One thing I learned about Tyler Wesley today is that when he loves someone, his love is unconditional.
He's ripping himself up about Jett.
We're in my truck at school waiting to go in. Ty is sitting with his head in his hands. We saw Jett last night and it destroyed Ty. Katie elbows me and nods at Ty.
Do something! She mouths.
I look at her, nervous.
What do I do? I mouth back.
She shrugs.
I hesitate, and then I put my hand on his back. He looks up at me, and then hides his face again.
I slowly start to rub his back.
He whispers something.
"Hmm?" I ask.
"I can't lose him." he whispers.
I sigh softly.
"You won't lose him." I whisper.
"But what if I do?"
"Well, then you'll have me and Trace to help you through." I say. "Now come on, let's go face Amanda and her minions."
he sighs and gets out of my truck. Katie follows suit. We stop by the office for your schedules, and my schedule is the exact same. Katie has the first four classes with me.
Ty has the first two and the last three with me.
We walk into school.
Amanda is talking to Megan and Amber.
People stare at us.
"What?" she says, looking at me. "What the fuck are you doing back here?"
I freeze. Ty's too upset to respond, but Katie, oh, bless her soul.
"She's going to fucking school like the rest of us, skank. Don't talk to her. Your low class self is bringing her down." Katie snarls, and then she grabs my arm and pulls me to the table that Ty is sitting at.
His head is on the table.
"Ty, please look at me."
He picks his head up and looks at me.
"Megan, I'm really scared." he whispers. "What if he doesn't wake up?"
"Then we will figure it out." I say. "Trust me, it's going to be okay." I whisper.
Amanda comes and sits down next to Ty.
"Are you upset about Jett?" she asks gently. "I can comfort you." she says.
She's being suggestive.
Ty stands up, turns around, and walks right into the guys bathroom.
"It's because you're here." she says.
"No it's not." I roll my eyes. "It's because you're here. We all know it."
"Excuse me?" she yells. "Who do you think you are telling me why my Ty left."
"Your Ty?" I snap.
"Don't you dare say he's yours!" she yells.
"I wasn't going to, bitch! I was going to say that he's ot a piece of property. He doesn't belong to you. He doesn't want you!"
"He doesn't want you, either!" she screams at me. Ty comes out of the bathroom.
"I don't care who Ty wants! All the matters is that he's happy!"
"He can be happy with me! He wants me!"
"No he doesn't! You don't care about his happiness! You don't care about who he is as a person! You care about his looks! That's why you want him! Because he's attractive!"
"Are you saying that Ty is attractive?" she snaps, stepping closer to me.
"Well I'm pretty sure she didn't stutter, princess." Katie says.
"Of course I think Ty is attractive, dumbfuck, but that's not why i'm defending him. I don't care what he looks like! It's what's inside that matters. That's why you're single!"
"So are you!"
"I'm single by choice! You're single because nobody wants you!"
"TY WANTS ME!" she screams.
"No he doesn't!" I say, exasperated.
"YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT HE WANTS!"
"I know him better than you do, bitch whore!" I snap.
"WHY DO YOU FUCKING CARE ABOUT ME LIKING HIM ANYWAYS!"
"BECAUSE I FUCKING LOVE HIM, DUMBFUCK!"
The second the words leave my lips, I realize how true they are.
I couldn't stop thinking about him because I love him.
Katie's jaw is on the floor.
"You fucking bitch. You think you can just waltz on in here and take Tyler? He wants me. He loves me."
I sigh slowly.
Speak, idiot, say something!
"I'm not here to take Ty. I moved here because I had no choice. I'm back because Ty asked me and Katie to come with him. And I can assure you, Ty doesn't want you, or love you."
"Yes he does."
"No I don't." Ty snaps. "I don't. I want Megan. I love Megan. I left to find Megan. I'm here for Jett. I asked Megan to come with me because I'm in love with her. If you ever do so much as glance at her wrong again, I will rip to apart. Get the fuck away from her. Now."
Amanda's eyes well with tears.
"No. I love you, Ty." she whispers. "Please don't."
"I'm sorry. You've been flipping over me forever. I don't want you. I want Megan. I just realized I was single so long because I was subconsciously waiting for her. Maybe, if you'd change who you are inside, you would find someone to love you the way I love Megan. Please just accept the fact that you and I aren't going to happen. The only person I will ever have romantic ties with will be Megan. Please learn to accept that."
She shuts her eyes, and then turns around and walks away.
<><>
"Okay class." the teacher starts in seventh period. "I have a new essay assignment for you guys. I want all of you to write about why you are grateful to have your mothers. We're going to discuss our mothers today."
I clench my hand around my pen.
"Let's all go around the room and come up with reasons why you guys love your mothers."
he starts with the first kid.
"Um, she is always there for me. She's always on my side, even when I'm wrong."
They keep going around. They get to Ty. He's in front of me.
"Um, she'll do anything for me. She once moved states for me to find someone. Her smile can light up a room, and she never fails to make me feel better. Also, she works her ass off every day to make sure that my sister and I have a roof over our heads and food on the table."
"Okay, Megan, how about you?"
"Um...I don't have a Mom."
"Everyone has a Mom." my teacher says.
"True, but not everyone knows their Mom."
"So you're an orphan?" he asks.
"No, I have my Dad." I whisper.
"Okay, then Tanner, how about you?"
I slump down in my seat, upset.
I hate not having a Mother.
Every teenager needs a Mom.
I sigh quietly and sit there and listen to everyone speak about their Mom's.
And I just sit.
And imagine what it must be like to have a Mom.
Afterwards, the teacher makes us start our essays, and instead of him letting me write about my Dad, he makes me make up a bullshit essay about a Mom.
When the bell rings, I leave. Ty puts his arm around me.
"Are you okay?" he asks.
"I'm okay." I mutter.
When we get out to my truck, Katie is already there.
We get in, and I drive us back to our hotel.
We go up to our room and I do my homework, and then I lay next to Katie and then go take a shower.
When I get out, I sit back down.
"I was wondering..." I start quietly. Both of them look up from their homework. "Do you think you guys could, I dunno, help me find my Mom?"
"Sure." Ty says. "Let me finish my homework."
I nod quietly.
They both finish their homework at the same time, and we pull out my ancient laptop and go onto Google. I type in, my mom left, how do I find her?
It brings up Yahoo Answers and this lady posted three sites. I click on the last one and it says the page doesn't exist, so I click on the second one and it asks for her name and state.
"I don't know her state. I don't even know if she lives in the states, or if she's alive." I say.
"So put in her name and no state."
I do, and it says, searching billions of people names Lillian Walden.
A minute later, it shows up with two hundred and thirty eight results.
"She was seventeen when she got pregnant, so she would be..." I add seventeen and seventeen.
"Thirty four." I say.
I search for thirty four year olds.
I click on the first one I find and it's some black women.
We go through all of them. We find blonds and redheads and Mexicans and Asians and American's.
"Meg, we could've passed her." ty says gently.
"No, I would recognize her." I say.
We pass brunettes and tons of others.
I click on another thirty four year old in Pennsylvania and up pops a women with wavy brown hair and shining blue eyes.
I study the photo, like I do to anyone that slightly resembles her.
The phone number for her is (215) 644-8776
I stare at it for a long, long time.
"Is that her?" Ty whispers.
"I don't know." I mumbles. "There's just something about her..." I hesitate.
My fingers start to type on my shitty slide phone and I punch in the numbers and press call, putting it on speaker.
It rings three times, an then a women picks up.
"Hello?" she asks.
I panic and hang up.
"Why did you do that? I want to find Mommy two!" Katie snatches the phone from my hand and redials.
It picks up on the first ring.
"Hello?" she asks.
"Hi." Katie says. "Do you have any children?"
"Um, excuse me?"
"Children. Do you have any?"
"Who is this?" the women asks quietly.
"Please just tell me if you have kids."
She sighs.
"Yes."
Katie does a silent fist bump.
"Do you have a daughter and son?" she asks.
"Yes." the women says. "Who is this? If you hurt them-"
"No, I wouldn't. Do you live with them?"
"No." the women says.
"And this is Lillian Megan Walden, correct?"
"Yes."
"Well, I'm pretty sure I'm sitting next to your daughter right now."
there's a very long bout of silence.
"What's her name?"
"Her name is Megan."
I hear the women slightly inhale.
"Does she have a brother named Benjamin and a father names James?"
Katie grins. "Yes."
"Let me talk to her." the women says.
Katie hands me the phone.
I shake my head wildly, panicked, and shove the phone at Katie.
"She's scared." Katie says.
"Where are you? I want to see her."
"We're in New York City. We live in a hotel right now-"
"You live in a hotel?" she repeats.
"Yes." Katie frowns.
"is James there?"
"No, he's in Georgia, and Ben lives in Connecticut."
she mutters something.
"I'm going to come to you guys. Where are you?"
Katie doesn't even hesitate one second to get her the address.
And the she hangs up.
"Oh god, no, I'm scared."
shakily, I dial Dad.
"Hey kiddo." he says.
"Dad." I whimper.
"Meg?" he asks, panicked. "Whats wrong?"
"I found Mom online and now she's on her way here."
Silence.
He sighs quietly.
"She's not a bad person, kid. It was only a matter of time. Trust me."
"I'm scared."
"You've got no reason to be. She's a good person."
"Okay." I whisper.
He hangs up.
But I'm still scared.
<><>
I sit in the corner holding my knees to my chest for an hour and thirty eight minutes.
And then there's a knock at the door.
I look at Katie, panicked, but all the color drains from her face.
We look at Ty. He's shirtless in sweatpants.
We all look at Ty. He shakes his head rapidly.
I shove my hands in the pockets of my sweats and slowly, I walk over to the door and open it.
There stands a women with brown hair and bright blue eyes.
She's really pretty.
She looks at me.
"Megan?" she asks gently.
I gulp, nervous, and then I nod stupidly.
She smiles.
"May I come in?" she asks.
I step aside and let her in.
Katie sits on our bed and Ty sits on his.
She walks in and I shut the door and follow her.
"Um, this is Katie, my best friend since-"
"I remember." she smiles. "You guys met two months and one day before everything went down." she smiles.
"And then um..." I gulp. "This is Ty. My um..." I hesitate. "It's complicated." I whisper.
She nods slowly.
"And where's your father?" she asks.
"Um...Georgia." I whisper.
She nods slowly.
"Sweetie, I know we just met and all but why is your father in Georgia?"
"Because Ty's friend is in a coma and Ty had to come back so he asked me to come."
"And your father didn't come?"
"No." I say.
She sighs slowly.
"Okay." she says. "Let's get room service." she says. She grabs a menu and picks up the phone. "Pick whatever you want kids."
after hesitating, I get chicken tenders and a strawberry milkshake. Everyone else orders and Mom orders too. I sit down next to Katie.
"You said when everything went down. What went down? Dad said you left."
She nods slowly.
"I did." she says.
"Why?" I whisper.
"I was an alcoholic. I threw a lamp at your father when I was drunk. The next morning, I realize that I was dangerous, especially while I had a four year old and an eight year old. So, I left. To protect you guys. But your father didn't take it too well, so he moved. I didn't know where to, so after I got out of rehab, I didn't come back. I didn't know where you guys were. I searched and searched, but I never got lucky. Until today."
I frown. "I thought I was born in Georgia." I say.
"Oh goodness no. You were born in Philadelphia."
I frown.
"Oh." I mumble.
Someone knocks on the door. Mom gets up and opens the door.
She rolls a cart in and pays the waiter, and then passes out our food.
Mom smiles when she sees what I ordered.
"We used to go to this restaurant with my sister and parents every Saturday night. You used to order macaroni and chicken tenders and a strawberry milkshake." she smiles at the memory.
For some reason, I feel like the place had blue walls.
"Did the place have blue walls?" I ask.
"Yes." she says.
A memory hits me.
Mommy and Daddy are talking, so I sneak off with Ben Ben and go into the play room with all the big people. I see a lady playing pool with a black leather jacket on. I walk over there and push one of the red balls with a stripe across it.
The lady looks at me with a really mean look, and then picks up the ball and slams it back down on the table where it previously was.
Scared, I start crying.
Mommy must hear me because she comes rushing in and picks me up.
"What's wrong Megan?" my older cousin asks me.
"She was mean to me!" I sniffle, hiding my face in my shoulder.
Mommy looks at the lady, rubbing my back.
"Excuse me, what did you do to my daughter?"
"Your daughter moved my red stripe." the women snaps at Mommy.
"Okay, I'm sorry, but you don't have to be rude to her. She's three." Mommy says.
"Well you need to keep track of your children." the women steps closer to Mommy.
Daddy and Grandpa come in.
"Okay, step away from my wife please. Let's be civilized adults. I'm sorry my three year old pushed your ball. Lets go Lillian, Ben."
Daddy ushers Mommy, Me, and Ben Ben out the door.
"Didn't I push some ball or something?" I mumble, confused. It feels like a dream.
Mom nods. "You were three and you pushed some lady's pool ball and she got mad and scared you. She would've jumped me if your father hadn't stepped in. Do you remember that?" she asks. I nod slowly. I'm nervous. I don't know her very well.
If any of you guys have an idea of who to cast as Megan's Mom, that would be great if you could tell me. I was her to look like Lily Collins (who is casted as Megan) but I can't find a celebrity that does.
Anyways, how do you like the story so far?
~Sam