I stepped out of the car and followed him to see a lake, which looked way more beautiful in the moonlight.

"I guess you need some time alone?" He asked and I smiled at him.

That'd be great.

"I'll be here." He said as he walked to the edge and sat down, removing his shoes.

I moved to the left and sat on the bench, looking at the sky. It was completely dark, yet beautiful.

Dark yet beautiful.

I sat there, thinking about how she would have agreed to this. Was it true or was the man bluffing?

I wish it's the second one.

I let my face bury in my hands and let those tears out. I never expected her to stoop so low. She did everything she could, to avoid us, to avoid dad's demise. She did everything that was wrong, in every way.

And now what? She's out of cash? She always used to barge in and take the money or ask me. Why not this time?

Is she really that desperate for money that she's ready to trade her daughter?

And even worse, if she was ready to give me...

Did she...?

I can't think of that.
   
A sudden cool breeze made me open my eyes. I wiped the tears off my cheeks but somehow it kept coming. So, I sat there until it stopped and stood up to join Zack while I wiped every trace of it from my face.

"Hey," he said as I sat beside him, letting the cool water move over my feet.

He smiled at me as if nothing has happened. Like we were randomly visiting a lake in the night. And I liked that. A lot.

"Hey to you too," I smiled back at him.

"So..." He looked at the clear water, trailing off and I know what's coming next.

"I'm okay." I smiled nodding and he cocked his head to smile with a frown.

"Are you?"

"Yes."

"Pathetic liar." He chuckled, making me join him.

"I thought I was good at that."

"Now you know that's not true."

"Yeah." I smiled, following his gaze."I wish he's lying."

"Maybe he is." He replied without looking. "We never know. But to be honest, I think he's not."

Ouch. But I know that's true.

"I'm not saying this to hurt you or make you feel bad." He said again and this time, I genuinely smiled.

"He won't come again. Just so you know." He added after a few minutes, "He'd be happily living without drugs in jail."

"That's good." Better that the constant fear of that creepy face won't bother me for a while.

"I can't believe she let him." I blurted out and I could feel him stiffen.

"I'm almost sure your suspicion of her taking drugs is true. That man was on drugs." He sighed, "What do we do?"

"I don't know. But there's something that's not leaving my mind." But there's no way I'm going to say it without crying.

"I can't believe she agreed with that pervert." I said and I could already feel the tears. "I mean,"  I waited for a few seconds, but nothing came out.

"Like...for drugs, maybe? She felt it was okay to give me to him, for some stupid reason. So what if she," I blinked back the tears and swallowed a lump in my throat. "You know, like, gave herself in? Just like this?"

That's all I can say. I don't want to ask if she transformed herself into a slut. I winced at the thought. I shouldn't have thoughts like that about my mother.

I guess somewhere my voice trembled because he wrapped an arm around my shoulder and pulled me close, gently rubbing my arm as I leaned into him.

His arms were soft yet strong. And despite the heaviness in my heart, It felt good. It made me calm and composed.

I remember how Sophie used to hug me tightly as if it would make everything go away and it used to make me feel good.

Just like it did now.

"That may not be true," he said, his voice calm and gentle, quite opposite to mine. "Maybe she just agreed to him, without knowing what. Maybe she was too drunk to understand."

"I wish that's the truth."

"Me too." He said.

"Not that it's right or something, but better than this."

"I know." I felt him nodding and let myself feel his warm embrace for a few more minutes.

"So..." I pulled back, wiping my cheeks and looked at his shirt. "I ruined your shirt." I chuckled and he looked down at it.

"Yeah, you did." He smirked at me, "You owe me one."

"I'll think about it." I smiled back and looked away, biting back every single thing that'd make me unhappy again.

"How did you just flip from crying to laughing now?" He chuckled, looking amusingly at me and I snickered.

"Let me tell you a secret, I'm bipolar."

"Yeah, right. Crazy too." He shook his head. "You never look sad or unhappy even though it's not all sunshines and roses."

"Well, I'm not sad always. A bit when stuff like this happens." I shrugged.
"Besides, when you think about it, I'm lucky. There are worse things that could happen. There are many people who suffer worse things than this."

I turned my head to look at him and he was looking right at me, amusingly.
"You are the most optimistic teenager I've ever seen."

"Yeah? How many have you seen?"

"Many. Most of them claims their life to be the most difficult one." He shrugged.

"That's not true. Every time we think that, there's always another person who's suffering more."

"True" he nodded.

There are rape victims, who's afraid of every male out there. Victims of physical abuse, who flinches every time someone moves. People with life threatening diseases, eating up every part of them. People who struggles in poverty and many more...

They're the true warriors, aren't they? Rising up from the oppressions, like a pheonix, despite the scars they hold in their hearts.

"You okay now?" He asked after a few minutes of complete silence.

"Never felt better." I said sarcastically and he chuckled.

"I know, stupid question."

I smiled. I remember him saying that he wasn't good at consoling. But I think he's good.

"So, home then?" He raised his eyebrows, waiting for an answer and I gave him a nod.

But I was confused when he stopped the car somewhere other than my home.

"Dinner." He said as he stepped out.

"I'm not that hungry, Zack."

"I thought so." He sighed, shaking his head. "I can't lie when your overprotective brothers will ask me if their sister ate something. I fear their wrath."

"Right." I chuckled at what he said and stepped into the restaurant.

He wasn't trying hard to divert my thoughts. What he did, was talk to me normally, like any other day.

"Are you going to ask your mom?"He asked finally when we were about to reach home.

"She came today, at noon."

He turned to me, surprised, for a second before looking back at the road. So, I continued,

"She just came in, ate some food, grabbed some stuff and left. I wanted to ask, but before I could, she was gone."

"You knew before?" His frown deepened.

"No, not like that. A few weeks ago, she just asked me to come home early and not to hangout. She asked me to be careful. I might have seen a few tears coming out of her eyes." I shrugged, sighing. "But I thought, you know, that she knew this was going to happen and was trying to protect me. Who knew they planned it together."

"You think she'll come today?" He asked after a few minutes of silence.

"No way. I'm sure she won't come back for long. Until she's fully sober, which is not going to happen."

"Tell me when she's home." He said before we got out.

Yes, I will. I should. I said to myself.

When Sasha opened the door, they were halfway through their dinner.

"Hi, Ivy!" Theo smiled, his voice muffled because of the food.

"Having fun?"

He nodded, smiling and stuffed more food into his mouth. Noel looked at me curiously, but of course with a smile. I think he got that from me.

"What happened?" Sasha whispered at us, totally confused. "Why were you yelling?" She frowned at Zack and he gave her a nod.

I walked towards boys and sat beside them, leaving Sasha to Zack.

"Ivy, who was outside?" Noel asked quietly, so that only I can hear.

I knew he'd ask.

"A friend. Good food?" I asked, taking a bite from his hand.

"Tasty." Theo replied, stuffing more and more into his tiny mouth.

"Was he shouting?" Noel asked again, not letting go of the topic.

"No, he was talking to Zack. Give me that." I pointed to a piece of cake and Theo slid it to me.

"Are you okay, Ivy?" He asked. Again.

"I'm alright. What about you?" I smiled widely at my Noel.

"We were having fun. I played music in Sasha's phone when you were outside." He smiled at me. A genuine smile that made me want to cry again.
"Like you do every time."

I love him, a lot.

"You know that you're the smartest idiot in the world, right?" I asked, ruffling his hair and that made him relieved.

"I'm not an idiot, you are." He scoffed, smiling and Theo glared.

"No, Ivy is not. It's you."

"I'm staying here." Sasha said, sitting between Noel and Theo.

"Huh?"

"Any problem?" She raised her eyebrows and I shook my head.

"Not at all. I'd love that." I said, looking at Zack. He just shrugged.
"But you know you don't have to, right?"

"Don't flatter yourself. I just want to spend more time with these fellows, not you." She smirked, making me smile.

"Sure."

"Now come on boys, we've many things to do. Let Eve go take a shower. We've to say bye to Zacky, then play for a bit and then, of course, eskimo kisses!"

"Just shut up, okay? That was a damn mistake!" He groaned as Sasha laughed evilly.

"Now get out. This place is now open only for cool people." Sasha smirked, hands on her hip.

"Ain't I a cool fella?" He asked boys before stepping out and they whistled a yes.

"See, that's what real humans think." He smirked at Sasha and turned to me before leaving.

"See you tomorrow, sleep tight." And then, he left without a reply.

I went to my room, smiling slightly that he didn't say good night. Because this night, in no way, was going to be remotely close to good.

When I came after a really long shower of washing down every bit of gloominess in me, I saw my brothers and my best friend, apart from Sophie, sitting on my bed.

"Goodnight, Ivy." Theo gave me a kiss and Noel gave me a hug.

"Good night." I ruffled his hair and watched them heading to their room.

"I hope you don't mind me wearing this." She pointed to herself, looking really good in my grey tee and shorts.

"Not at all." I smiled as I sat with her.

"Can I ask you what happened? I know something's wrong other than a  friend of your mom's yelling at you." She looked at me, her eyes clearly portraying nervousness.

And that was it. I told her everything. Everything from seeing that man for the first time to him saying my mom's name. Tears left my eyes as I said I don't want to know if that's true.

"I'm so sorry, Eve." She said, eyes filled with tears like mine.

"No, don't be."

"No. I shouldn't have asked you about it again." She shook her head and I smiled at her.

"You did a good thing." I chuckled. She did.

She was right. Right from the beginning.

Bottling up makes it worse.

"Hey, now sleep. I've got two days of college to catch up."

I closed my eyes and removed everything from my mind. Instead, I let myself think about how lucky I am to have such friends who are always by my side. With a small smile still on my face, I tried to sleep, intending to obey Zack's words.

Sleep tight

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