Marked Secrets

7

JP

Amelia sat beside me on the wooden bench, pursing her soft lips together. Whatever Blake and Amelia were up to, we all seemed to be friends now and I would not allow them to take this on alone, though I was unsure what I was getting myself into.

"It's...I know you're new to Moonstone, and I just think if I told you it'd be a lot to take in," Amelia said, and I noted the way she picked at her cuticles nervously.

"Amelia, I don't think anything will ever be too much for me to take in," I breathed, shutting my hazel eyes for a brief second.

Amelia had no clue what I'd been through over the course of my life. Every day was something else. A new obstacle, a new challenge that begged to be faced. My story was something I shared with very few people, and those people were no longer in my life. The rest of the individuals that knew my story were the ones who were around at the time, and saw the hell I braved. I thought about it every day. Day and night I thought about it. I thought about her. She was my world, and then she wasn't.

"Jay-Parker," My Mother's sing song like voice called through my cracked open bedroom door. "Honey, you're gonna be late for school."

"Mom," I said groggily, just barely waking up. "Can I stay home with you today?"

"No, sweetie. I have some important things I need to get done today," My Mother replied, entering the room and seating herself on the edge of my bed. Her scent filled the space, smelling of fabric softener. It was the scent you got when you took fresh clothes out of the dryer, a clean one.

"Please," I begged, sitting up on the bed and snuggling up to her. She held me close to her warm body, kissing my cheek softly.

"Are you feeling under the weather?" She placed her hand on my forehead, feeling for a temperature.

"No," I admitted. "I just miss you. You didn't come out of your room that much yesterday, mommy. Are you sick?"

"I know, I know. I've been doing that a lot lately..." Mother placed a finger to her lips, thinking for a moment. "Alright. Just this once you can stay home, we can have a Mom and JP day."

Filled with excitement, I scooted even closer to her and allowed her to engulf me in an even tighter hug.

"Oh, baby. Sometimes I feel like you're all I have left."

Though she was wearing her bath robe and her hair was tied back in a messy ponytail that day, she still managed to smell nice, and it was a scent I would never forget. I would never forget her winsome hugs either, and how they always made me feel loved and cherished.

"JP?" Amelia called out, waving a hand in front of my face. "Are you okay?"

"What? Yeah, I'm fine," I claimed, blinking back the tears that had somehow found their way to my eyes. Standing up from the bench, I could feel a crying spell coming on. "I better go."

"What, man? We just got here!" Blake said, speaking for the first time since before we sat down on the bench. He was listening to Amelia and I instead. "Is something wrong?"

"No, no. I just, my aunt is probably worried about me. I'm gonna go," I replied in a haste, brushing off Blake and Amelia. I scrambled away from them both, heading down the street towards my house.