Song of the chapter: Bruises by Lewis Capaldi

https://youtu.be/84znrPmOePc

in medias res

/ɪn ˌmiːdiæs ˈreɪz/

adverb

Latin:

in the middle of things

"Ava, please get off of me." A male voice said. I tried to open my eyes. Keyword being "tried". I was too sleepy to open them. So, I gave it another try. I squinted my eyes to adjust to the light. Slowly, I fluttered my eyes open. I look around the bed and found hugging myself onto my pillow.

Oh. My. F*cking. God. I am an idiot.

I was clinging onto my third pillow as if Jack wasn't there. My head was on top of his face, my arms holding him tightly. My legs were scattered about on the bed, and I am sure I had drool on my face. I let go of him immediately, "Oh my god! I'm so sorry! Oh, I'm really sorry!"

He chuckled, "It's okay. I didn't expect your pillow is so valuable to you."

Blood rushed to my cheek. I muttered, "Yeah."

I escaped to the washroom. I splashed water on my face and glanced at the mirror, "You're such an idiot. Yet, you call your brother an idiot."

After brushing my teeth, I went down to get some food. Walking into the kitchen, I found Richard making breakfast. It was kinda strange. Mom always had breakfast with us. I sat next to Ned, who was having his breakfast, and asked, "Ned, where's mom?"

"Your mom's sick. She's vomiting since the morning." Richard replied.

I glared at him, "Did I ask you?"

"Sorry." I snorted. Yeah, you're sorry. Dumbass.

I went to mom's room to check up on her. I knocked on the door. No one answered so I let myself in. The room was empty. She was probably in the washroom. I sit on the chair by the bed and wait for her. Minutes later, she appears out of the washroom, with a towel in her hand.

" Hola, Mama. ¡Buenos dias!" I greeted her. (Hello, mom. Good morning.)

"¡Buenos dias, hija! Did the sun rise from the west?" She was sceptical. She placed the towel on the bed. (Good morning, daughter.)

"Uh, no. Why would it?"

"It's just that mi hija came up to my room after almost a year. Do you need anything?"(my daughter)

"Yeah. I need to know what happened to you. I just heard you're sick. What happened?" I was worried about her. I was mean to her, but that didn't mean I don't worry about mi Mama.

"I don't know why. I threw up three times since six."

"Did you eat anything raw? Is it food poisoning?"

"I don't know. I didn't have anything yesterday."

"¿Qué? ¿Qué quieres decir? You didn't eat yesterday!"(What? What do you mean?)

"No." ¡Dios mio! What am I gonna do with her? (Oh God!)

"Why?"

"Because you didn't eat yesterday. I can't just eat knowing that mi hija is hungry." She explained. (my daughter)

I give her a look, "Qué-- Are you out of your mind? You're coming with me!" I grabbed her hand and dragged her to the kitchen. (What--)

"Hey Richard, five pancakes, right away!" I ordered him.

I made mom sit beside Ned, who was almost done with his breakfast. I head to the kitchen and yell at Richard to hurry up. I carry the plate to mom. I sat down, just beside her, "You'll finish these and then tell Richard to make more. You've gotta have at least 10 of these, or you'll die."

In about five minutes, she finished her plate. "Richard, can you make me more?" she asks Richard, sweetly.

Richard answer her, smiling, "Sure, baby."

Dio, gag me. (God)

She turned to look at me and then smiled, "I've been waiting for mi hija's true self for seven years. Why can't you just be like this all the time?" (my daughter)

I returned her smile, "I am like this, all the time. Nobody has the eyes to see it."

"No, Ava, tú no eres. You always act terribly to Richard. ¿Por qué? He may not be your dad, but he is your stepfather." Mom looked disappointed. I didn't know what to say. So, I told her the truth. (No, Ava, you're not.) (Why?)

"No, mom. No. He's just your husband. Él no es nada para mí. Y ahora perdóname, por favor." I excused myself and walked to the backyard. I sat down on the bench by the garden. (He's nothing to me. And now, excuse me, please.)

Everybody knew me as the meanest person in this town. Okay, that might have been an exaggeration but it's partly true. Because nobody ever tried to look closely or even notice my good side. Maybe I had built my walls so high that no one could climb them. Or just that I'm too rude.

Later after clearing my mind, I went back to the kitchen and found that mom had already left to her room. So, I went to her room. I walked inside and sat down left to mom.

I was insecure, and I needed to know this for a long time, "Mom, am I really that rude that nobody has the time to notice me?"

"It's not that. People are too blind to see you as who you truly are." Mom ran her hand down my face. She held my chin and made me look at her. I could see love and sincerity in her eyes. I felt myself relax against her hold. But then, I remembered something. I stiffened, "You probably don't fall in the group, right?"

Her expressions were fragile, "I do. I know there's good inside you, but I never took the time to see it."

"Why not?"

"I was too busy defending Richard."

"Why do you even defend him? He doesn't deserve it, ya know?"

"Don't say that. I love him more than anybody besides you and Ned." She put the strand of hair on my forehead back.

"You love him, fine. But do you even remember anything about dad?"

Her face turned strict, "I told you, hija. Don't speak of his name in front of me. He never loved me." (daughter)

"That's what you think, not me," I explained. But she doesn't listen. She just shakes her head and I leave. I went to my room and told Jack everything.

It was still a mystery but I somehow felt too comfortable around Jack. I felt...free. I felt like I could do anything. But, maybe that was just my imagination.

"Are you kidding me? Why didn't you have breakfast?" Jack barked out at me.

"I... uh, I don't know." I truly didn't know.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Why the f*ck is he screaming?

"Excuse me? Why are you screaming at me?"

"I don't know! It feels right!"

I was annoyed, "Okay, cut it out."

He had been here for only two days, yet he was acting like a pompous ass and acted as if he cared about me. As if he was related to me.

"I guess I'm going to do my homework now."

"Okay."

I grabbed my backpack from the living room. I took out the Physics Worksheets and started doing them. Just as I was solving a problem, Jack cleared his throat and asked, "So, do you have a boyfriend?"

"Excuse me?" I turned towards him and gave him an offended look.

He shrugged, "What?"

"Why do you expect me to tell you who my boyfriend is?"

"So, you have one."

"Never said so."

"Who is it?"

"Well, I have two kinds of boyfriends: living and non-living."

"That's weird." He was definitely weirded out.

"I know. The living one was Jason. We dated for like six months, and then he dumped me for the school b*tch," I snorted, "Cliche much? To be honest, I never liked him that much. He was the one to ask me out. Anyway, that doesn't matter." I explained.

"Who's the non-living boyfriend?" I probably should've kept my mouth shut. But like the babbling queen I was, I admitted, "Uh, it's you actually."

His face morphed into shock, "What?"

"I mean, not you, like, the third pillow."

"Oh." He had a frown on his face. He seemed sad...ish.

"Wait, did you seriously think I meant you? I mean, come on, you're a soul, I'm a human. It possibly couldn't have been you."

"Uhuh. Well, I'm in desperate need of a girlfriend, so..."

"Let's just stop this conversation because this is getting weirdly uncomfortable. Let me finish my homework and then we can talk again." I look back at the worksheets.

"Right."

Later, after completing my homework, we talked. He told me more about his world. It was actually similar to ours except that it's a little more developed than ours. The transporter was the device which brought him to this dimension. He had to use the extracting device thrice in one journey. He also used an AI, which told him about the dimension he was in. So, it was kinda like Google.

By 7 pm, I was feeling bored out of mind. So, I walk downstairs to watch a movie. But, guess what? Ned was watching The Dark Knight Rises with a huge ass bucket of popcorn.

Cristo. (Christ)

I figured that arguing with him would make me the offender. So, I let it pass. I relaxed beside him and watched the movie. Halfway through the movie, mom and Richard entered the home. They walked in the living room and smiled at us.

"Where were you?" I didn't care to be honest. But she was in a good mood, and I didn't want to ruin it.

"We were at the hospital." She smiled

"So, I'm guessing. It wasn't food poisoning?"

"I'm pregnant!" she exclaimed.

"¿Qué?" (What?)

"I'm going to have a baby brother or sister!" Ned was jumping on the couch.

"Sí, cariño. You're an older hermano!" mom was excited. I could see her eyes twinkle with happiness. It broke my heart. (Yes, sweetie. You're an older brother!)

"How could you?" I asked.

"¿Qué?" she asked me. Her face masked with confusion. (What?)

"You're having a baby with Richard! ¿Por qué?" my eyes were blurry with tears. I heard mom send Ned to his room. She took the seat beside me and asked, "Now, what's wrong with us having a baby?" (Why?)

"Mama, you know I can never accept that child as my sibling. You cheated on Papa. Do you remember? That child will always remind me that. You never loved mi Papa. And now, you're having a kid with this piece of sh*t! It's as if you're cheating on Papi all over again." (Father)

"How am I cheating on him? We're not married anymore."

"It's never your fault, is it? You never take responsibility for your own mistakes. Whether it was your relationship with dad or anything, it's never you who's wrong. It's always the other person, huh? Christo, Mami, te odio más que nunca!" (Christ, mom, I hate you more than ever.)

I ran up to my room and locked the door. My whole face was covered with tears. I put my back against the door and gazed at Jack. Jack looked extremely confused. I wanted to hug my third pillow. It would give me a little comfort. Instead, I sat down on the chair and put my legs on the bed.

Mama knew I hated Richard and that I could never accept him. My heart shattered to pieces when I heard she was pregnant. I love kids but I know that no matter what, I'll not be able to love the baby as much as I want.

"Hey, what happened?" Jack was worried. I heard the question but I ignored it. The noises in my head were too loud.

"Ava, come here and tell me. Maybe I can help."

I laid down beside him and opened my mouth to talk, but no word escaped my mouth. I couldn't stop the tears. All of my anger, loneliness, and depression were disrupting my thoughts, and it felt fine to me. Maybe I deserved it. Maybe I didn't. But I was numb to pain at this point, and nothing else mattered.

I was this close to hugging Jack but the logical side of my brain held me back. In the end, I broke out of the hold and hugged Jack. I rested my head against his neck, and he put his pillow hands around me. He ran his hands down my back, and I relaxed against his embrace. Sooner or later, I calmed down.

Jack pulled away from the hug and ordered me to tell him everything. So, I did.

"So, your mom is pregnant."

"Yeah."

"With Richard's child."

"Yeah."

"And that bothers you?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Now tell me why."

"Remember I told you about my parents' divorce?" He nodded. I continued, "I didn't tell why it happened."

"And now you want to tell me?"

"Yup." He nodded me to go on.

"You see, mi Papi was always a poor guy. Mi Mama, on the other hand, came from a filthy rich family. After her parents died, she got all the money. We were financially unstable at that time. The house we had was bought with borrowed money. We didn't have enough money to send me to school. So, I dropped out for three months. Though Mama had the money, she refused to give.

Papa lost his job in the factory, and mom started working. Two years later, dad found out mom was cheating on him with Richard. Her excuse was that dad didn't love him enough. Even though, dad always did what he could to make her happy. He loved her more than he loved us. Still, mom thought dad didn't love him."

I was sobbing, again. Tears flowed down my cheeks like a waterfall. No matter what I did, I couldn't stop the tears. I chocked over my breath and was sniffling by the end.

Jack pulled me into a hug and rested my head against his chest. He played with my hair and I felt myself ease. Soon, my tears stopped and my eyes were slowly closing. Before I fell asleep, I heard him say, "Good night, Ava."

Let's just say it was the best sleep I ever had.

(2392 words)