Chapter 6

SIX

Noelle

“Are you listening?” My mom snaps at me, and I blink, jerking back to the present.

“Yes.”

She scoffs and rolls her eyes, then goes right back to listing off all of the things that she needs me to do.

The truth is that I wasn’t really paying attention. My mind has been elsewhere, back in that cabin with Ansel, his lips on mine, his arms wrapped around my waist. I can’t stop thinking about how it felt to have his toned body pressed firmly against mine. I can’t stop thinking about how he kissed me. It was like he really wanted me. It was like he needed me. Like he loved me just as much as I loved him.

I can’t believe that I left Ansel and his cabin to come back here.

When my mom had called me last night, she made it sound like it was an emergency. She had actually said the words life or death. That was the only reason that I had left. Then, when I rushed over here and ran inside, all that she needed was for me to make her some soup because she wasn’t feeling well. She’s been lying in bed all morning, barking orders at me, and acting like she’s on her deathbed when in reality, she just has bad allergies.

“The dishes need to be done, and the bathrooms need to be cleaned. Did you go get the dry cleaning yet?”

“The shop is closed today, Mom,” I tell her, and she scowls.

“Then you’ll have to go first thing in the morning.”

“Is it already paid for?” I ask, and she glares at me.

“No, you can pay for it.”

I bite my tongue. I know that arguing with her won’t accomplish anything. It’s easier to just act like her secretary and get through what she needs. Then she’ll leave me alone for a few days until she needs something else.

“Then you need to run down to the market and get me some more medicine. This crap isn’t doing anything.”

She throws the sinus medicine box at me, and I duck, letting it fly over my head.

“Pick that up!” She shrieks, and I scramble to grab it.

I stand and turn around to face her, and it hits me then.

This can’t be my life.

I can’t keep doing this. I can’t keep living like this. It’s not living; I’m just surviving, just going through the motions, and I can’t keep going like this.

I deserve better. I deserve to be treated with kindness and respect. I stayed with my family for so long because of necessity and hope that they would change, but it’s obvious that they never will. They’ll never see me as anything but a maid or servant. It’s not necessary for me to stay with them. I have Ansel now.

My fingers go numb and the box falls back to the floor as I stare at my mother. I shouldn’t even call her that. She’s never been much of a mother or parent to me. I was always treated like a servant. Like a tool, something to be used when needed.

“Why do you treat me like this?” I whisper, and she acts like she doesn’t hear me.

She leans forward and grabs the pillow from behind her, tossing it in my direction.

“Get me a thicker pillow,” she demands, and I reach down and grab the throw pillow, clutching it to my chest.

The pillow was mine. I bought it with my first paycheck, and then my mom stole it. I thought she just liked it, but now I’m starting to think that maybe she just likes taking things from me.

“You’re never going to change, are you? None of you.”

“What?” My mom yells, still acting like she can’t hear me, and I clear my throat, rolling back my shoulders as my eyes meet hers.

We look so similar, with the same brown hair and the same pale blue eyes, but hers are cold and hard. I hope that mine never have that look in them, especially not when I’m looking at my child. We may look the same, but we’re polar opposites.

“I’m leaving,” I tell her. “I can’t stay here. I can’t keep being around all of you. I’m sick of being treated like crap and ordered around.”

“You don’t get to talk to me like that, young lady. I am your mother, and you will respect me,” she says, her face dark like a thundercloud as she pushes to her feet.

“No. Not anymore. I don’t want anything to do with you.”

I grab my pillow and rush upstairs to my room. I need to grab anything of mine that I want to keep because I have a feeling that I won’t be allowed back inside the house to grab it later, or if I am, it will all be destroyed by then.

“Get back here!” My mom screams after me, and I’m grateful that my stepdad and stepbrother are out. I don’t know what I would do if I had all three of them screaming at me.

My heart is racing in my ears as I grab my important documents, my favorite photos from when I was a kid with my grandparents, and some more clothes. Everything gets stuffed into a suitcase and then I’m headed out of my bedroom.

I pass my mom on the stairs and I don’t stop, don’t even slow down. I can hear her screaming at me, cursing me out, but I tune her out. I keep my eyes locked on to the front door and just keep walking.

My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I wonder if it’s Ansel or one of my friends. He’s sent me a few texts since I left his place last night, all of them worried about me and asking if I need anything. Right now, all I need is him.

I throw my suitcase in the backseat of my car and climb behind the wheel. My mom is slipping and sliding down the driveway in her slippers, still shrieking at me, and I look at her one last time before I shift into drive and take off.

As soon as I drive off, it’s like a weight has been lifted off of me. I stayed with them, under their thumb, for far too long. Now that Ansel is back though, he’s given me the strength, the courage, to get out. I know that he’ll always be there for me.

I drive back to his house, trying to calm my racing heart from the adrenaline of the last fifteen minutes, and I smile as the cabin comes into view.

I pull into the driveway and park next to his truck, looking over to the house when the front door bangs open. Ansel is standing there, looking concerned and I smile at him as I kick my car door open and rush towards him. He meets me halfway, cradling my face in his hands.

“Are you okay?” He asks me, and I smile.

“I’m perfect now.”