The Illusion of Us

Chapter 29

"I'm home." Mina yelled through the entryway of her home as she deposited the house keys in the bowl sitting on the coffee table beside the door. She kicked the door closed behind her with her foot, yelling once more when she hadn't received a response.

"Kitchen," came the unanimous reply, and Mina felt her heart sink to the bottom of her stomach as she made her way into the large marble decorated kitchen to find both her parents seated at the tiny island in the middle, both their arms crossed tightly over their chests. They looked furious, clear aggravation written across their faces, and she paused in the open double doorway.

"What's going on?" Mina asked hesitantly.

"Have a seat." Her dad spoke softly in response, gesturing to the stool sat in between him and his wife.

"I-I don't understand." Mina stuttered. "What's going on?" She repeated.

"Your mother and I want to talk to you." Her dad's gentle voice broke the silent air once more, unbelievably softer this time.

"About what?" She furrowed her brows. "I-"

"Sit down Mina Joyce!" Her mother's annoyed voice boomed through the air with vigor, and Mina could practically see the imaginary smoke spewing from both her ears like a rocket.

Mina sat without further instruction, squishing herself between the pair of them in silence, trembling under the gaze of both her parents as she tried not to wring her hands back and forth in her lap.

"We got a call from your school." Her dad was the first to break the silence. "A few calls, actually." He corrected himself, but before he could get another word out, her mother was fuming at the top of her lungs once more.

"Why would you skip school Mina!" Her hands were waving through the air. "Why would you skip school? Twice!"

"I-I-" Mina struggled to come up with a lie on the spot, so she recycled an old one. "I wasn't feeling well so-

"And now you're lying to my face" Her mother didn't even give her a chance to finish her faux excuse before she was raving again. "Mina, what is going on with you!"

"Nothing!" She rolled her eyes, tired of the same words floating around her over and over again.

She was still the same person she had always been, regardless of what everyone else around her thought.

"Nothing is going on with me!" She banged her fists down onto the marble kitchen island. "You guys are acting like I'm the only person who's ever skipped a day of school! Maybe I just wasn't feeling it that day ok! Maybe I just wanted a break! Have you ever thought about that? Did you ever think that maybe- just maybe I'm tired!"

"We're all tired. We all have to do things that we don't feel like-" Her dad began to whisper beside her, and he hadn't even gotten one word out before she was pushing her stool away from the counter, chuckling under her breath as she went.

"You guys are unbelievable! I mean, you just can't help yourself can you?" She crossed her arms over her chest with a curt laugh. "Everything always has to be about you, huh?"

"You need to stop with the guilt train Mina Joyce, it's getting old. You know your father and I have to work, and we know you don't like it, but the least you could do is be grateful instead of acting like a spoiled brat!"

"I'm a spoiled brat?" Mina exclaimed.

"When you skip school and cheer practice to hang out with a boy for attention then come home to your nice house to yell at your parents, then yes, you are." She nodded her head, adding "And we already know about Khalil, so don't try to lie about that either."