Chapter 7 in a Totally Different Story...
"Hey Olivia, guess what?"
Right now it is Thursday and I am in third period right before lunch and the person who just talked to me was Rachel. Usually I don't talk much to her but I don't really know why. We talk whenever we have something to say to one another and I guess there is nothing wrong with that really.
"What?" I asked her politely.
"I was told by Michelle, who was told by Peter, who was told by Anthony, who was told by Christina, that Mary had seen your mother." The news about my mom spread so quickly in this little town and people I have never spoken to or seen in my life come up to me to 'talk' about it and it has gotten annoying. "Apparently your mother was going to call you or try to give you a phone number or something to contact her but for some reason she didn't and so she gave the number to Mary who then passed along until it reached me and now I am passing it on to you because obviously you were the one to get it in the first place. Anyway here it is."
She handed me a slip of paper that was probably ripped off of a larger scrap. The phone number was right there on the paper plainly in my mother's perfect, no-nonsense handwriting: 383-3932. Did they need anymore 3's or what?
But this is what I've been waiting for. Sure, I don't get to see her face-to-face but that can be easily arranged if I look up this number and find out where it belongs to. At least I know for sure that my mother didn't forget about me completely and I know for sure that she still wants me. Otherwise she wouldn't have given me the number, or rather Mary the number, but that doesn't really matter.
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School went by really slowly. As I watched the hands on the clocks tick off every second, every minute, every hour left I felt like I was just watching my life pass by very slowly, without meaning, and after a while I realized just how pathetic my life has been so far. But as soon as I got home I raced to my room and called my mom. It's times like these that I wished I had a cell phone.
I expected her to just pick up right away for some reason ever though I knew that she must be at a hotel and that some one else would have to direct the call to her. But all the same I expected her right away. The phone rang 2 times and then I hear this in a cheery, high-pitched, young female voice:
"Hi, this is the Seattle Sorento Hotel. Would you like to book a room?"
"Um...no," I say dumbly,"my mother is staying here I think and I was supposed to call her. Her name is Vanessa Arnolds." For some reason my mother never used my father's last name and still uses her maiden name.
"Ah, yes. We do have a person staying here by that name. Would you like me to forward your call to her room?"
"Yes, please," I said being careful to be polite to hide the fact that I was feeling extremely impatient.
"Ok, hold on one moment," she said and a second later the phone is ringing again. It is answered on the third ring by none other than my mother and I am actually feeling scared that she may not want to talk to me.
"Hello," she says.
"Hi, mom. It's me, Olivia"
"Oh, of course. Hi. How have you been?"
"Um...good," I reply," how have you been?"
"I have been great actually. But I miss you and I am sorry for just leaving like that. How's your father?"
"He's really quiet and isn't around much anymore."
"Ok. Well how's school?" She kind of sounded distracted. Almost like she has much better things to do than to talk to her only daughter whom she left without even a note saying good bye or even a phone call or even an attempt of getting ahold of.
"School's school. Mom, why are you in Seattle."
"Well, I have...business here."
"Um...ok."
"Hey, I am glad that you called me but I have to go, ok."
"Well can I come see you some time?"
"No!" She practically screamed at me. "I mean, you won't even be able to get down here to Seattle and I have things to take care of. I'll visit you. But your dad and I are almost fully divorced and we won't be living together as a family anymore. I am going to live in Seattle and I am getting an apartment and you are staying with your dad up there in Forks. I'll come and see you some time but I really have to go now. Bye," and then she hung up without even giving me a chance to say anything else.
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Later that night after dinner, just sitting in my room thinking about nothing and everything at the same time I realized that I am mad. I don't know who or what I'm mad at or even why but one thing's certain. I. AM. ANGRY.
I know that there are very important facts to my parents' divorce that I am missing and I will dicsover them. Even if I have to catch a bus and take it all the way to Seattle, I will, because I need to know what is happening in my life because this very much involves me. I really don't care how long it takes me, but I will figure EVERYTHING out! Sure, I'll paint a smile on my face but inside it will be turmoil and chaos until I understand what happened and what is still happening in my life now. I'm really mad now so I better just go to sleep. I don't know why, but if I don't go to sleep when I'm mad whoever is around me won't be very happy. Whatever. Sleep is taking over and I'm not fighting it today.