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"You've been gone fr a while," her mother remarked as soon as Lamees stepped in through the door.

"Um, yeah," she replied, avoiding eye contact. "I just met... someone from school and we hung out."

Her mother nodded, distracted by something on her phone. "Speaking of school, haf you dezided on a major yet?"

Lamees almost rolled her eyes. "Not yet but you'll probably be the first to know."

And with that, she walked out of the room, not giving her mother a chance to reply. Lamees had a sudden craving for something sweet again, as she had two days before. She walked into her room and looked around in her drawers, to see if there was some leftover chocolate that she hadn't consumed the day before.

She could only pull out empty wrappers that she'd hidden in a haste between her clothes.

She needed something sweet. Was that too much to ask? Why wasn't anything going her way? Why couldn't she get a break from all this?

She was crying by the time her mother came up to ask if she was feeling okay. "You've been acting weird lately... Lameez? Why are you crying?"

"Because I want chocolate," she moaned truthfully. "And I want it now."

Her mother seemed to be at a loss for words at her answer. "Um... whaz?"

Lamees stood up abruptly and had just walked past her mother when a firm hand on her shoulder stopped her. "What. Iz. Going. On?"

Lamees tried to shrug her hand off but her mother wasn't taking no for an answer this time. She whirled her daughter around to face her and asked her again, with a piercing gaze. "What iz going on?"

Lamees tried to come up with something to say, to make up for her little slip up but nothing was coming to mind and the tears running down her cheeks wouldn't stop. She kept crying as she whimpered. "I can't tell you."

"LAMEES!" Her mother shook her by the shoulders roughly, shaking her head as if she'd figured it all out and wasn't willing to accept it. "Lameez! Tell me now!"

She looked at her mother for a long time. Everything was falling apart. The despair in her daughter's eyes must've given her secret away because in the next second, her mother's hands slackened from her shoulders. "Are you... are you...?"

Lamees glanced down to her stomach and even though, it was only for a second, it was a dead giveaway. Her mother crumbled down onto the floor, her back against the wall, staring at her daughter. At what she'd done.

"I-I'm s-s-sorry," Lamees sobbed, falling onto the ground herself and at her mother's feet. She wasn't even sure why she was apologising but maybe, it was solely because she'd been the one to bring that sort of pain onto her mother's face. "I'm so-sorry. Mum! Mum. Say something."

"How could you?" Her mother spoke so softly that she almost missed it. She seemed to be in a trance-like state, staring at the wall above Lamees's head rather than at her. "How could you?"

Lamees wanted to explain but couldn't form the words at all. Her chest hurt and she was having trouble breathing again. She put a hand to her heart in an attempt to steady it as she reached out for her mother with the other hand. Her mother's eyes closed as she leaned her head back against the wall and let the tears slip.

Nobody uttered a word for a few minutes as Lamees struggled to breathe properly with her hand on her mother's knee, as if seeking comfort from her touch.

"Get out."

Her heart skipped a beat at her mother's toneless words. Maybe she misheard her.

"Éloigne-toi de moi."
[Get away from me.]

"Mum, please... if you'd just listen..."

Her mother wiped the tears away from her cheeks and stood up, letting Lamees's hand fall to the floor. She walked out of the corridor without looking back at her wailing daughter.

"Mum! Mom, please! Maman! MAMAN!"

Her heart was going to shatter, she was sure of it. She could feel it breaking, could feel the cracks forming. She was going to die. Right here in her home, outside her room. And her own mother walking away from her was going to be the last thing she'd ever know.

Her body ached. There was pain everywhere, and she felt like even her own body resented her because it was causing her so much pain. There was no one.

She let her head fall to the ground and urged the carpet to absorb her whole. Her body and soul. She wanted to disappear.

And then, she was gone.