me into my decision, so I slowly sit up and follow Avi downstairs.

"Good morning girls," Mom greets us as we walk down the stairs. "Breakfast is on the table waiting for you." She wipes her hands on her apron as she walks over and throws her arms around both of us, "Oh it's so good to see you two."

"You too, Mom," I say emptily, trying to ignore the thoughts flying around my head. Avi and I sit at the table as Mom finishes plating her own food. Avi bows her head for a moment before Mom joins us at the table and we start eating.

"Morning ladies," David says as he walks down from upstairs and walks past the table. "How was the flight?"

"It was alright," Avi says. "Longer than I like to be in the air for but it was at least pretty smooth."

"That's always a plus," Mom responds. "What time did you get in last night?"

"It was after midnight for sure but I'm not exactly sure of the time," Avi answers again. I notice her glancing at me with a concerned look but I ignore it and focus on eating.

"How'd you sleep last night?" Mom asks. She turns to me, "I know it had to be pretty jarring seeing your room that way."

"It was," I say almost with a growl. I notice Avi look between me and Mom as if to signal to drop the subject. Mom seemed to notice and an awkward silence fills the room as everyone returns their attention to their food.

Finally, David breaks the silence, "How have things been?"

"Pretty good," Avi says. "I'm half way into my second-year teaching now and I have a really good group of kids this year. Not to say I don't have a couple that make me want to pull my hair out but overall, a really good group."

"I'm glad to hear that," Mom says with a smile. "Are you still at the same school?"

"Yep! Same school, same grade!" Avi's eyes light up and I can't help but smile a little as she gets excited talking about teaching. "The school is great," she continues, "and I've really learned to fall in love with fourth grade. I'll be sad if they ever move me."

"I can imagine so," Mom says. "I know teachers get moved around a lot to different schools or different grade levels and I'm sure that's not easy."

"It definitely isn't," Avi agrees.

"So, are you still working as a custodian at her school?" David asks, facing me.

I nod, "Yeah, but this year I got moved to clean Avi's hallway so I get to see a little firsthand of what her kids are like. And she's right, she really overall has a good group but she has a few who don't know how to keep their areas clean. There's this one that always has a circle of random crap all around her desk every day without fail. And I know Avi gets onto her but she will not keep her area clean."

"Exhibit A of kids that drive me nuts," Avi says with a chuckle. She turns to me with a smirk and says, "Ironically enough, her name is Chloe." I roll my eyes as Mom and David laugh. Silence fills the room again before Mom starts some small talk with Avi, but I tune it out. My mind races with the flashbacks from last night and a feeling of displacement settles in. It's like I don't belong here anymore…and they did a good job at showing it. They're moving on without me.

Before I can stop myself, I blurt out, "Mom, why are we really here?"

Mom let's out a sigh, "As much as I would love to say I just wanted to spend time with you both, which I do, there is more to it than that. A few weeks ago, I got a call from a young girl. She had been trying to reach out to some extended family on her mother's side after her mother's passing. When started digging about her grandfather, she found out that he had passed away and they directed him to me…because her grandfather was my father."

"Wait," I say, my brain still trying to wrap around what she said, "so you're saying that you and this girl's mom had the same dad?"

Mom nods, "I think I had told you that my father wasn't a part of my life until I was in my late teens. I was the result of an affair he had with my mother. He wanted to leave his wife to be with my mother but his wife came from a very prestigious family and threatened him to stay. He sent my mother money every month though to help us get by. It wasn't a lot because he had to do it under his wife's nose, but it was enough to keep my mother afloat. When his wife died, he finally was free to reach out. Of course, he and my mother never got back together, but we were able to have a pleasant relationship with him. He had told me that he had a daughter with his wife but she was older and had cut herself off from him so I never thought to reach out. And now I guess this half-sister has since passed away and her daughter is trying to find some relatives on her mother's side."

"And what does that have to do with us?" I ask.

"She wanted to come meet us," Mom says. "I thought it would be nice for the whole family to meet her and she sounded like she might be around your age and I thought you and Avi would give her someone to talk to."

"So, you called us out here so we could be your buffer?" I say, anger rising in my voice. I stand up, "You didn't call us to come up here to spend time with us, you wanted us to make things less awkward for you! After you stripped the room you put us in last night of every last thing I had of Dad, Rachel, and Max! I'm not doing this." I stomp off up the stairs and walk into my room, slamming the door behind me. I start pulling clothes out and begin changing from my pajamas as my eyes start to cloud with tears. I hear a knock at the door and I quickly yell, "go away!" trying to hide the emotion in my voice.

"It's me," Avi's voice calls back. I don't say anything as I plop on the bed to put my boots on. The door creaks open and Avi steps through, shutting the door behind her. She walks over and stands in front of me, "What is going on?"

"You know exactly what's going on," I say angrily, tears beginning to fall down my face. "They've taken away the last bit of Dad, Max, and Rachel that I had and then call me up here to be a buffer for them. There is no freaking way I'm doing that." I grab my beanie and throw it on my head as I storm past Avi and out the door. I walk down the stairs as I continue to shout, "I'm not going to sit here and make things easier for them so they can meet this girl who says she's related to us but hasn't shown any proof otherwise." I grab the front doorknob and sling it open. I look up from the ground and I'm met with the hazel eyes of the girl on the other side of the doorway.

"Hi," she says shyly. "I'm Alyson."