The Piece of Him That I Lost

Chapter I. Miss Popular in the Party

--Ashton Kimberly Hayes POV--

"Ash, are you still asleep, sweetheart?"

Mom's yelling from the kitchen is absolutely tearing my ears apart. She was quite loud and did this every morning in this house. She enjoys making breakfast for us and doing the shouting thing when I'm still sleeping and she'll be late for work. She's an actress, by the way, and she looks stunning for her age.

"Ash, baby, it's time to go to school!" she exclaimed as she peered through the door.

I frowned. I don't want to be treated as a child! Like, duh? Why do I feel like I'm in sixth grade when I'm in my senior year, now? "Mother, it's Saturday!" I groused.

"What about Saturday?"

"Oh my goodness, Mom, we don't have class on weekends!"

"Oh, Dang! Since when?"

Arrgh! Every single time, I knew!
I'm not sure if Mom wasn't paying attention to me as her child or if she was simply unaware. I'm not sure; she was always like that. She enjoyed making the world revolve around only for her. That's nothing new to me as the only mistaken child she's ever had.

"Are you going somewhere?" I asked as I noticed her gleaming like a sneaky supermodel on a fashion runway. She smirked and bobbed her head, as if she were a little girl caught in the act by her parents. "Who is it now?" I said.

"Not at all, I have a TV appearance today," she explained. "Remember my recently released film—we need to attend so many TV interviews and guest appearances."

Gosh! She and her career were suckers. I merely turned my head as if I hadn't heard anything. She doesn't spend a single weekend at this place. She sat next to me, attempting to console me, but it was too cringy and awkward. "I know it's awkward, but I just wanted to tell you that you are my only daughter!"

"I hope no one found out," I replied.

"Oh, honey, I know it was difficult for you to bear the fact that you are my daughter and a hidden child of mine—I know, and I'm so sorry."

"Please, I don't need your apologies—will you go now?" I asked, but she hugged me.

"I love you, my little peach!"

I pulled her away; this isn't how we roll. When did she start being affectionate with me? She has no idea how to be a mother. She kissed me goodbye before leaving my room, leaving me with no choice but to do some chores because it's Saturday.

I received a phone call from Mandy, my best friend. "Hello, Mandy?"

"Yeah, I think we could get together later this evening—Raffy invited us to his party!"

"Raffy—the popular guy on the baseball team—and he did?"

"Yeah, the original plan was for him to come to your house and personally invite you, but I said no because your identity is definitely a big secret."

"That's good-why did he invite me?"

"You're the most popular rich, spoiled brat queen on our campus, so no doubt all the boys at our school want to date you!"

That was just ridiculous, I thought as I rolled my eyes. My ex-boyfriends used to fight each other like it was a cockfight every time they met.

"That's nothing new to me; this is me—definitely, they were crazy to have me."