I figured that this was going to come up as a topic, I just didn't know it would be coming up so soon.
"So about your relationship with John." Blyke started.
"What else is there to know? I met him at Woaba Boba, and we fell instantly in love, kept it a secret, and then you discovered us." it sounded like a lie, even to my ears, but the reason Blyke was shut up was not because he bought the lie, it was because my tone was final.
Nobody, not even Arlo could beat me. So when I told you to shut up, you shut up. But there was something else, another problem. I wasn't sure when this ruse would end, and if I would actually fall for him (if I hadn't already)... and there was another problem.
My family life was not the best, I was thinking of following in Leilah's footsteps and leaving. Even if it meant being a failure, it would be better than how I live now.
My mother expected me to be perfect. And I was, until John came along and ruined my perfect world. But perhaps ruined isn't the right word. He taught me that I should live for myself, not my parents or anybody else. I supposed that if he hadn't come to help save me from the dreadful oppression, I would still be getting perfect grades.
But that's not ever what I wanted. In fact, right now I don't even know what I want. I've been too far deep into my mother's unrealistic expectations, that I don't even know the difference between what I actually like and the things that I was told to like.
So I thank you, John, for helping me.
As the train ride slows, I am still enveloped in a cloud of my thoughts and memories.
"Leilah! Where are you going?" said a seven-year-old Seraphina.
"Uhm, I'll be staying somewhere else for a little while." but Seraphina saw the flicker of unease in Leilah's green eyes.
"Leilah? Are you sure you're telling the truth?"
"Of course, I wouldn't lie to you, Sera." she ruffled Seraphina's hair affectionately, and then she walked off with her suitcases, leaving Seraphina to return to her studies. Her mother was unusally colder today. Perhaps it had something to do with Leilah's unexpected disappearance.
"Mother, are you alright?" Narisa sighed.
"No." and then she went on to paraphrase Leilah's entire discussion. The thing that hurt Seraphina the most was that Leilah has said.
"I wanted to take Sera with me to escape the toxic environment, away from you, you monster of a mother. But I couldn't. I guess I just felt like she would be a burden."
That was when I swamped myself in schoolwork and I told myself to forget about Leilah. But no matter what I did, she would always be there.