Open Sores

Chapter 10 Dirty little secrets

Chapter 10: Dirty Little secrets

"Alyssa, Get up sweetie! We're going out!" Alyssa's mom yelled throwing a pillow at her. 

Alyssa lifted her head up from under her pillow and glanced at her mother. Mrs. Cameron started laughing as she stared at her daughter. Her hair was touseled and tangled into a black mess. Her eyes were squinted as she tried to keep most of the light away. Alyssa quickly sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"Come on dear, you need a shower. After, come down stairs and we'll head out. Alright?" Mrs. Cameron smiled and hopped down stairs. She met Mr. Cameron with a smile and watched as he drank his coffee.

"I'm going to go soon." He said looking straight at Mrs. Cameron. 

"Okay," Mrs. Cameron  said turning to give him a quick and reluctant kiss on his cheek. She didn't want him getting suspicous about what she planned on revealing to Alyssa. Something she knows he wouldn't approve of.

"Going out today?" He asked.

"Yep," She replied warmly.

"Where are you going?" Mr. Cameron asked concerned. 

"Taking her out. Trying to get her to earn my trust." Mrs. Cameron said turning to walk to the sink. Mr. Cameron gets up and stands behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. His lips at her ear when he whispers,

"She won't find out, it's only a matter of time before she trust you fully. Don't worry about it," 

His voice sent chills down her spine and Mrs. Cameron did her best not to shiver under his touch. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath thinking about all she planned to finally reveal to Alyssa. She wanted to be a real family, she always wanted to be. Now that Gavin came into the picture, she hoped that maybe they actually could be a family. She saw something in Gavin that made her feel like things were bound to change for the better.

Mr. Cameron took one look at his wife and almost instantly remembered why he fell in love with her. How he felt for her was simple, but the way he feels when he looks at Alyssa brings him to shame. When they had Alyssa they were too young to be real parents. It's the main reason why he resented Mrs. Cameron's decision to keep Alyssa. He never wanted kids, it was too much of a responsibility for him. The only way he deals with it is to bring fear upon his daughter and wife. Mr.Cameron gave his wife one last peck on the cheek before leaving.

Alyssa walked downstairs and seen her mother cleaning up the kitchen. She stopped in her tracks and watched for a minute. She lifted an eyebrow and wondered why her mother was being so kind. She hated to say it, but she didn't know that she had it in her. She tried to figure out the conundrum of the day; what her mother could possibly want to tell her. What was serious enough that she couldn't just tell her at home?

Alyssa's phone rang and she jumped at the sound of the sound of Leona Lewis' voice singing happy. Mrs. Cameron quickly turned around and saw her daughter reading what appeared to be a text message. She gave a her a small smile even though she knew Alyssa wasn't looking. She wasn't sure about how Alyssa was going to take the news.

"You ready?" Mrs. Cameron asked.

"Yeah," Alyssa said looking up from her phone.

"Okay, let's go." Mrs. Cameron said leading her daughter away from home.

*******

Mrs. Cameron and Alyssa went out and bought whatever clothes they felt like for a first few hours they were together. Around four o'clock Mrs. Cameron went to take Alyssa to an ice cream shop. She decided that she was going to tell her what she's been waiting to tell her all day. She was procrastinating from the moment she got up this morning but she decided she couldn't wait any longer.

As they sat down, Alyssa looked at her mother with suspicous eyes. As she saw Mrs. Cameron looking her way, she forced her face to soften. Instead, she looked at her questioningly before taking a deep breath. Alyssa decided to finally ask the question she has been worrying about the whole morning and was worried about the reaction she would get. She was worried about the ramification her question would bring.

"Mom," Alyssa said shakily. 

"Yes," Mrs. Cameron said smiling warmly.

"Um, why d-did." She stopped short and cleared her throat before steading her voice to speak again.

"What happened? Why have you ch-changed?" Mrs. Cameron frowned and took a deep breath of her own.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about." Mrs. Cameron started. "But that comes later. First I wanted to talk about the way your father and I have.....raised you."  Alyssa nods and readied herself for the worst.

"Alyssa, I'm sorry. Over these past years i've treated you like something you scrape off of your shoe and it wasn't right." She began. "I'm not sure about your father, but i'm sure he's sorry too. I only wanted you to become stronger and I was too weak to do anything. I sort of hoped you would someday gain courage to stand up to your father. Now I have a different idea. A different form of hope."

"What changed?" Alyssa questioned.

"Gavin." Mrs. Cameron said simply.

"W-What?" Alyssa stuttered. "What does he have to do with anything?"

"Before, I officially lost all hope. Last month when we left, I was hanging onto the sliver of hope I had left in my heart. Then, when I seen you out there with Gavin, it made me happy. I have a feeling that things will change with him. I can see it already, Alyssa. I can see it in you. You are more happy, you are positively radiant and I know just a bit of that  ceases everytime you step foot into this house. I don't want it to be like that."

Alyssa sat there stunned at the information her mom was giving her. She had a feeling that her mother was far from done. Gavin brought happiness and peace to Alyssa's mind. Gavin was Alyssa's hope and now she was finding out, after a day of meeting him, that it was her mother's too. She had so many questions but waited for her mother to continue.

"There's more." Mrs. Cameron closed her eyes and took another deep breath. "I'm sorry for telling you that I wish you'd never been born. I was trying to tear you down until....until you hopefully decided that you couldn't take it anymore. That maybe you would run off somewhere or finally stand your ground to one of us. At first I had hope for you, but now I found it in Gavin. He's the change i've been waiting for, Alyssa." 

"But there's something else isn't there?" Alyssa asked. Mrs. Cameron nodded.

"There's one more thing....and it's the biggest one of all." Mrs. Cameron said nervously. "I-I-I'm not sure how you'll react. It's about where your father and I went last month. Where we went." Alyssa nods calmly.

"Where did you go?" Alyssa asked.

"I  went to see...." Mrs. Camerons started. "I went to see your sister." 

"You what?" Alyssa gasped. "M-My sister?"