Immature Mistakes | mj.q✓

Nineteen

Jiaqi turned to Ava and smiled. 'Well you didn't tell me you're changing.'

'So?' Evelyn continued. 'Please Jiaqi.'

'Fine. I'm very open to helping people anyway.' he shrugged.

'So, Ava, would you please excuse us?' she finally turned to her sister with an innocent look.

Ava glared at her instead.

'Come on Ava, she probably has something personal to say.' Jiaqi assured her.

Ava consequently nodded. 'Fine.' she got up from the seat and went to another almost empty table with her tray.

Evelyn quickly took Ava's spot and sat next to Jiaqi with her tray.

'Yep, I'm listening.' he told her.

'My life is a mess,' she said immediately. 'My dad is mean and my mean sister is his favorite, it's like I'm always under fire in that house. I just don't feel loved.'

'I thought you had friends. They're not real friends?' Jiaqi asked her.

'Hmm, not really. Not like the ones you can open up to and stuff.' she answered rather honestly.

'Well coming from a dysfunctional family sucks. The good news is you don't have to be dysfunctional as well. I think when you don't like your family, it should be an example of who you don't want to be in future and right now. But you're not a very good kid either, you lied about Ava's homework.'

She frowned. 'You don't get it. It was revenge, Ava does some terrible stuff at home too. So I just had to hit back when I could.'

'If you hit back, then you're becoming who you don't want to be.'

Evelyn looked at him intently, trying to force tears out of her eyes. She had done this before once in a school drama, it didn't have to be that hard for her. In only a few seconds, she had managed to make her eyes wet.

'Are you okay?' Jiaqi asked her with concern.

'Just that,' the first fake tear came out of her eye, 'you're right. I didn't want to be a bad person, I want to be a good person. But Ava and my father pushed me to be a terrible person.'

'It's okay. You have enough time to change.' he assured her.

Evelyn leaned her face on his shoulder and started full-on crying, not loud enough for people to hear but Jiaqi could feel her tears. He awkwardly started to pat her back, wanting to make her feel better. He felt a bit angry at Chengxin for not handling Evelyn when he had to, leaving her turning to Jiaqi.

Ava watched from the other table, slightly jealous at their contact but forcing herself to understand. She was just hoping that Evelyn now hadn't stopped crushing on Chengxin and wanted Jiaqi instead.

'It's okay,' Jiaqi continued to comfort her.

'Thank you Jiaqi. Can I have your number so I can call you when I'm sad too?' Evelyn answered once she had removed her face from Jiaqi's shoulder, wiping her tears.

'Oh...sure.' Jiaqi agreed.

...

Jiaqi had returned home that afternoon from school, and he walked into the house. At first he thought it was empty, but he heard voices in the kitchen that belonged to his parents.

'Right now I wish more than anything that you would have gone to that man, what was his name again?' Mr. Ma's angry voice boomed in the kitchen. 'Then maybe we wouldn't be in this mess!'

'Then why did you fight for me and ruin my life!?' Mrs. Ma shot back. 'You're a waste of time, and really if I had known as well, I would have stayed with him rather than you.'

'In a pitiful poor family? Yes that's what you deserved.'

Jiaqi shook his head to himself, tired of the conversation. He walked into the kitchen, exposing himself completely. This was the second time Jiaqi had found them arguing after his suicide attempt, and he was sure there was many moments which he had missed.

'Guys.' Jiaqi spoke. 'If you're tired of each other, I already told you just divorce. Don't stay together because of me. What you're doing isn't only affecting you guys, it's affecting me too.'

'It was a simple argument okay?' Mr. Ma tried to calm him down.

'A simple argument where you had to bring up past lovers?' Jiaqi face palmed.

The two parents looked at each other shamefully, realizing that Jiaqi had heard something which he wasn't supposed to.

'I'd rather have you guys apart than have you fighting like this.' Jiaqi left the kitchen and walked towards the stairs, wanting to get into his room.

Sometimes he wished he had someone to talk to too. He had his own issues, but as a counselor, he had to focus on helping Ava rather than venting to her. Once he got into his room, he jumped on his bed and tried to sleep.