My mom began scratching at the door. No this can't be happening. Where's Alex? I need her.
I unlocked my phone and texted Alex saying mom was drunk and I needed help. Where are my earbuds? I want to forget about everything.
"That ride was so fun!" I shouted as we pulled up back to the station.
"Says the one who was scared at the beginning."
"Shush, we don't talk about that! Can we go in this again?"
"Yeah sure, then afterwards we need to go to all the other rides too. Honestly, I just wanna do bumper cars."
"I don't want to."
"Why?"
"I don't know how to drive them so I won't be able to hit you."
"Well, you're saying that to someone who also doesn't know how to drive. We'll figure it out."
"Fine, we can do it."
The ride immediately began going up as soon as the conversation ended. This time, I felt less nervous.
Calm down, it's okay. I'll live to see another day.
I stared out of the ride. The view is so nice when you're up high. I was really excited for the lookout tower to be finished back at home.
Whoosh!
I put my hands up in the air and smiled as we quickly went back down. Now, into the loops.
"What should we do next?" I asked as I undid the seatbelts. "Shoot, it's not coming undone."
"Haha you must be pretty weak." Moxie answered as he successfully took off his seatbelt and started working on mine.
"Shush, I already know that." I responded when my seatbelt came undone.
After exiting the ride, I turned left and noticed an ice cream stand.
"Ice cream!" I shouted while running over. I grabbed some vanilla ice cream and put on rainbow sprinkles.
" I'm not surprised you got ice cream." Moxie said while laughing. "I'm gonna get vanilla and chocolate."
"Ooh, that's a good choice!"
I sat down at one of the benches and kept eating my ice cream. It tasted delicious and sweet.
THUD!
I opened my eyes, feeling alarmed after hearing that sound.
"Tiffany!"
Alex?
There were footsteps walking up the stairs and then someone tried to open the door.
"It's Alex, open up!"
I walked over to the door and unlocked it.
"What happened to mom?" I said while opening up the door.
I looked down and noticed my mom there, passed out on the floor. Alex came inside and locked the door.
"Dad said he'll be home in an hour, but he wants us to pack our things and start moving."
"Moving? Where?"
"To his sister's house, they have a spare room."
"What about you?"
"I can move in with my friends, it's okay. I was planning on moving in soon with them anyway, after all I have a decent amount of money and I can afford to do it."
I looked down, feeling like I was about to drown in a wave of sadness. What if things get much worse?
I walked over to my closet and pulled out the baby blue suitcase I've had since I was 10. Which things should I pack?
My dad arrived home two hours later and went into my room to put his stuff down.
"What are you working on?" He asked while walking over.
"A comic book. I want a job related to psychology, but it would be nice to be able to publish something."
"Well, you can keep working on that later. Make sure you do your homework, and dinner is ready."
"Let's go eat!" I exclaimed while getting up and going down the stairs.
Downstairs there was rice, string beans, salmon, and orange ginger chicken.
"We need to talk about what's happening now." Dad began. "Did you start packing up yet?"
"Yeah," I answered. "Where does your sister live?"
"She lives near here, in Waltham. She offered to drive you to school in the morning as well so you only need to worry about getting home yourself."
"What are you gonna be doing?" I asked.
"Getting the divorce paperwork. By the way, next Monday you have an appointment so I'll pick you up from school that day."
"An appointment for what?"
"Your new therapist."
"What? I'm getting a therapist?"
"Yes, you're going at least once. I know life at home has been hard and I don't think I'd do a great job at offering help."
I sighed and kept eating. Well, hopefully my therapist is nice. My dad was right though, life at home was challenging because of my mom. He was always scared to defend himself, but when he heard about all this he did it. I'm proud of him for that, but strangely I've been feeling guilty all the time. Ever since eight grade, when things got way worse. Maybe I could've done something to help out instead of things being like this.
I tried to finish eating as fast as possible and went back upstairs. My homework isn't done, and I need to go do it.
Time passes by quickly, I thought while I got out of the car. It's Monday already, almost 3 pm.
"Tiffany, let's go."
I walked inside with my dad and looked around. Inside, people were busy and walking with purpose. Why do I feel so awkward?
I noticed my dad walking over to a woman using a computer. She had a few crystal towers on her desk.
"Hello, my daughter has an appointment at 3."
"Alright, give me a minute."
There was a pause while her mouse clicked.
"Got it, I have you checked in."
"Tiffany, go sit."
"Tiffany Olsen?" A female suddenly said while walking in. I turned my head and looked at her.
"Tiffany go!" My dad said. "I'll wait for you here."
I walked over to the woman and we began walking to a different section of the building. "Nice to meet you Tiffany, I'm Doctor Luo but you can just call me Emerson."
"Nice to meet you." I answered quietly.
"If it makes you feel better, I'm not going to tell your dad anything without your permission to do so. This also doesn't have to feel like a place where you just say everything in your mind without knowing anything about me."
"So will you tell me about yourself?"
"Whatever you want to know." She answered while opening the door and letting me in. "Welcome to my office."
