Perfect Illusion

Two - "Hope you have a great life!"

I roll my eyes. "How's work?"

"Work's fine," She says. I hear her furiously typing on her computer.

An awkward silence passes.

"Can I talk to dad? Is he there?" I say, forcing a small smile on my face. Cara looks up and hands me a cup of tea. I gladly take it and drink from it.

I wait for a response. I hear the sounds of tapping of keyboard for a few second before she replies. "I don't think that's a good idea."

I lift my eyebrows in confusion. "Why?"

She sighs. "Your father's not in the greatest mood these days. Something huge has come up, and he needs to sort things out before things get real messy."

Huh. That's weird. My dad has never had 'something huge' come up before. He is a skilled businessman, always knowing the crafts and tricks of the business world. Basically, he's never had a setback before. I wonder what changed. Maybe I should call him later and ask what has happened. But then again, maybe he would not want me to call him.

"Oh." I say. "Ummmm.. Tell him I said hi."

"Will do, honey." She replies, distracted once again.

Cara passes me a quizzical look and I just shrug. She knows my complicated relationship with my parents, and she's always there for me when I need her. I love her for that.

Another long silence stretches, but this time, my mom is the first one to speak again.

"If there isn't anything else..." Her voice trails off. Tears burn at the back of my eyes. She sounds like she'd rather do anything than have a simple conversation with me.

"Um, no." I say, keeping my voice steady.

"Bye, honey."

I smile, heartbroken. "Bye. I love you."

And then she hangs up.

I slump into the chair, dejected. Cara leans forward from the opposite of the table, concern filling her eyes. She lifts her shoulders and a smile passes her face.

"It's nothing." I wave her off, taking another sip of my tea.

It is fine. I am fine. I cannot convince myself otherwise.

Cara stands up, and tugs at my hand, grabbing her keys. "Come on. Let's go."

I stand up almost suddenly, but then my right leg gives out on me, so I have to grab the edge of the table for support. "Whoa. Wait... where are we going? Campus?"

Her blue eyes burn into mine. "Yeah. Well, we're going to get smoothies, and then to class, because you need to get your mind off it."

"Get my mind off what?"

She smiles at me. "Exactly."

~~~~~~

Stony Brook Commons, our apartment, is less than twenty minutes from college. Cara doesn't exactly have a car, so she often carpools with me in my brand new Cadillac. Honestly, I think she doesn't want to get her own car, because mine is- in Cara's words- "absolutely amazeballs."

It's true. My baby is awesome. My parents bought it for me as my high school graduation present. I guess it's their way of saying "sorry we're always not around because we're too busy making money, so here's a new gift to compensate for that! Hope you have a great life!"

After parking a few blocks away, Cara and I walk towards the building in front of us.

One look at BU, and one word fills my mind. Beautiful. I simply adore the blend of the archaic architecture with the new, modern buildings, injecting the campus with some much needed character. The vast expanse of green cloaks the infinite ground as benches are scattered on the surface of the greenery. The natural architecture that surrounds the campus can easily steal one's breath away.