Schita:D pareri? merita continuat?
Chapter 1 – Baby trouble
“Alison! Get over here this instant!”
I jumped upon hearing my mother’s yell. I was already used to that tone, but it still sent shivers down my spine. Come to think of it, it had been a long time since she had last spoken to me in a kind way. 9 months, to be precise.
Yes, my mother was indeed pregnant. And although I had expected her to be moody and stuff, I still wasn’t prepared for the treatment I got ever since she received news that a baby boy was on the way. Starting that day, the only way she spoke to me was by yelling that she needed something done; or rather, re-done, since I never seemed to do anything the way she wanted.
“Alison!”
Sighing, I put down my pencil and headed towards the living-room, where I supposed my mother would be. It turned out I had been right. She was, indeed, on the couch, a fluffy blanket wrapped around her (it was December, after all), watching “What a happy baby needs” for the umpteenth time. Sometimes, I wished I was Dad’s age so I could be away from home as much as he was. Oh, well, since that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon, I had no choice but to be nice and hope Mom would be her usual self again once my brother was born.
“Did you need something, mommy?” I asked, a fake smile on my face as I waited to be told what I had done wrong. Again. My mother suddenly turned to look at me and I almost gasped at the look in her eyes. To think I had once looked up to her, wanting nothing more than to be just like her… Now, I was just afraid. Afraid of becoming a beautiful woman in her mid-thirties, with long, wavy blonde hair, dark blue eyes and a frozen heart; a woman who looked at her own daughter as if she were something worthless.
"Why didn’t you answer me the first time I called?” Her voice was cold, barely whispered in a hiss. I shuddered.
“I apologize, mother. I was writing and-“
“Writing? Not those damn lyrics, I hope”
I gulped. “No, mother”
“Good. Now go bring me another cup of tea. This one is cold.”
“But, mother, it can’t be. I just made it-“
“Don’t argue with me, young lady! Do you think that just because you’re twelve you can tell me if I’m right or wrong? Now go make me some tea. And it’d better be hot.”
“Of course, mother…”
I made sure to bring her tea in plastic cups, until she announced the perfect temperature. I brought her another cup, this time made of china, and she nodded in thanks before turning back to watching TV. I sighed and headed towards my room. As I passed by a mirror, I caught a glimpse of my reflection and stopped.
I sat there staring at my mirrored image for what seemed like forever. Looking back at me with a sad gaze was a short girl, whose light blue eyes tinted with green had been compared to a husky’s more than once. Her heart-shaped face was framed beautifully by light brown bangs, occasionally streaked by blonde highlights.
Yep, that was me, alright. Alison Brown. Nothing more, nothing less. I had always considered myself an ordinary girl, and I always laughed at those who said I was “pretty” or “special”. I knew better than to believe them. Besides, the only things in the world that mattered to me were my friends and my lyrics, not my looks. Yes, even if I was only ten, my greatest pleasure was writing. I was inspired by everything around me, and I wrote about my life, my family, my friends, everything. It was the main reason my mother burned most of them. But I kept on writing…
Light snoring coming from the living-room let me know that my mother was asleep. Careful not to make any noise, I tip-toed out of the house and jumped over the fence separating our courtyard from Matt’s. Oh…right. Matt was…well, back then, I didn’t exactly know what he was to me, except my annoying neighbor. Ever since he had moved in next door, four years prior, we had constantly fought. Although we had quite a lot of things in common, he always had a way of saying the perfect thing to drive me crazy. I couldn’t explain how he did it, but I couldn’t seem to be able to stay mad at him for more than a couple of minutes. And when I was calm again, he always made me mad. Again.
Well, at least that had changed in the past days. It may sound odd, but I believed that in a weird, twisted way, he understood what I was going through at home. It was the only way I could explain the fact that for the past couple of months he had stopped teasing me. Almost, that is. He always made fun of me when he saw me upset. But I thought of that as being kind of sweet, him trying to make me forget.
I went to the mini-park Matt had in his back-yard and sat on a swing. As I rocked back and forth, I kept thinking about my mother, my soon-to-be brother, about Matt…Yes, I must admit that even from that age I had started day-dreaming about my next-door neighbor. I would often find myself wondering if I liked him, if he liked me…But I had dismissed that though long ago. Matt would never like me, I was nothing compared to the girls in our school. I was so caught in my thoughts, that I didn’t hear the footsteps heading towards me. A moment later, his voice rang in the silence around us, sounding amused and a bit worried:
“What are you doing here?”
I screamed and fell off the swing. Matt chuckled and helped me up. However, as soon as I was standing once again, all plans of thanking him vanished and I started yelling at my poor neighbor:
“What did it look like I was doing?!?”
He just looked at me, his emerald green eyes twinkling with boredom. God, how I loved those eyes! Umm, I mean…I really felt like slapping him back then. I was about to, until he thrust something into my arms. I looked down and was met with one of his many winter jackets. I knew it well, Matt used to bring it along with his own whenever we went out to play; he knew I always forgot to bring mine one way or another.
“What am I supposed to do with it?” I asked stupidly. He chuckled.
“How about…put it on?”
I shook my head, confused.
“…why?”
This time, Matt actually sighed and just pointed to my clothes. I looked down and blushed. Of course, I had been careless as always. I mean, what sane person would go outside in the middle of a blizzard wearing just a T-shirt and pajama pants? I smiled and put on the jacket, instinctively cuddling into it. Matt smirked, and I felt anger swell inside of me.
“Hey, just because you gave me your jacket doesn’t mean I’m not angry at you for scaring me” I snapped. Matt just nodded and turned to walk back home.
“I’m not finished!”
“Yeah, whatever” was all I heard before the door closed. I clutched the jacket tighter and smiled. It was times like those that I felt we could get along.
“Hey, husky-eyes!”
I looked up, surprised. Matt had never used that nickname before.
POOF!
I sputtered, snow slowly melting and dripping down my chin. The nerve of that bastard! How dare he throw a snowball at me??? I glared at him, but all I caught was a glimpse of his jet-black hair before the window closed. I snuggled deeper into the jacket and went back home, crawled into bed and went to sleep. It was almost midnight, so I was in dreamland in no time.
I was awoken by shouting. The light had been turned on in my room as well as the hallway and I could hear people pacing around the living-room, downstairs. I looked around, taking in the Barbie posters and pink paint on the walls, before my gaze settled on the alarm clock resting on the nightstand. It read 3 a.m. I groaned and plopped back down on the pillow, fully intent on going back to sleep, when my father started shouting:
“We’ve got to take her to a hospital. She can’t have the baby here!”
I sat up, all traces of sleep gone. I was going to have a baby brother!!! I ran downstairs as fast as I could, only to stop in the doorway dumbfound. My parents had already left. Without me. I huffed. That was just so typical of them, to forget their daughter at home at a time like this.
“Hey, Alison!”
I looked to my left, surprised. Matt and his parents, as well as his older sister, Sophie, were fully dressed and heading towards their car. I ran to them, and Sophie hugged me.
“Need a ride, husky eyes?”
I stuck my tongue out at Matt, but smiled nonetheless.
“Sure”
Half an hour later, I found myself in the waiting room, with my Dad, my aunt and Matt’s family. I was pacing back and forth, and I was close to strangling my neighbor. How he could stay so calm, I wondered. Moments later, my mother’s screaming reached our ears and I started shaking. Scared half to death, I jumped when a warm hand landed on my shoulder. I looked around, and my gaze locked to Matt’s. No words were needed, as he opened his arms in invitation and I wrapped mine around his waist. He held me in his protective embrace, while my mother’s screaming subsided and a baby cry was heard. I woke up on an armchair, and immediately searched the room with my eyes until I spotted Mat sleeping peacefully on the couch in the waiting room. A smile graced my lips. I was glad he had stayed for me. Not that he would ever admit it, though.
I started when his eyes fluttered open and his gaze focused on me. Then, he smiled sleepily, and I instantly relaxed. He walked over to me and took my hand, then pulled me towards one of the many rooms in the hospital.
“W-wait” I stuttered. “Where are we going?”
“Don’t you want to see David?” he asked.
“David?” I blinked. “Who’s David?”
This time he stopped and turned to look at me.
“Umm, when exactly did you fall asleep?”. I shrugged. “Right…well, you see, David is your little brother.”
“Really?!?!” I squealed, and started bouncing up and down.
“Yes, yes. Really. Now stop jumping, you’re making me dizzy” he chided.
“Ok………..Can we go see him? Can we?”
Matt laughed.
“Where did you think I was taking you?”
I threw my arms around him.
“Thanks, Matt. You’re the best”
“I know”
“And a jerk”
“That too.”
I laughed.
“Let’s go.”
And we did. We walked together to my mother’s room, hand in hand like the children we were. And we both “aww”-ed and “ooh”-ed at the small bundle in my mother’s arms. Until she woke up, that is. The moment my mother’s eyes opened, instead of the happy, loving look I had expected, I found her glaring at me. She clutched David tighter, waking him up in the process, and shushed him while whispering: “It’s okay, darling. They’ll stay away from you.” I gasped. Stay away from him? But he was my brother. How could she expect me to stay away?
Matt took my hand and pulled me away from the room. I was confused. Why had my mother said that? Surely she hadn’t meant it. But looking back at the woman who laid on the bed with the expression of a lioness protecting her cub, I began to doubt that she had been joking.
. Pacat de ea, e o fetita draguta, ma`sa e naspa >
. Si Matt suna ca un vecin pe cinste, un prieten pe viata ... si un posibil boyfriend ceva mai tarziu.