She Will Be Loved

Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Mother To Daughter Talk

Mum was wrong and maybe I wasn’t as special as she said. When I entered the house around eight o’clock I heard my favorite song blaring from the living room. I could see Dad bent over looking out the window. Ariel was drumming his fingers nervously against the coffee table. Lastly, Mum was crying, singing along with the lyrics that poured out of the stereo. “I’m home,” I said softly, knowing they would all hear me. I locked eyes with Ariel, knowing I would see nothing, but disappointment in my parent’s eyes. He shook his head sadly, forcing me to look up. Dad looked relieved, but angry. Mum wiped the tears from her face. I turned and ran up the stairs and into my bedroom. There was a knock a couple minutes later. It was Ariel.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

He smiled. “No, you’re not. Look, Blake-Lynn, I’m not going to say that I understand what you are going through, because I don’t. But, I do know that you are lonely. I see the glint in your eyes when you watch Mum and Dad. The look has been there for years. I don’t know how the feeling is because I’m a guy and I don’t mind being alone.”

I smiled a little. “I don’t mind being alone, Ariel. But there is a thin line between being alone and lonely.” He nodded, understanding. I hugged him and he held me for a short while. I wiped the tears from my face. “When did you get so buff, Ari?”

He grinned. “You act like I’m a little kid. I’m only a year and a half younger than you.” I laughed. Then, the door creaked open and revealed the face of Mother. I sighed, knowing the lecture was coming on. Ariel hugged me again before leaving me alone with Mum.

“Mum,” I started to say, but she held up her hand, quieting me. I closed my mouth and waited. “Blake-Lynn, I just want to let you know that I made a trip right after you left for school this morning. As you know, I haven’t been able to see Abigail lately. So, I decided to visit her today. And I’m glad I made that decision. I arrived just in time. I saw you enter her office and I listened in along with another young boy.”

Mum bit her lip, but the tears still came. “I have always thought that this Princess of the Unborn stuff didn’t bother you. You were always yourself, so I didn’t think anything of it. Boy, did I get a surprise today. You have been putting on a fake smile for everybody. No one knows who the real Blake-Lynn is. I’m your mother and even I don’t anymore. Your favorite song, I realized, you don’t believe in it. You don’t believe that you will be loved Blake-Lynn. You want to think that, but your heart can’t. I just don’t understand. I comprehend that life is not all rainbows, butterflies, and prettiness. I know that there is darkness and hurt. But the good should outweigh the bad. Everyone has always loved you, Blakey. And they always will. You need to let us in, Blake. You can’t just hide behind your plastered smiles. Okay, so one guy is a jerk. Let it be, there will always be others.”

She was crying and I let my tears fall, too. “You of all people should get me, Mum. What if Blake didn’t love Hayley? Would you honestly want someone telling you that there are plenty of fish in the sea?”

She walked over and sat down next to me. “You really love him that much,” she said. I nodded. She wrapped her arms around me in a motherly way. I grabbed on tighter. “Let me tell you something, Blake-Lynn.” I looked up at her. “If this boy doesn’t love you the way you deserve, he’s missing out on the smartest, kindest, and most beautiful girl that has ever been created.”

I cracked a smile. “You kind of have to say that, Mum.”

She kissed my hair. “I do, technically. But that doesn’t mean that it isn’t true.”

“I love you, Mum.”

“I love you, too, Blakey and more importantly so does everyone else,” she told me, reassuringly. I mouthed a ‘thank you’ to her as she left my room. Maybe she was right. Maybe I was being blinded and didn’t see the many people that did love me. But, I knew one thing that nobody assured me of. That no one could assure me of. Dante didn’t love me.