Chapter 2

My parents were waiting for me when I got home. The both sat at the kitchen table, watching the door. As soon as I stepped in, my father stood up.

"Manuela." He said. "Your mother talked to Emma today."

I stared at him, all my thoughts jumbled into a massive confusion. I didn't have time for this. "So?" I spat.

"So we found out that you weren't there this weekend." He said.

I rolled my eyes. "Okay." I said. "What do you want from me? A medal? Good for you guys, you give Sherlock Holmes a run for his money. Can I go now?" I knew I was being cruel and stupid, but I didn't care.

"Manuela." My father said sharply. "Where were you? Why did you lie?"

I stared at them, debating whether or not to tell the truth. "I went snow-boarding." I finally admitted. "I didn't tell you because I knew you'd just be un-cool about it. It's not that big of a deal."

I wasn't thinking clearly, and had made a wrong mood. My father hated being disrespected. "It's not that big of a deal?!" He yelled, ignoring my mother's protests. "You lied to us Manuela. You can't be trusted. Why do you do these things? First with your acting career, now this. You are turning out to be a failure of a daughter."

"Joseph!" My mom yelled. I just stared at him, shocked, my eyes filling with tears. My dad and I had had our differences, but he had never said something like this to me. He had called me names, he had kicked me out, but he had never told him that I had failed my parents. That I had failed him.

It was that final straw. I had too much going on, too much to think about. I didn't need this. I quickly wiped away my tears and turned to my room. I grabbed a bag and stuffed some clothes in it, without looking to see what they were. "What are you doing?" My mother asked desperately.

"I need a break." I mumbled.

"Manuela, don't, please, not again…"

"Let her go." My father said harshly, and I brushed past him to the door. I opened it and tossed my bag outside, and then turned to face my father.

"Maybe." I said. "It's not my fault. Maybe you're just a failure of a parent."

******

When Emma opened the door, she took one look at my tear stained face and the bag in my hands and she knew. "Oh my god." She said. "Manny, I'm so sorry. I didn't realize they'd kick you out again. I should have…"

"It's okay Em." I said softly. "I left. I couldn't put up with anymore of the BS. I needed a break."

Emma nodded. "Come on in." She said. "I'll go talk to my parents."

I smiled and walked into her house. In some ways, this place felt more like home then my parent's apartment. I knew the way, and walked downstairs to the basement, dumping my bags on Emma's bed. I sat down and sighed. How had this happened to me? How could one weekend away change everything so completely?

Just then, my phone rang. I walked over to the bed and grabbed my phone from the bed and glanced at the screen, and my heart all but stopped.

There he was, the same boy from my nightmares. With the curly brown hair, the deep green eyes. He was all dressed up in a puffy coat, gloves, and hat, and was sitting in the snow sticking his tongue out. I remember taking that picture, pushing him down in the snow and grabbing my phone from my pocket, screaming "Smile!"

"Not a chance." He had said, sticking his tongue out at me.

I dropped the phone with a small scream, and it fell on the ground, bouncing on the carpet. I stared at it lying there, too afraid to touch it. Why was he calling me? What gave him the right?

"Manny?" A soft voice said. I looked up to see Emma on the stairs. "Are you okay?"

I wanted to reassure her, to change the subject, but my brain wasn't functioning right. I couldn't make my mouth form the words I wanted it too.

Emma walked over to me, and picked up my phone from the floor. She looked at the screen, and then handed me the phone.

"Who's Sam?" She asked.

At the mention of his name, I snapped back into myself. "What?" I said. "Oh, no one. Just this guy."

Emma looked at me. "It sure didn't seem like he was just a guy. What happened Manny? Did you meet him this weekend?"

I realized that Emma was never going to leave me alone about this until I gave her an answer. I sat down on the bed, and put on a sad face. "Look." I said. "The truth is, I met Sam this weekend. While snowboarding."

Emma sat down next to me, and smiled sympathetically. "Uh huh." She said.

"I thought we had a real connection, but then it turned out all he wanted to do was hook up. It really hurt, and I just don't want to deal with him." I lied.

Emma nodded. "I understand." She said, giving me a hug. "Why didn't you just tell me? We never have to talk about him again. Sam who?"

I smiled. "Thanks, Em. You're the best."