The weeks had come and gone, and I hadn't heard another word from Bryson. Luckily, things were going good, and I didn't need Bryson to keep ruining them. I think he finally got it into his thick skull that I wasn't going back to him. Not after everything that he had done to me.

Emmy and I stood in her room, staring at mass amounts of clothes as we tried to decide what we wanted to wear for graduation.

"This is so frustrating," Emmy exclaimed. I chuckled at her, sitting down on her bed.

"We don't have to get all dolled up for graduation, Em. We can wear a simple sun dress." She rolled her eyes, plopping down next to me.

"What kind of statement would that make though? I want to go out with a bang!" I laughed. Emmy was all about making a statement. Especially since we were leaving this shit hole forever, she wanted to make it the most memorable thing in high school.

"Well, you know I'm not one to make statements, so I'm just going to stick to a sun dress," I said, standing up. I started searching through all the dresses that Emmy and I owned. Yes, I brought all my nice clothes over so we had choices. Neither one of us wanted to spend a bunch of money on a dress just to wear for an hour or so.

"You're so boring," Emmy said, dragging out the word so. I rolled my eyes, still searching through clothes. I gasped when my eyes landed on one of Emmy's old sun dresses.

"Emmy, you have to let me wear this," I said, holding up the dress. The dress had a dark blue top with a long flowy skirt that had swirls on it in white, light blue, and a green-ish. The strap went around the neck and was decorated with beads. A smile formed on her face when she saw it.

"That would look gorgeous on you! It never really fit me right. You can keep it." I smiled, giving her a kick peck on the cheek.

"You're the best."

~~~~

It felt like hours had gone by when we both finally found a dress. Actually, I think hours had gone by. Emmy had settled on a short aqua colored dress that was decorated with lace. It complimented her tanned skin. Although we still had another two weeks before graduation, we were both satisfied and ready to walk down the aisle. I had decided to stay at Emmy's house for dinner, since it had taken so long to find dresses.

"You girls all set for graduation?" Mr. C asked. We both nodded in agreement as we stuffed our faves with his homemade mac and cheese.

"It took hours, but we got it," I said when I finally swallowed my food. Mr. C chuckled, shaking his head. I went to take another bite of my Mac and cheese when my phone started to vibrate. "Excuse me," I said as I glanced at the unknown number on my phone. Mr. C nodded and I answered my phone. "Hello?" I questioned.

"Hi, honey," the voice breathed out, almost like she couldn't believe she was talking to me. I knew that voice, and it had been a hell of a long time since I last heard it.

"Mom?" I asked, earning looks from both Emmy and Mr. C. They knew the situation with my mom was complicated. I never really talked to her, and I almost liked to keep it that way.

"How are you?" She asked. I could hear the relief in her voice as I talked to her.

"I'm fine. Why are you calling? How did you get my number?" I asked in disbelief. It really had been years since I talked to my mom.

"Angela, but that's beside the point. I wanted to tell you that I'm coming to your graduation." I was uttered speechless. Emmy looked at me with a questioning look as my jaw hung open.

"Why? Why are you trying to be apart of my life now?" Was what I finally spit out when I could finally talk. Emmy knew exactly what was going on now. She was hanging off the edge of her chair.

"Can we talk about this in person, Riley? I would really like a chance to explain." I thought about it for a few minutes. Although I held a lot of anger against my mom, I still hadn't seen her in a long time, and all I wanted was for her to hold me in her arms like she use to.

"Fine," I spit. "Tomorrow after school. Meet me at Angela's."

"I'll see you then," she said. "I love you." I could hear the hesitation in her voice when she said it, almost as if it hurt her to say it.

"Love you too," I said quickly before hanging up. I looked up and Emmy was now the one with the dropped jaw.

"What was that all about?" She asked. I explained the situation as tears rolled down my face. I had so many unanswered questions, and hopefully my mother would be able to answer all of them.

-------------------------------------------------------

Hey! Sorry for the long wait.

Now you know about Riley's mother... Why do you think she's been MIA?

Don't forget to comment and rate!