Just a misunderstanding

Chapter 8: stuck in a loop

I stopped counting the days a while ago. They all looked the same: pale sunlight leaking through the curtains, trays of untouched food by the door, silence so thick it felt like a blanket I couldn’t pull off. My room once covered in trophies, photos and bright sticky notes, felt like a prison now. Every reflection of myself in the mirror looked like a stranger.

I barely moved, barely ate, barely existed.

Sometimes I wondered if they even remembered I was still her. My dad hadn’t knocked at my door in days. My mom’s footsteps paused outside my door sometimes, but she never came in. Luke doesn’t really leave his room since he studies a lot.

And honestly, I didn’t blame them.

What was the point of fighting anymore? The only proof I had was destroyed by the same person who once told me he was proud of me.

So I stayed curled up by the window, watching life happen without me.

One day as I was taking a nap during the afternoon, I heard a knock on my door. I was alone at home so I wondered who it was.

“Mira?” Ms. Ellis’s voice filtered through the door, cautious and soft.
I froze in my place, it has been so long since I heard this voice. “Catherine?” I answered. The door slowly opened showing Ms.Ellis standing infront of it. She was holding her computer in her arms.

“I know it’s unexpected for me to randomly show up at your house but I was worried about you. Your brother Luke told me everything that happened.” She admitted as she slowly walked towards me.

“What do you mean?” I answered, my voice low and confused.

“I made a backup.” She told me as she turned on her computer.

I blinked. “What, how?”

“The video of the party, I saved a copy on my computer.”

My heart stopped. “But the flash drive-”

“Wasn’t the only copy.” She interrupted.” I didn’t trust this would be easy. “She added.

“But when will I have the opportunity to show the video anyways?”

She put her computer on my messy desk and told me that my parents are hosting a big fundraising party next week.

“I don’t know if I will be able to just randomly show up at a party.” I whispered. “I feel like I have disappeared.”

“You didn’t disappear,” she said, her eyes kind. “They just refused to look at you. But next week, they’ll have no choice.”