Splinters: Part One

Part One | 21

Collie did the same, our shoulders and arms touching. She waited.

"I mean, I miss my dad, but I don't miss the life I had with him."

"Was it bad?"

I finally looked at her. Her beautiful eyes pierced through mine. Her perfect skin looked soft and pale. I wanted to kiss her. Really, really bad, but I remembered about what we were talking about.

"Yeah. In our apartment that we lived in in New York, it was so dirty." I laughed slightly. "Cockroaches were my friends."

Collie grimaced. "Ew, really?"

I shrugged. "Well I didn't really have any so yeah."

"You didn't go to school?"

I shook my head. "Not until I lived with my grandma."

"She passed away, didn't she?"

"Yeah." I sighed. "She was amazing, Collie. Like, she probably saved my life."

Collie blinked. "What do you mean?"

"My parents didn't have all that much money. They barely had enough to keep up with living at that apartment."

"They didn't work?"

"Um, no. Well, I mean, they didn't really work, like, with real jobs. I think my mom was a prostitute."

Collie's eyebrows raised. "Why do you think that?"

"Sometimes... She'd smell different when she came back. She would look tired and she'd always come back with money. And when she'd leave, she'd wear this really big black coat, but I never knew what she wore underneath." I shrugged. "Probably nothing."

"I'm so sorry, Brayden."

"Don't be," I pleaded. "She did that to herself. By doing that, she gave me this life. She made me meet you," I grinned.

Collie's eyes looked watery for a second. I thought she might cry, but before I could do anything, she pressed her lips together before coming forward and kissing me. It wasn't hard. It was gentle. Soft. My hand instinctively went to her cheek, like the boys do in the movies.

When we pulled apart, Collie didn't look at me. She rest her head on my shoulder and took my right hand, cupping it with both of hers.

"You're amazing, Brayden."

I smiled, leaning my head on hers. She was perfect. She was nothing else but perfect, and I couldn't help but thank my mom. If she hadn't decided to not be a mom, I wouldn't have Collie, and Collie was very important to me.

"Sometimes I want to see her again."

Collie didn't move. "Your mom?"

"Yeah. Like, so that she can see I turned out all right. Without her, you know?"

"Don't you think that'd hurt her?"

"Why would I care? She hurt me."

Collie sat up, her face sad. She shook her head slowly. "You'd regret it, Brayden."

I lowered my gaze. She was right. No matter what, I still loved my mom. I still care about her happiness. I wouldn't want to hurt her. No matter how many times she's hurt me. And if I'm being honest, she probably didn't intentionally mean to hurt me. She just didn't want to live. That's all she cared about. She couldn't help it.

Suddenly, the door opened. Caleb's head peeped in, a scowl on his face. He opened the door wider and leant against the doorframe.

"I was just making sure the two of you weren't being bad."