When I finally opened my eyes, the first thing I could focus on was a white ceiling. And then all I could focus on was how I couldn’t feel my right arm whatsoever. It was completely numb.
I groaned as I used my hand to rub my numb arm, only to notice that my entire bicep was wrapped in gauze.
“What the hell?” I muttered, now looking around to see that I was in a hospital room. “What… why am I here?”
“You’re awake,” a new voice now said, and I looked over to see my father smiling down at me. “I’m surprised it didn’t take you longer, since you always take forever to get up in the morning for school.”
“Dad,” I gasped, sitting up in my uncomfortable hospital bed and wrapping my arms around his shoulders. “You’re back so soon!”
“I rushed over here as soon as I got the call about what happened,” my father informed me, pushing me away a little so he could look at me. He was frowning now, and all I could do was furrow my eyebrows at him in confusion.
“What… happened?” I asked, looking down at my wrapped bicep. It was so tight that I could barely feel my arm…
“You don’t remember?” my father asked, his eyebrows furrowing now. I now realized that he had tears in his eyes.
I sat there for a moment, trying to think. Only a second later, everything came flashing back to me. My dream, the fire, and how I had burned my arm and passed out on the front lawn.
“Mom!” I shouted, about to push myself off the bed until my father pushed me back down. “Mom, where is she?”
“Maxynn…” my father started slowly, his hands on my shoulders as he held me down on the bed. “Your mother… I’m sorry, Maxynn. Your mother is gone.”
I sat there for a moment, trying to let everything process through my mind. There had been a fire at my house, and my mother was gone. The fire had killed my mother. She was really gone. I was never going to see her again.
I immediately starting bawling, not being able to control my tears from falling. My father hugged me, and I continued sobbing into his shoulder.
Five minutes later, I was still crying loudly as the door opened and someone stepped inside.
“Hank,” the person at the door said, addressing my father. “Is she alright?”
“I’m fine,” I sniffed, even though I really wasn’t. I pushed away from my father to see a man around my father’s age smiling back at me sadly. I hadn’t ever met him before, but my dad seemed to know who he was.
“We don’t know how long the scar will last,” my father began, and I didn’t know if he was talking to me or the man at the door, “The doctors didn’t know if it was bad enough to be permanent, but… it will be around for a while.”
I looked down at the gauze that was covering my burns, not wanting to think about having a scar on my arm for the rest of my life. I quickly looked away, wiping at my eyes as I thought about my mother.
“Maxynn, this is Steve, my best friend from high school,” my father informed me, gesturing to the man at the door, who smiled at me. “He was kind enough to let us live in his house until ours is fixed.”
“What?” I gasped, my eyes widening at my father as I looked back over at him. “Our house? What… what happened to the house?”
“There was a fire, honey,” my father informed me slowly, patting my head as if to check that I didn’t have any brain damage. “The house was on fire…”
“I know that,” I snapped, swatting his hand away from me. “But how bad is the damage? Bad enough that we can’t move back in?”
“More than half the house was destroyed,” my father explained, and I really thought I was going to pass out again. “We can’t move back in for a while, so we’re going to be staying at Steve’s with his family.”
“Is there enough room?” I couldn’t help but ask, turning toward Steve now. “I really don’t want to intrude.”
Steve continued to smile at me. “Of course there is! We have six bedrooms in the entire house, so there’s a room for you, and a room for your father.”
Six bedrooms? Just how was this guy’s house? He had to have been rich to afford a house with six bedrooms…
I still felt like I would have been intruding, even if this man was my dad’s best friend. This was the first time I had ever met him, and I really wished that we could have met in a better way and not in a hospital room.
“We should let you rest for a little while, huh?” my dad suggested, patting my good shoulder so I would lie down. “You’ve only been out for a few hours, but I think you should get some real sleep. I think you need it.”
I nodded, knowing my father was right. I hugged him one last time before both him and Steve left my room for me to sleep.
It was only silent in my room for about fifteen seconds until something disrupted me from trying to fall asleep.
“Maxynn!” a new voice now cried, and the door was suddenly being pushed open and the familiar red hair of my best friend came into view. Her face was streaked with tears, and I felt really bad for worrying her. “You’re alright! Oh, thank God you’re alright!”
She rushed over to my bed, and we hugged immediately. She was the person I was closest to, now that my mother was gone.
“I’m so sorry about your mom,” Kate apologized when we pulled away from each other. “I would never be able to go through what you are right now. If you need a place to stay, you can definitely stay at my house!”
I smiled at my best friend, wiping at my eyes. “Thanks, Kate, but my dad already got us a place to stay. We’re staying with his best friend since high school and his family.”
“Oh, do his kids go to our school?” Kate asked now, a small smile on her face as she wiped at her tear-stained cheeks. “I probably know them, unless they’re new or something. I’ve gone to school with most of the kids at our school since elementary school.”
“I didn’t ask him about his kids,” I shrugged, even though I was a little curious about it. “But I’m assuming he has more than one, since four of the six rooms in his house are taken.”
“Maybe he has a son our age,” Kate teased, nudging me just a little bit. “It would be so cool to live with a hot guy. If you guys get together, then you’d be living with your boyfriend. That’s so cool!”
I didn’t laugh like I usually would, because I honestly just wasn’t in the mood to. I wondered if I would ever laugh again after everything that had happened.
Kate noticed this and frowned. “Are you okay, Maxynn?”
“All I can think about is how my house is gone, and so is my mother,” I sighed, burying my face in my hands because I knew I was going to start crying again. “I still think that’s she’s just going to walk in here and everything’s going to be normal. I can live without my house. I don’t know if I can live without my mom.”
Kate’s eyes softened. “Maxynn…”
“I just… I already feel lonely,” I sniffed, now bringing my knees up to my chin. “I have you and my dad, but… my mother is gone, Kate. My mother is really gone.”
“Oh, Maxynn,” Kate sighed, leaning forward and hugging me tightly. “Everything’s going to be okay, okay? Your mom’s in a better place now. Just remember that.”
“It all happened so fast,” I hiccupped, pushing her away so I could now look at her. “I mean, I got home and she was there, alive and well. She reminded me about my singing lessons, like she always did, and I went upstairs to take a nap. And then I wake up with my whole room engulfed in flames and my mom was telling me to get out…”
I started sobbing then, and Kate lent me her shoulder to cry on. I just couldn’t believe that the person I had been closest to since before I was even born was gone. I would never be able to see her alive ever again.
My life was never going to be the same ever again.
~*~
I really had nothing left, since my room had been part of what was destroyed from the fire. I guess I was lucky that I escaped with my life, but I still wished that I wasn’t wearing the same clothes that I had been wearing from the day of the fire, the only difference that Kate let me borrow her jacket. My clothes still smelled like smoke.
“We’ll go shopping soon, Maxynn,” my father informed me when he saw me sniff my shirt as he drove us to Steve’s house. “Or you could go with Brianna, Steve’s wife. He tells me she’s really fashionable.”
If I got along with her, I was sure that it would be really cool to go shopping with her. My mother never let me go shopping with her; she’d just buy my clothes for me. It was pure luck that she always got clothes that I loved.
I felt my stomach turn as we got closer and closer to our destination. It was still weird for me to think that I was going to be living in a place that wasn’t my home. It had taken me so long to get used to my new house after I had moved in the year before, and now… now I had to get used to a while knew place.
When my father parked the car, I sat there for a moment and just thought about how everything was now different. Nothing was going to be the same again without my mom.
“I know you’re scared, hon,” my father sighed, placing an assuring hand on my knee. “In all honesty, I’m scared too. I’ve had your mom with me for the past twenty-six years. I met her in high school. Having her leave like this… It’s something that we’re both just going to have to get used to. She’ll always be in our memories, kiddo.”
I wiped at my eyes, not wanting to think about my mother. My dad was rarely ever at home, so I was going to be in this house with strangers that I barely knew whenever he was away. I was going to be surrounded with people that I didn’t even know.
This was one of the times that I had wished that I wasn’t an only child. I would wish this sometimes when I was little, because I had been lonely, but then I used to be happy that I was an only child because my parents would spoil me with things and their attention. But now, I wished that I had a sibling to endure this with me.
“You ready?” my father asked after I had let out a breath and, even though I wasn’t, I nodded.
We both got out of the car, and I shook my arms and legs out a little bit. The ride from the hospital hadn’t been very long, but my joins still felt stiff. New gauze was now wrapped around my burns, and they were only a little bit looser than when it had been when I had woken up. My arm wasn’t completely numb anymore.
“This place is huge,” I blinked, looking up at the huge house that wasn’t big enough to be called a mansion but wasn’t small enough to be called a house. “I’m going to get lost! You know I’m not good with directions!”
My dad laughed, wrapping his arm around my shoulders as he led me up the pathway and up the porch of the house. This place was intimidating, and I didn’t know if I was ever going to get used to it.
My dad knocked on the door, and I almost told him not to do it. This place was going to be so hard to get used to.
“Hank! Maxynn!” Steve smiled when he opened the door. “Welcome! Come on in!”
“Hi, Steve,” my father smiled at his best friend, his arm still around my shoulder as we made our way into the large house. “Thank you so much for letting us stay with you.”
Steve laughed. “It’s really no problem at all! I’m sure Brianna and the kids are going to love having you here with us. I know I am!”
I forced myself to smile, but I found it incredibly difficult to. I was here because my house had burned down, and because my mother was gone. This place was fantastic, but… it just wasn’t home.
“Brianna!” Steve called out. “They’re here!”
Suddenly, an older woman practically skidded out of the kitchen, almost causing me to jump. I heard footsteps coming down the stairs, but I didn’t turn to acknowledge them as I looked over at the woman, who I assumed was Brianna.
“Oh, you’re so much cuter than I thought you would be!” Brianna smiled, hugging me without any type of warning at all. “I knew you would be cute, but not this cute!”
I felt my cheeks burn, and I didn’t say anything back to her. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting a reaction like this at all.
“It’s so nice to meet you!” Brianna exclaimed once she pulled away from me.
I nodded. “It’s… it’s nice to meet you, too.”
“This is our daughter, Elizabeth,” Brianna now introduced, gesturing to the older looking girl behind her. “She’s in her second year of college right now.”
“It’s really nice to meet you,” Elizabeth smiled, holding out a hand for me to shake. I took it, knowing that it was the polite thing to do. “I hope you have a nice time while living in our home. I’m sure you’ll like it.”
I nodded, only smiling at her. It seemed like it was going to be a lot harder to talk to her than anyone else in the entire house, and all because she just seemed way too smart.
“And this is our son Ethan.” Brianna placed her hands on her son’s shoulders and smiled. “He’s in the fifth grade.”
Ethan didn’t smile at me when I smiled at him, much to my surprise. Everyone else in this family had been so nice, and now this little boy was just… not.
Okay, so this family wasn’t that hard to deal with… The only one that could have been a problem was Ethan, but I was sure I could get him to warm up to me after I was living there for a while. Little kids seemed to usually like me…
“Where is Zach?” Steve sighed, and I did a double-take at him. “Does he really have to be rude to guests?”
“Zach!” Brianna shouted up the stairs. “I already told you to come downstairs and meet our guests! Stop being so rude!”
Zach? Did they have another son that wasn’t downstairs yet? Okay… Zach was a very common name, so it didn’t mean that it was…
“Yeah, yeah, I’m here,” a new voice now said lazily, and I held my breath as this boy came down the stairs. When he stood on the bottom step, I thought I was going to faint.
“Oh, my God,” I gasped, my eyes going wide when I saw him. “There is no way…”
Zach smirked at me. “Hello, roommate!”
“Dad,” I started, spinning toward him to see that he had a very confused look on his face. “Why didn’t you tell me the name of Steve’s children?”
My father blinked. “I didn’t think it mattered…”
But it did! It mattered so much, because now I was stuck living with Zach Deveraux, the one person on the entire planet that I couldn’t stand! How was this possibly happening? My dad had been best friends with Zach’s dad ever since they were younger?
“Zach?” Steve began, his eyebrows furrowing at his son in confusion. “Do you know Maxynn?”
Zach’s smirk only grew. “Of course I do. She goes to my school.”
“Well, that’s just wonderful!” Brianna giggled, but I couldn’t agree with her. “That means you two can walk to and from school together!”
This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t have been happening… How was I getting stuck living with Zach? Every other girl in the school would kill for the position that I was in, but I would have killed to get out of it!
I had to call Kate. I had to call Kate and tell her to rescue me. She said I could live at her house, so could I just change my mind and move there? What Steve’s family was doing for my dad and me was so nice, but they… they were Deveraux’s!
This was Zach’s house. I was actually living in Zach’s house. I was sure that I was going to faint.
"Zach, why don’t you show Maxynn to her room, since you two are friends?” Brianna suggested, and I wanted very much to tell her that Zach and I were not friends at all. But I didn’t want to be rude to her, so I didn’t say anything as Zach nodded at his mother and started toward the stairs, which meant I was going to have to follow him.
I was living with the one person I couldn’t stand. I was so going to have to call Kate later and at least tell her that I was now living in Hell.
“So…” Zach started once we were upstairs, away so that my dad and his family couldn’t hear us. “I was really surprised when my dad told me that you were staying here. But it wasn’t like I was upset about it or anything.”
I couldn’t help but make a face at him. He might have not been upset, but that didn’t mean that I was happy about any of this. I had to deal with his constant flirting at school, but now I was going to have to deal with his constant flirting at home, too.
“This is your room right here,” Zach informed me after we had walked through multiple hallways. “It’s right across the room from mine. My parents were going to give this room to your dad, but I talked them into giving it to you so we could be closer to each other… Doesn’t that sound nice?”
“Quite the opposite,” I couldn’t help but deadpan.
“Aw, Maxynn, you’re always so negative,” Zach smirked, opening my bedroom door to reveal one of the biggest rooms I had ever seen. Were all the bedrooms like this? It was twice the size of my old room! “You’re always so mean to me.”
“Well, I have a reason to, Blanche,” I responded back to him, but I wasn’t really paying any attention to him anymore considering the fact that this huge room was all mine, even if I was right across the hall from Zach.
The smirk on his face disappeared. “No matter how negative and upset you are, you still manage to call me by that stupid nickname.”
“Yep,” I nodded, now looking around every nook and cranny of the gigantic room.
Zach sighed. “Well, I’m glad to see you’re happy with your room.”
At the word happy, I frowned. I wasn’t happy. This room was great, along with the rest of the house and his family, but it didn’t make me happy. Because my mother was gone.
“You okay?” Zach asked when he noticed that my demeanor had changed. “You just went from kind of happy to really depressing looking.”
“I’m fine,” I excused, even though it was a complete and total lie. I turned toward the door, wanting to be by my dad. “Shouldn’t we go back downstairs now? They’re probably waiting for us.”
“Maxynn,” Zach started, grabbing onto my bicep as I started to walk away. I let out a hiss, ripping from his grasp and slapping my hand over where he had grabbed as I tried to stop the pain. He had grabbed me right where I had been burnt.
He stared at me for a moment in shock before saying, “Maxynn, are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I repeated, though it was still a lie. “Let’s just go.”
And we left without a word, my burns still stinging until all the gauze and Kate’s jacket. I didn’t know how bad the burns were, since I didn’t even look when the nurse changed my bandages, but I was now sure that they were bad.
I could only hope that I wouldn’t be scarred for life.
And I meant physically, because I knew that I had already had mentally.
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I think we all saw this coming. xD
Hmm... I have a question for all of you. Do you think Zach really likes Maxynn, or do you think he feels the same way about her like he would with any other girl? ;)
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