and then you left // cth

chapter 7: silence

"Is Calum going to show up? I haven't seen him in a while." She says these words carefully, in a way that doesn't draw attention to them. I know she's worried about him but doesn't want to worry me any further.

"I don't know, Mum. I hope so."

We eat the rest of the meal in silence. My dad moved out a few years ago, after the divorce. The missing seat at the dinner table is something that we've had to get used to, though the daunting silence will always haunt me.
I'm almost done with my food when Mum finally speaks again, and her words catch me off guard.

"Have you met Mrs. Patterson's granddaughter?" she asks, twirling some pasta with her fork. I stare at her. I didn't think that Alexis's arrival was that big of a deal, as big enough for Mrs. Patterson to tell my mother. The two aren't very close, it's mostly me who goes to visit Mrs. Patterson. But I don't know why she would feel the need to share this information with my mother. After all, Alexis just said that she was visiting for the summer, while her parent's were in Europe.

"Yeah. Yesterday. Why?" there has to be a reason for her bringing this up. When Mum puts her fork down, I know I'm in for something.

"Look, it seems her granddaughter has been through something traumatic, and it left it scarred pretty badly. I don't know exactly what happened, but it seems that she... took it roughly."

"Okay..." I trail off, not knowing where this is going. I don't really allow the words to sink in.

"So, I think you should try and become friends with her. I'm sure she'd like someone to show her around LA-"

I can't have heard that right.

"Wait, you are going to like, force me to be friends with her?" I ask, my voice rising slightly. She cannot just force me to befriend this girl. I mean, we have the same taste in music, but that doesn't mean anything.

"No, I just think you should be extra nice to her, whenever you see her." She tells me. But I know better. There's more coming. There's always more.

Number one thing to always remember about Liz Hemmings, there is always more. You are never let off easy. Never.

"How about you invite her to your band practice tonight?" My fork falls from my hand as the words fall from her mouth.

There are so many things wrong with her "gentle suggestion". You can't force someone to be friends with someone else. It never ends well never. And although yesterday, we got along fairly well, she seemed to have something else on her mind. I don't really know. I do want to hang out with her again, but since my mum's forcing me, it just takes the fun out of it.

I understood when Mrs. Patterson suggested this arrangement; Of course she wants her granddaughter to have friends here. But my mother getting in on this grand scheme as well?

"You can't do that," I say, earning a look with my tone.

"Yes, I can, Luke. That girl needs someone to be there for her, she needs someone to lean on. If you can do that for Ashton, Michael, and especially Calum, you can do that with Mrs. Patterson's granddaughter. You're a very kind and caring person, just go over there and invite her. I'll even clear your plate." She says, standing and taking my plate form under me. I frown. I don't think my mother realizes that her cleaning my dinner plate will not make this okay.

"I wasn't done with that,"

"Go over to Mrs. Patterson's house and invite her granddaughter to your practice, Luke." she orders, and I can tell the topic is closed. Huffing, I roll my eyes and shove my chair back before heading toward the door. "And be sure to change your attitude while you're at it. I don't want the girl thinking I've raised you to be cold."

"Her name is Alexis." I project my voice over my shoulder and make sure to slam the door at a volume just high enough to make my mother mad.

alexis

Just as I snuggle in my bed with my laptop, ready to rewatch Mean Girls for the millionth time, the doorbell rings. I glance around my room, which is the now more decorated than before. Today, Gram and I, as promised, went shopping to gather things to fill my depressingly bare room. We headed to Ikea, which I suppose could have been fun and a "bonding experience", except for the fact that everything that she picked out for me was hideous. She was stuck in the 60's, and loved anything covered in flowers, whereas I prefer neutral shades of furniture. But now my room was filled with furniture that I didn't completely hate, which turned out to be a good thing.

Despite this, the day was a reminder that I would be staying here for the entire summer, and that was enough to send me back to a bad mental space. I'd come home and turned off my light and locked my door, with plans of spending the rest of the day completely alone.

I loved being alone because I didn't have to disguise myself in any way. I could be purely me, and not be embarrassed, not feel the need to explain my unusual behavior patterns to people who would never understand.

I doubt the doorbell means anything, and being playing the movie. Already laughing at the opening scene, I snuggle deeper into my new comforter that smelled of chemicals that had to be toxic.

And then there's a knock on my door.

"Yeah?" I call over the movie, not caring enough to turn it off. Gram walks in, and I notice her eyeing the title of the movie. She's shaking her head with look mixed of disappointment and disaprovement.

"Alexis, why don't you watch something funny, rather that something about bullies?" she asks, and I laugh, as Mean Girls is one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. "Nevermind. Look, Luke is asking if you want to come to his house and watch his band rehearse, so get ready and you can walk over there." I furrow my eyebrows, confused at her order.

"What?" She sighs and repeats herself.

"You're going over to Luke's house to watch his band play. They're actually quite good, and the "punk" style you like." she does finger quotes at the word that defines only a small minority of my taste in music. But she wouldn't know that, or why I even liked this music in the first place. She didn't know anything about me. Or maybe she used to, but I've seemingly changed into a person that is nearly unrecognizable.

"But-" I begin to object, but she cuts me off without care of my thoughts on the situation at hand.

"That's final, Alexis. Now make yourself presentable and go." And with that, she shuts the door, leaving me shocked, confused and slightly insulted.

lmfao i think these filler chapters are so boring but i'm trying here.