It all started when I woke up to the smell of waffles. Waffles were my mom's way of sweetening me up before she dropped a bomb on me. Knowing this, I slowly got out of bed. Stumbling over the mountain of clothes situated in the middle of my room I made my way over to the mirror. I sighed at the rat's nest I called hair, throwing it back into a bun as I examined my reflection. Standing at 5'8, I had golden brown hair that fell in nice beachy waves when I was lucky. My skin was naturally bronzed from my mother's Cherokee heritage, and hours spent outside in the California sun, which made my bright green eyes stand out more than they already did. A feature I begrudgingly thanked my father for.
As I continued my examination of myself I couldn't help but notice all the tell tale scars that covered my body. I couldn't help but giggle as I thought of all the stories that went with them. I just so happened to be the clumsiest person in the history of the world, but that never got in the way of me and my adventures. Remembering my newest injury, courtesy of the sidewalk, I quickly changed out of my gym shorts and into a pair of baggy sweatpants. My mom hated it when I came home with new injuries. After sixteen years of bumps and bruises you would think she'd be used to it, but she always expected the worst, never believing they were from natural causes. I guess that's pretty reasonable, seeing as we're from a not so great neighborhood, where fights happen quite frequently. After one last look in the mirror I made my way downstairs. Before I could plop myself down on the couch my mom peeked her head out of the kitchen.
"Good morning Ember! I just made some waffles, hope you're hungry!" she smiled as she went back to the kitchen. Opening the door I couldn't help but burst out laughing. The kitchen was an absolute disaster! It looked as though a tornado had come through the kitchen and spit everything out every which way. Waffle batter was stuck on the cabinets and ceiling, milk dripped down the kitchen island, an egg lay broken on the floor, and that was just my first assessment of the damage. Standing at a petite 5'3 my mom, who normally looked quite put together, currently looked like a mad woman. Her naturally curly raven hair was now matted to her face, sticking out every which way, with a nice thick coating of flour throughout. Her favorite old blue jeans couldn't even be considered blue anymore. And my favorite touch was the batter that adorned her face, hiding most of her striking features. Even so, it was undeniable that she was a gorgeous woman.
"What in the world were you doing woman?" I laughed. I could see her blushing as she looked around as well.
"Well, I tried cooking.. . I swear I followed the directions and everything! But you know how it is, things just kept getting in my way! Everything was going so well too.. Until I dropped an egg... or five.. and then the mixer went haywire... and, well, this happened," she exclaimed as she spread her arms indicating the disaster that was our kitchen. Looking at each other, we both burst into another fit of laughter as we sat down at the table which had miraculously been saved from her cooking. Taking a bite of the waffle that was waiting for me I let out a moan of pleasure. While my mom may make one hell of a mess in the kitchen, the result was always to die for. I was almost done when my mom took out a fancy looking envelope from her pocket.
"Uh honey, I don't know how exactly to tell you this, but, uh, you're going to your father's boarding school," she said very fast.
"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" I asked, thinking I had misunderstood.
"You are going to your father's boarding school, and you leave tomorrow." She couldn't even meet my eyes as she repeated herself. My eyes widened at the last part and then I exploded on her, "How the hell could you do this! He left us! His job was always more important... He has no right to try involving himself in my life now."
"Ember, please understand it isn't my fault! We've needed help. If you haven't noticed, we don't live in the greatest area. There isn't a night that goes by where we don't hear some kind of gun shot and sirens following soon after. This is never how I wanted you to grow up," My mom struggled to explain, tears building up in her crystal blue eyes.
"That doesn't mean you have to send me away. I want to stay with you! I'll get a job, pay rent, anything to help and get us away from here.. Just don't send me away!"
"I'm so sorry baby, I wish I didn't have to send you away. It's for the best though, you'll have a better life than I could ever give you. You'll understand one day."
I stormed upstairs and locked myself in my room before the flood gates released. I couldn't believe this was happening, my whole world was being turned upside down. My anger towards my father.. no, that man, was growing by the second. It burned through every fiber of my being. As hot tears ran down my cheeks I curled up on my bed and looked around my room. I would no longer wake up and go to bed here every day. I wouldn't be able to go downstairs and see my mom and the disaster we call a kitchen after her little cooking escapades. And what about my friends? The tears became hotter and heavier as I thought of all things I'd miss. Before I could drown myself in tears I heard my phone ring.
"Ember Rose you better get your ass over here! We have a date missy!" Kaia, my best friend, exclaimed. The tears were torrential at this point. Hearing my distress, Kaia immediately went into mama bear mode. "Whose ass am I kicking?! The Ember I know doesn't cry! You know what, don't answer that. I'm on my way over, be there in five!" And with that she hung up, not even letting me get a word in. Kai was one of those people who could keep a conversation going just by talking to herself, it was one of the many things I loved about her. We were partners in crime. We had everything figured out, from the next two years of high school, to where we were going to college together. So much for that.
"EXPLAIN!" Kai yelled and she threw my door open with a bang. She took one look at me curled up on my bed, tear tracks evident on my face, and immediately enveloped me in a huge bear hug. "Would you care to explain?" She asked me quietly, still having not let me go.
"She's sending me away!" I wailed as the tears came back in full force. I went on to explain the situation to her and by the end she was fuming.
"Who the hell does that, that, MONSTER think he is! He's gone from your whole life and now he decides to rear his ugly head back in it. I won't allow it!" Kai fumed as she jumped off my bed and started zooming around my room.
"What are you doing?" I sniffed as I watched her run around my room throwing things every which way.
"I'm packing up your stuff of course! You're moving in with me," she said as if it was the most obvious thing. Already she had a whole box packed up, and I hadn't even the slightest clue where she'd found it. I cracked a smile at her antics and wished that things could be so simple, but I knew there was no way my mom would allow me to stay. I got up and put a hand over Kai's.
"I can't stay Kai, no matter how much I want to. Mom has stuck her foot down and apparently all of the preparations have been made for me to leave tomorrow." We both slid to the ground and just looked at each other letting everything sink in. I picked up a picture that Kai had packed into the box and couldn't help but let out a little giggle. Scooching over next to me she peered over my arm and cracked up. The two of us were sprawled out in a middle of a field with daisy chains and grass stains adorning our bodies. We were laughing at something that we had long forgotten, pure happiness exuding from us. I knew that these were the moments I'd miss most.
"Kai! You're parents just called. Something about a pillow and a basketball?" My mom yelled from somewhere downstairs. I looked over at Kai to see her smiling bashfully.
"Damn, and I thought that that would really work," she signed as she stood up. "I may or may not currently be grounded because of that math test we got back yesterday. I was going to see how long I could play off the whole 'sleeping body' thing, it always works in the movies!" I laughed at her antics and followed her down the stairs. "Don't you worry, I'll be here bright and early to see you off. Not even the devil himself could stop me!" She hollered as she walked out the door to her car. I waved goodbye and dragged my legs as I slowly walked back up the steps to my bedroom to pack.
