Deal With It

four

"As opposed to when, might I ask? I don't seem to remember the last decent conversation I had with Mum since firstly, she's never home and secondly, when she is home all we do is argue because she's made it her life's mission to accuse me of things I'm not even responsible for," I said, expressing all my feelings in one large breath.

"I do not! Everything I've said is true," she replied.

"No it's not!" I argued.

"Arissa, stop it," Dad said.

"No, Dad! Why can't she see that she's not always right no matter how much she thinks she is?"

"I'm done speaking to you," she huffed, trying to walk away, but I wouldn't let her get away that easily so I grabbed her arm and whizzed her around.

"Well I'm not done. You can think what you want about me Mum but you can't stop me from doing what I want anymore. I've always wanted to be a Doctor but you just tried to make me perfect. Guess what? I'm not and you're not either! I'm eighteen years old so I have complete control over my life. You can't ground me, you can't tell me who I can be friends with or anything of the sort! Enough is enough," I said, taking a deep breath after that massive explanation. I saw a hurt look on her face and felt a little guilty but I wasn't going to let anyone push me around anymore.

I stormed out of the room and raced upstairs, slamming my bedroom door shut. I grabbed my iPod and earphones from my bedside table and spread myself across the bed with my hands tucked behind my head and my legs crossed.

I closed my eyes and lost myself in the music.

-

I woke up in the morning to find my earphones still placed in my ears so I took them out and put them back on the bedside table.

I lazily walked to the bathroom and enjoyed a nice warm shower before getting dressed in black jeans and a grey tank top.

I checked my phone and saw that I had several missed calls and a few texts from Jason, all of them begging for forgiveness. I rolled my eyes and threw my phone on my bed but just then it rang again. Surprise surprise, it was Jason. I hesitated to pick it up but did eventually.

"What is it?" I snapped.

"Ari baby, I'm so sorry but please hear me out," he begged.

"Jason, there is nothing more to say so just leave me alone."

"Listen please," he continued to plead.

"No! I don't want to! I never want to speak to you after yesterday!" I yelled.

"It was a mistake and it only happened once! Promise. We can work this out," he tried to persuade me.

"Stop lying, Jason. I heard every word you said and that wasn't the first or the last time you'll cheat. I know if I forgive you, you'll just break my heart again and I don't want to make that mistake."

"I love you, babe. I'm so sorry. We'll go out tonight and I'll make it up to you, I swear."

The words love and sorry had no meaning when they were spoken from his mouth. He had used them against me when we had arguments on other things, binding me to our relationship by declaring his love for me again and again.

But this time was different. He crossed the line this time. Everything else was minor in relation to this. I had never expected him to betray my trust to this extent. Break my heart into a thousand tiny pieces. Make me feel terrible for accusing everyone else of being liars.

It was the last straw.

"Stop using those words falsely," I held back my tears. I didn't want him to know I was breaking. I didn't want him to know I felt defeated. "I'm not going anywhere with you so don't bother trying," I added after a couple of seconds of silence.