Be Mine: A Georgiana & Michael short story (Illusion of Certainty Short Story)

Without You

Chapter Two – Without You

“No one knows how to act around you.” Luke sat down next to me.

“Yeah, I got that vibe. My father’s been treating me like a china doll, my mother looks at me like I’m a ghost…”

Luke laid his arm across the back of the bench. “Maybe you should talk to them.”

“And say what?” I looked away from the water and at him. “That their little girl almost died by the hands, no fangs, of the boy she loves? Or that the hallucinogen she was given made her question her own reality?” I turned back to the water. “They don’t want to know any of that. They want it to be simple and not their fault.”

“Well it’s not. It’s no one’s fault.”

“There’s things even you don’t know about, Luke. And it is someone’s fault.”

“I may not know everything but I do know that all your parents want is for you to talk to them again. You’re hiding something. They know it, everyone knows it. Now, I don’t want to know what it is. I know eventually you’ll tell me or you won’t. But my job is to keep you safe and I failed to do that in New York. I’m sorry about that. I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you but shutting people out of your life isn’t the answer for anything. It’s not going to fix what happened.”

“I’m not shutting anyone out and I’m not trying to fix anything.”

“You may not be doing it yet but I know you’re gearing up for something. I know you, Georgiana Marie Vertigo. I know your habits, I know your ticks, I know that tonight when the boy sends you a text you’ll stare at the cell phone screen begging yourself to text him back. But you won’t. You won’t crack.”

I looked down at my lap and tried to pretend I wasn’t about to cry.

“Your parents will be first. Then your friends, even though it won’t be that hard because you’re graduating soon. The last person is your brother but if I know anything, you’ll keep him at arm’s length because he’s the only one that makes you feel human, real.” I looked over at him, my lips trying really hard not to tremble. “You’ve already lost the boy. You’re going to lose me,” his voice cracked. “Why are you going to allow yourself to lose even more?”

“You’ll all lose me soon enough and it’s easier if I do it this way. If I separate myself now, it won’t hurt as much later when it truely happens.”

“That’s crap and you know it. It won’t matter if you die tomorrow or ten years from now. Whether you kick everyone out of your life or not. It’s going to hurt. It’s going to be the hardest thing some of us have to endure. It’s not going to matter how much distance you put between yourself and everyone else, Georgiana. Do you understand me?”

I nodded. “But it doesn’t matter.”

“Why doesn’t it matter?”

“Because you can’t do anything about it. No one can.”

~ * ~

“So…what is everyone doing tomorrow night?”

My father decided after what happened in New York that we would start having dinner together every other night. Tonight was supposed to be a dining hall night but since we were all home anyways, he rescheduled it for tonight. More than likely I would be by myself for dinner tomorrow night. I was not excited.

“Don’t worry, Dad. You’re free to take Mom out,” I said.

“And thank you for volunteering to go first, kitten.”