FADED (book I)

IV

"You're getting more handsome every day," she pinched his cheek, causing him to blush. "You and Jade look exactly like your father. Blonde, green eyes - it's what made me fall in love with him."

"How was he like?" I asked. He suddenly left when I was merely six years old so I didn't remember much about him.

"Oh, he was good looking and always smelled like leather and mint. We met at a bar, he bought me a drink and then next thing you know we fell in love."

"Then why aren't you still together?" I wanted to know. "Where is he? I would really like to see him again."

"Sweetheart," Jordan sighed from where he was leaning against the counter. "We've talked about this before."

Yeah, we did talk about it before. Jordan told me that I was better off not knowing the man for some reason he refused to tell. But I didn't think it was his call to make. This was my father we were talking about not his.

"I don't know where he is right now," mom said. "I do know he had to leave because he had some important stuff to do."

"Tristan told us he had another family," Noah suddenly said.

She nervously stroked her bleached hair. "That's not entirely true."

"Then what is the truth?" he pushed.

"Noah, buddy can you come with me for a second?" Jordan didn't wait for an answer and slung an arm around his shoulder, leading him to the back porch all the while murmuring something to him I couldn't understand.

"Here you go." I set the waffles in front of her and she thanked me. She was reaching for the cutlery when I noticed the scars on her wrist. "What happened?" I asked.

She pulled her sleeves down and took a bite from the waffle. "Mhmm, this is really good."

I sat down at the table and lifted my feet on the edge of my chair, wrapping my arms around my knees. I started scratching at a scrape wound on my leg from last week when I fell skateboarding down the street. I sneaked a peek at my mom through my long eyelashes and watched as she devoured the waffles as if she hadn't eaten for months.

She looked skinny, too skinny. Her face had more wrinkles than last time and she looked ill. She had put heavy make up around her eyes and bright red lipstick that always left a stain on my cheek. I could smell nicotine on her, cheap perfume and beer. Her hair was dyed blonde but it wasn't nicely done because I could still see the grey hairs sticking out. She wasn't that old - I knew she was very young when she had Jordan, sixteen he had told me. That meant she was only forty six years old but she looked more like she was sixty six. What happened to her?

The front door suddenly opened and Tristan walked in, Ashton trailing in behind him. Tristan was in the middle of laughing about something until he noticed our mother. His laughter died down and Ashton peeked around him to see what put a downer on his mood. His blue eyes widened for a second in surprise before a dark look washed over his face.

"The fuck is she doing here?"

Tristan put a hand on his shoulder and whispered something in his ear before he walked over to us. "Hello, mother." His tone was dry and devoid of any emotion, which was very unusual for Tristan.

"Hey, sweetie," she smiled at him.

Tristan then walked over to me and shot me a real, genuine smile. He bend over and kissed the top of my head, mumbling against my hair, "Hey, princess." He straightened his back and looked around. "Where's everyone?"

As if on cue, Jordan and Noah walked back into the kitchen. They greeted each other and I marveled at the different secret looks they passed around. I swear a whole wordless conversation took place and I couldn't even catch a single message.