I woke up lost. I had no idea where I was and the room was too dark to recognize. I wasn't scared though, that smell comforted me. It was someone's cologne, I just couldn't remember who's.
I dragged my hand across the huge bed I was lying on and attempted to find my phone. It took me a little while but I finally grabbed it and, to my luck, I still had 78% left. I was worried it might've died on me but to be fair, I didn't use it much yesterday. I don't know how I managed but it was 1 in the afternoon and I was still sort of sleepy. Anyway, I was ready for the lecture my brother was going to give me since I didn't come home but I honestly didn't care at this point. I was fed up with him and all of his bull. Whatever message was waiting for me on my phone, I was so prepared to defend myself. I was old enough to make my own decisions. ...right?
To my surprise, I only had one text from Cris.
"Make sure you eat something before you go out to training with us. Hope you slept well. I love you."
I was beyond confused. There was no 'dad' tone or nagging or cursing. What was his deal? I chose to worry about that later cause right now I just wanted to figure out where the hell I was. I turned on the flashlight from my phone and searched for the light switch. I saw it on a wall that was a few feet from me. As I attempted to get up and walk toward it, I felt a pain in my chest and abdomen area. I hunched over and heard the door open.
"Lina!" A male voice almost yelled. It was my dad. "Baby girl are you okay?"
It was then that everything came crashing down. That smell was familiar because when I was younger and my parents would argue, I would run into this room and bury myself under the covers in hopes that I would stop hearing whatever was going on. Of course I was wrong most of the time, but somehow I managed to convince myself that none of it was real. I remember loud voices shouting and sometimes even things breaking, it just depended on what they were arguing about that day. But I now know that most of the time, it was about her. About the lady who suddenly took an interest in my dad when my brother started to make something of himself. That woman couldn't be stopped no matter what the situation was. Despite the fact that my dad was already married and had a family, that home wrecker came into the picture. She told my dad they would just be friends and that's how he introduced me to her the one day he ran into her while taking me to my brother's game. I remember him saying "Hey baby girl this is my friend Ana, say hi." Her cold eyes showed absolutely no love toward me and I couldn't stand her. I didn't know why but I later found out that it was because I knew when someone couldn't be trusted and apparently she was one of those people.
"Lina. Hey, are you alright?" My dad asked, helping me sit back down on the edge of the bed, "You're okay now, it was just a scare that's it." He squatted in front of me and took my hand. I couldn't look at him in the eyes so I just stared at my lap and felt the tears well up. I don't know why I felt so weak and vulnerable in this place but I did and I hated it. He then reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "You're gonna be fine, okay?"
Something in his voice made me believe him. I don't mean I thought I was gonna be okay despite the pain I got, I meant in general. I was going to be okay no matter what was going on in my life. "Why am I here?" I finally choked out.
"Well last night, you were pretty bad. That friend of yours, Isco, he called up Cris and told him about your panic attack. Baby you hadn't had one of those in years, he was so worried. So anyway, he apparently didn't want anyone looking for you over at his place so he asked me if you would be able to spend the night here just to calm you down. Of course I said yes-"
"Wait," I cut off, "why would Cris call you? He doesn't even like you."
"Actually I think things might be taking a more positive turn. I called him up after the Starbucks incident and let him vent. I realized that I never really let him tell me what he felt and that was a bad father move. I let him tell me and then I apologized for everything. Sincerely, too. I don't know if he forgave me but he seemed relieved to finally get that off his chest." My dad explained.
