I yawned as I left work. It had been a tough day, pretending I had no idea who the One Direction guys were. I mean to just hand them coffee and see the back of them without once screaming 'I like spoons too!' was pretty damn difficult. But oh well, at least Ryan Reynolds had winked at me when I had given his change back. I would savour that wink forever.
I walked home, picking up some lettuce on the way. THese guys solely survived on Nachos and Chinese takeaway. Had they ever even heard of salad? I shook my head ruefully and jogged up to the appartment, letting myself in. I threw open the door....
And I gawped.
Cam was sitting on the sofa uncomfortably, Zac was leaning against the armrest sipping a drink with a nervous expression on his face, and Ace was pouring a drink for someone. And that someone was sitting on the sofa next to Cam with a thunderous expression on her face. I let the door shut behind me with a small whimper.
"Hi, mommy," I said with a sheepish grin.
"Serena," she begun but then she cut off her sentence, took a deep breath and started again, "Serena Jones..."
"Do you like the place?" I asked quickly before she could continue, "Sorry that it's so messy! I've been trying to learn how to vaccum... ha... ha?"
I looked at her hopefully and she remained sitting there with a real 'What the hell are you on about' look on her face. I sat down on the sofa opposite her and Zac reluctantly came to sit beside me, leaving a wide bearth of space between the two of us. Oh dear, this was more awkward then when Kayne stole the microphone from Taylor Swift and told her she didn't deserve the award. My mom had never looked so angry in her entire life.
"I've come to take you home. New York is no place for an eighteen year old girl," my mom told me, taking the drink from Ace, "Especially by herself."
"Um mom... You did promise me I could try..." I said.
"I had no idea you'd go through with this lunacy! You are coming home and you are going to the universty you signed up for - "
"No, I'm not!" I said angrily, standing up.
I loved my mom more than anything in the world. She'd made me, something I deeply appreciated but this was a step too far. I had my own life to lead! It wasn't as if I was doing something completely reckless like shaving off all my hair and breaking car windows... ahem, Britney Spears... All I had done was drop out of college, left my home and only leaving a note, moving to New York, moving in with three guys, two of which I had never even met before... Wait... this wasn't sounding too good. Um, well! At least I wasn't breaking car windows!
My mom stood up as well. Her long blonde hair was tied behind her in a ponytail, her icy blue eyes narrowed in two slits and her arms crossed. My mom was a tough woman and I usaully didn't dare to cross her, but I was an adult.
"Serena I am giving you ten seconds to change your mind," she said coldly.
"Well you can count to a hundred and I still won't!"
"You are behaving like an immature three year old!" she shouted at me, throwing up her hands, "I came all this way to collect you and now you pull this on me!"
"It was nice of you to bother but I don't want to go home!"
"You have have the town worried sick, you take off without a word and -"
"Actually, I left you a hundred and fifty nine words. Go home and count all the words in the letter I wrote you, and you'll see I'm right. Now mom, I love you but there is no reason for you to be here. I have a job, I have a roof over my head and food in my stomach," I said coldly, "Now if all you are going to do is shout at me, then leave."
She had her mouth wide open and she looked almost... lost. I was pretty sure if any of my old friends and family saw me they'd be looking at me the same way. I might have a certificate to prove I'm a genuis, but everyone always thought of me as slightly helpless. Well, I wasn't! Because baby I was born this way! And I was going to be myself, and stand up for myself and make Lady Gaga proud of me.
"Well, I guess we have nothing to say to each other then," my mom said eventually.
"No, we haven't. Tell the... rest of them I send my love," I nearly snarled.
And her furious look softened instantly. She knew when I was hurting, because she'd always been there to put the band-aide on. She opened her mouth again but this time her words came out gently and pitingly.
"Serena, I know its hard to be someones second choice but you can't run from that fact. I'm not supporting what they did, especially the way they did it but you can't move in with some guys to forget about them. Growing up doesn't work that way," she told me.
I flinched but she continued. Zac slowly stood up and put his hand on my shoulder.
"Life moves on, but you can't move away from life. You are being a coward, Serena. He doesn't love you anymore -"
"I'm sorry but I'm going to have to ask you to leave," said Ace suddenly, stepping in front of me, "Goodbye Ms. Jones."
He doesn't love you anymore. He doesn't love you anymore. He doesn't love you anymore. He doesn't love you anymore. He doesn't love you anymore. He doesn't love you anymore....
"No wait, sorry! I meant they are happy but you are just ruining -"
Ace's eyes turned dark. He seemed to loom over her and my mom seemed to shrink in shame, as if she was growing aware of the impact of her words. Ace took her arm, not roughly or angrily or violently, but he escorted her out, ignoring her protests. She stumbled out of the door, looking shameful and still mumbling.
"I think It'll be best if you don't visit for a while," he told her, and slammed the door in her face.
Then I turned round and burst into tears, howling into Zac's shirt. His strong arms made a caccoon of saftey around me and I cried and cried and cried. Cam came up behind us and started rubbing circles between my shoulder blades, smiling at me sadly.
Ace meanwhile was ranting, "How dare she? I know she's your mom, Seren, but if she wasn't I would have been a lot stronger with my goodbye! You don't have to take that from anyone, anymore! Where is this dumb jackass who left you? I swear to God I will make him rue the day he was born."
Zac let me go and Cam pulled me onto the sofa, wrapping his arms around me. Zac returned shortly holding a bowl of chicken soup.
"What the hell is that?" Cam asked, raising his eyebrows, resting his chin on the top of my head.
"Chicken soup to make her feel better!"
"Oh you dumbass, you give that to sick people," groaned Ace.
"Excuse me for actually doing something other than shouting at nobody," Zac snapped.
"Guys stop arguing," I said, sounding as if I'd had the worst cold possible.
"Sorry!"
"Tis fine... I just need to go sleep for a little bit..."
***
When I woke up with a pounding headache I remembered what had happened. I groaned and wrapped my arms around myself. I felt like my world had come crashing down. The door slowly creaked open and Cam came in, sitting on my bed.
"How are you?" he said.
I shrugged and rolled onto my side, trying to make it obvious I didn't want to talk right now. Cam ignored me and sat down on my bed, placing a hand on my arm.
"I know your mom. Not very well, but I do. And I know that she loves you more than anything in the world," he said, "She wants you to be safe and back at home where she can look after you. I think she knows that you're hurting and she wants to fix it, but she doesn't know how."
I turned to look at him, tears filling my eyes. He was dressed completely for once and his hair was brushed. He looked like he was going to go out. I wondered where. Absent-mindely I fiddled with his top button. He continued to look down at me, smiling gently and a little sadly.
"But then... why... Why hurt me more?" I said, hating myself for sounding so lost.
"Sometimes people think they are fixing someone instead of hurting them. But your mom doesn't want and I know that she's already left twenty calls on the housephone, apologizing."
I sat up and gave Cam a hug, not caring if my hair was a mess and that I had morning breath. I knew he didn't care either. He hugged me back, resting his head upon mine.
"I would let things cool down for a little while and then tell her its okay. But for now, lets not think about parents. Let's live a little!"
He unwrapped my arms around my neck and smiled widely at me, "C'mon lets go have coffee with the Crazy Japanese woman."
And like that Cam had pulled me out of my dark place.