him?" I asked Emery.

We were sitting in her living room watching a movie. School had ended like two hours ago and we had driven directly to her house. Clara had to go visit her boyfriend while Melanie was grounded for coming home drunk.

"Yeah." She nodded.

"What did he say?"

Me trying to predict Caelum's answer was probably a tad bit stupid, but honestly, I had a feeling he wasn't going to turn me down. Caelum was unpredictable and I'd come to terms with that, so being able to turn an unpredictable answer to predictable was...well, predictable.

She picked a cookie from her plate and bit into it. "He agreed."

I smiled. "What did you say?"

"I told him you were going through a lot and if he helped you, it'll mean a lot," she said.

"And he said yes?"

She shrugged. "Caelum isn't a bad person. He can be good when he wants to."

That statement was probably one of the most confusing things I'd ever heard. I found it an issue when people thought being nice was like a chore or an obligation. But then I realized something: people made time for who they wanted to make time for, they called and replied only to people they wanted to, so why was being nice to people when they wanted to a problem? Lord knows.

"He may not be a bad person Em," I said. "But we aren't exactly besties."

"Whatever, Daesyn," she said, standing. "I'm going to get more milk."

"I'll be back!" I called out as I climbed up the stairs and walked towards Caelum's room. I had to thank him for agreeing to be my tutor and for telling Mr. Bob whatever he told him.

I knocked on the door of his room, opening it when I heard his faint "come in."

"Thank you," I said, curtly inhaling the smell of chocolates.

What was with him and chocolates?

Glancing at me from where he was sprawled on his bed, he furrowed his brows. "For what?"

Tucking a piece of stray hair behind my ear, I gave a small smile. "The tutoring thingy."

Thingy? Really, Daesyn?

"I didn't agree to do it," he said.

I rolled my eyes. "We both know you agreed to do it, C."

He frowned. "Don't call me that!"

"I will." I grinned goofily. "And you know what?"

He quirked a brow before sitting. "What?"

"You love it."

He didn't glare, nor deny it, and my grin widened.

"I knew it!" I chanted as I did a mini moonwalk. I totally forgot about Caelum until he coughed out loud. My face turned beet-red when I realized what I did—in his presence. The sides of his lips quirked up for a bit before he whiffled it away.

Why won't you smile?

"Erase that from your memory, please," I said, opening the door and turning towards the dimly lit hallway.

"Hey, Daesyn?" Caelum called just before I left his room.

"Yeah?" I turned to look at him.

Was he about to confess his undying love to me?

"We're submitting our project tomorrow."

Dang, it!

Friday came around rather quickly. Caelum didn't glare or scowl at me throughout the day, which was actual progress. I didn't receive any rude comments when we sat together in AP US History, and we submitted our project with no argument. I was really in a good mood.

I was going to Emery's house today, since we: Clara and Melanie, inclusive, had a sleepover. I was nervous since it was going to be my first group sleepover in a long time.

Grabbing my bag from my car, I walked to the front of my house. The house key wasn't under the flowerpot and the door was already open.

Strange!

Stepping into the kitchen, I saw her—my mother—cooking. Various ingredients were scattered across the kitchen counter where she was stood. I'd inherited her heart-shaped face, high cheekbones, and soft pink lips. The only difference was probably our eyes, which I shared with Dad, and our hair length. Mine was longer. I was also two inches taller than her five-foot-four-inch frame, but aside from the differences, Emery was right when she said we looked alike.

I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen her home so early, and for a second, I just stood there, watching her. The last time she was back, she had arrived late at night and had gone first thing in the morning.

I couldn't even recall the last time we watched TV or ate a meal together or the last time she asked me about the happenings in my life. Without Father, Mother and I were like distant relations, coexisting but not living together.

I wasn't sure exactly how we drifted apart.

It was one of those things that just happened, and by the time I'd realized it, there was this enormous gap between us. After Dad died, she got promoted and immersed herself in her work completely, and I got used to her absence.

It took a while for her to notice me standing in front of the door. And when she did, her eyes lightened up and her lips quirked at the sides to form a smile. She dropped the spatula she was holding before walking to where I stood and leaning in for a hug.

I didn't return her hug.

I was mad at her. For what she put me through, for not putting me first, for forgetting about me, and for making me learn to survive without her.

I loved my mother, I did, but she wasn't acting like a mother. She looked hurt when I didn't return her hug. What was she expecting?

"Baby?" Her voice broke. "Come, give mummy a hug, didn't you miss me?"

How could she even ask me that? I missed her!

Scoffing, I shook my head.

"Baby? Hug?" She nodded, and I smiled sadly. "Where was baby when I called you every night? Did you think about these hugs when you ignored my voicemails? Did you think I enjoyed staying here alone? Did you even care about how I felt when dad died? Do you even care about me?" I was screaming at this point.

"I'm sorry, I wanted to call—"

"But you did not. You ignored me every single day," I said, averting my gaze.

"I didn't want things to turn out—"

She was cut off by the ringing of her phone. The song was familiar, and I knew I'd heard it from her phone so many times, but who did she use the song for?

"Go answer the phone, Mother," I said calmly, racking my brain for any memory relating to the song.

"No." She shook her head. "Can we at least talk about what's happening?"

"Yes, mother." I rubbed my face with my palms. "We were talking before your phone interrupted us, so go answer the phone."

Her phone started ringing again, and the realization hit me.

Father.

My father loved Ed Sheeran's songs for reasons still unknown to me. He used to play his songs all day long, and Photograph was his favorite. Mum used it as... she used it as his ringtone when he was still alive.

If Dad wasn't calling her, who was?

"Mother?" I croaked out. "Who's calling you?"

She didn't reply, but I didn't want to jump to conclusions. I wanted to be sure of what I heard.

"Mum?" I called out again and tried to calm my thudding heart.

"I'm sorry."

That was her response as sobs racked through her body. I watched her closely as the hand she used to cover her face trembled and I bit my lips to prevent my own tears from pouring out. The 'I'm sorry' proved my suspicions. She had already replaced Dad. She was replacing me already.

I couldn't stay here any longer, I had to leave. But one question held me back. "Why did you come back?"

"Daesyn, honey." She stretched her hand towards me and I swiftly dodged it. "You know I love you."

"I don't know what to know, and what not to know." I moved away from the doorway. "For now, I'd like to believe you only came home because he asked you to?"

When she didn't prove otherwise, I strapped my bag tightly on my shoulders and turned away from her—not wanting to see the pained expression on her face. "Don't wait up for me. I doubt you'd do it, but I'm not coming home tonight."

That wasn't the woman I had grown to love, and I hoped she had a good explanation to give if we ever sorted things out. I wanted to hate her, but it was impossible for me since she was my mother.

When I arrived at Emery's, she took one look at my face and pulled me into a hug. I was glad she didn't ask questions because I was not in the mood to share my problems. However, I was glad I had Emery in my life. Mother had already broken my trust too many times, and this time, I wasn't sure if I was going to forgive her.

-

Author's note:

P.S: I changed my updating schedule to twice every week, so if you didn't check my profile, you'll see it here... Ly :)