Roommates with a Player

Chapter Thirty Six: The Choice

            I never hit the ground. Ricky’s arms were around me before I had the chance to register that I had fainted. And like that, I was back in that perfect nook between his arms and his chest. I could have fallen asleep there, but it was apparent that I had an audience. Everyone had swarmed around the two of us, their voices growing in worry. I buried my face in Ricky’s pajama shirt, feeling the polyester wipe away my budding tears. The feeling of safety was overwhelming, but yet I knew it wouldn’t last.

            “She always was a fainter,” Aunt Joyce commented. “Is this a bad time?”

            I could hear the hesitation in Michelle’s words. “Not at all. I’ll go and brew up some tea.”

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            “Why are you here?” I asked Aunt Joyce, unable to keep myself from being blunt.

            We all sat around the dining room table, ready to converse over our steaming cups of tea. Yet no one felt like drinking. Or at least I didn’t.

            Henry and Michelle sat next to each other, a stern look on both of their faces. Ricky was next to me. And Aunt Joyce sat alienated on the edge of the table. She knew she wasn’t welcome; I could see the uneasiness in the way she sat. Maybe it was the expensiveness of the mansion that was making her act so strange, or maybe it was the fact that she was about to ruin my life. I made sure she knew this by staring her down.

            “Do we really need to rush into it?” she sipped on her tea. I noticed the tremor in her hands.

            “Yes,” I said blankly.

            I never really liked Aunt Joyce. Out of my two aunts, she was my least favorite. But the other one had been diagnosed with leukemia and passed away years ago, so I was left with her. Aunt Joyce lived in a pretty beach house in Florida and she’d managed to send a postcard to my parents every month, bragging about how rich she was in her fancy little beach house. Only she wasn’t really “all that rich”. She’d hit rock bottom in her savings and was going to be forced to give up her home by the bank. But she’d found a way to get out of it: study abroad. Aunt Joyce, being the selfish woman she is, decided to try and work overseas and spend some time away from things. I was perfectly fine with this, as I wouldn’t have to deal with her horrible birthday gifts any longer. She’d been gone for almost four years, and after my parents died, no one thought to contact her, as she wasn’t going to be a good guardian for me anyway. But I guess she’d finally found out.

            “I’m here to take you home,” she restated. “Don’t you want to live with family? You know, real family?”

            I watched her meet every one of the Stephens’ eyes before going back to mine. How rude could she get? Could she not see that I was happy here?

            “This is my family,” I said through gritted teeth. “They’ve been here for me through everything.”

            “Yes, I understand,” Aunt Joyce said, then paused to think hard on something. “But I miss you, Emma. You’re the only thing I have left of your mother…of my sister.”

            I let it sink in. Maybe she wasn’t being as selfish as I thought. Maybe…I was being selfish. Because truly, I was the only thing left of my mom. And who wouldn’t want to hang on to the last thing left of the one they loved?

            “Emma,” Henry spoke up. “Your Aunt does have the ability to take you. Even though it was in your parents’ will, she is a family member, which overrides the will by law.”