The Heaven I Found In Hell (32 page)

"What happened?" was the first thing she said, as she tried to soothe me by patting my back.

I knew she wanted to help, but she really couldn't. This was between my mom and me, and how was I supposed to fix this damned thing if the other person included in this mess was a million miles away? And add the fact that we totally hated each other right at this moment.

"It's okay…you can talk to me," she continued, her hand still on my back.

I turned around, and decided to acknowledge her presence since I didn't want her to feel left out. I sat up, and she pulled me in for a tight embrace, before I leaned my whole body on her, as I started to tell her about the heated conversation I had with my mother. I explained to her why I looked chaotic right now, and instead of telling me how much my mother sucked (most people usually do that) she just said to me that maybe the pictures gave my mother the wrong idea.

"Try talking to her again, maybe she never really meant what she said," Riley explained, trying to find a way to make me stop hating the person that brought me into this world.

"I don't feel like doing that," I told her, "I just feel so weak right now."

I was in no way calling my mother just to start asking for forgiveness. Hell no. She called me a prostitute, and maybe I'm just exaggerating my actions, and thoughts, but still! Who would call their daughter that? Maybe she wasn't thinking when she said that, but she was just too much. Even I wouldn't go that far…

Before I could even tell Riley my thoughts, my phone started to ring again, so I answered it as soon as I got a hold of it. I put my mobile next to my ear, before I asked the person on the other line who he/she was. It was my dad this time.

"Hey Alex, what's up?" he asked, in a tone that consisted of seriousness and nonchalance at the same time.

My father had always been the laid-back, I'll-do-what-I-want-to-do kind of guy, and I liked him for that. Unlike my mother, he always listened to my stories, and never really got mad at me. But of course, when I got a little out of hand, he'd tell me stop, but he never went too far as to scream nor hit me. He just wasn't like that, and you can see now the outcome of his actions, a spoiled daughter. Me.

"You know what's up, dad," I answered in a respectful tone.

Riley, who was just trying to comfort me a while ago, decided to leave me for a few minutes, so that I could be able to talk to my dad properly. With my free hand, I waved 'goodbye' to her, before I went back to talking with my father.

"Your mom never meant those things, okay?" he said, trying to fix the problem.

Of course, every family needed a mediator, and my dad unsurprisingly took that role. Instead of being a Stepford daughter, I was usually the one who started the arguments with my mom. As I said earlier, we were both stubborn as hell, and both of us hated losing, or being humiliated. Luckily for my dad, he was more placid than mother-and-daughter combined, which was a good thing since it gave a balance to the whole family.

"But still dad. She called me a prostitute," I told him, my use of words not surprising him at all.

"You aren't a whore, so you shouldn't believe what your mom told you," he started. "She was just mad, and started acting without even thinking first."

"Dad…it's not only about that," I said in a slightly whiny voice.

Feeling uncomfortable, I sat up, and rested my back onto the headboard, before I covered my legs with the blanket that was about to fall off the bed. I enjoyed talking with my dad because of how understanding he was, but at this moment, I just felt like sleeping. I didn't want to think about anything. I just wanted to be problem-free for a minute.

"I heard you like…or love someone?" he said, in a voice that made him sound teasing.

I rolled my eyes, before I answered.

"What else did mom tell you?"

"Nothing else, really, since she hung up on you," he said, laughing a little.

I laughed silently with him, before I closed my mouth, and stayed quiet. When I didn't talk, he started asking questions about Nathan, which immediately made my cheeks turn red. I kind of felt uncomfortable talking to my dad about my love life, but talking to him about this was so much better than me uttering a single word about it to my mom. She'd accept it, but with a catch or a few deals.

"So are you guys dating?"

"When did he tell you?"

"Will you bring him to New York for the break?"

"No. It's a long story. And maybe," I answered, with a sheepish smile.

I totally forgot I was talking to my dad who was in his late forties, since we conversed like close friends who knew each other's. He was interrogating me, but it wasn't the kind where you'd feel intimidated or scared, and so the more I opened up to him. I told him about the dance, excluding my 'fight' with Cindy of course, and soon after I narrated to him the scene in the park where I almost did what I wanted to do, before the paparazzi appeared. By the end of my story, he sounded happy, and amused.

"I know he's a nice guy, and I hope you two will hook-up soon," he said, and I knew right then and there that he was grinning even though we were just talking through our mobile devices.

I laughed at him, and wanted to slap his shoulders when he said 'hook-up' since it was so not him, or in this case, it wasn't usually a father's language. But of course, that would only happen when the crow turns white, or in layman's terms, it would never happen in a million years. Need I broaden my explanation? Hope not.

"Dad, shut up!" I said, laughing cheerily, as I clutched my stomach lightly with one of my hands.

"What did I say?"

"Never say 'hook-up'," I said, "That's so not you…"

I heard him laugh on the other line, before he told me not to worry about my mother.  But of course I had to worry.  Aside from being influential, my mother was still mother, and I needed to respect her for that simple reason.

"Just pull up your grades, and she'll be praising you in no time. Trust me,"

"But that's the problem, dad," I said to him, "I suck at school."

He laughed for which was probably his millionth time since we had talked.

"Just ask someone…or Nathan to tutor you," he said, with a mischievous tone of voice that made me love him so much more.

I knew my father was funny, even though he was this business tycoon, whose days were mostly made up of work, work, and work, but talking with him today made me see him as someone I could…become closer with. I just really wished my mother could be like him too. Even though I hated her guts, I still wanted to get along with her.

"I'll talk to you later, dad," I said about to say goodbye. "Bye and luv ya!"

"Love you too, dear," he said, "study hard, alright?"

The moment the bell rang, everyone left his or her classroom in order to get ready for tonight, since later this evening, Ridgeway's soccer team was going to go against Brookfield's, their archrival as I have learned from Riley. The whispers, the bets, and the excitement started building up even a few days before, with the school's players as their main topic, especially Nathan. Everyone was talking about how he'd lead the school to the State Championships, how he was going to be the MVP again this year, and about how no team could beat them with Nathan playing. It was all Nathan 'this,' and Nathan 'that,' and with all this talk about him, I was missing him.

Before I could daydream any longer, Riley snapped her fingers at me, making me blink rapidly until I was able to hold a steady gaze. We started to make our way to our lockers, and when we got there, we saw Cindy and Kendra waiting for us. Riley and I saw the two of them before they were able to spot us, so we were the first ones to wave 'hello.' They greeted us back before they started talking about the supposedly 'huge' game tonight.

"Do you think we'll win?" Kendra asked, starting to become the soccer fanatic that she was.

Riley and I dumped our books inside our lockers, before we, Kendra and Cindy included, headed back to our dorms to get ready. We talked as we walked, and being new, in a way, I wasn't able to get what they were saying. Apparently they were comparing and contrasting tonight's match with the previous ones from last year. They were saying a lot of names I'd never heard of before, which I soon figured out were the names of whom Nathan and co. we’re going against.

"The score's going to be pretty close, but we'll take tonight," Riley said, as she gave us all thumbs up.

In response, we smiled back at her, before our topic of our conversation drifted off to something else. After the game, there was going to be a party at this nearby hotel. Unlike the usual house parties, one of the guys on the team reserved a Presidential Suite especially for tonight. I, myself, wouldn't spend so much just to host something that was probably going to last for a good six hours, but I had heard from Blake earlier this morning that the guy's parents owned the hotel, so I guessed he wouldn't be spending anything really. Lucky him.

"I think we should get a room, since you know, I wouldn't want to drive back here when I'm wasted," I said to the three of them, and in agreement, they nodded.

"Definitely," Cindy answered. "I think we should get like two suites for the whole lot of us. I guess that's enough."

Before Riley could say something, arms found their way around her waist and soon after, a kiss was planted on her lips. She smiled at her boyfriend who had the same love struck expression she wore, and even before the public display of affection could go any further, Nathan let out a fake cough, which they took as their cue to stop with the mushiness.

"You guys should get a room," I said, faking a look of disgust. "I have nothing against love, and the physicality that goes with it, but please…"

"Speaking of rooms, are we still on for tonight?" Cindy asked, as she looked at her newly painted nails.

"What's with tonight?" Nathan asked, turning to me.

With that, I suddenly felt my pulse go faster, and a sudden rush wash over me. I didn't know what he just did that made my body act all funny, but I wasn't going to object. I liked it. It had that tingling feeling.

Unable to help myself, I turned to Nathan, and laughed at him.

"Why are you looking at me?"

Apparently, Riley, Anthony, Kendra, and even Cindy misinterpreted what I just said since the cooing and the teasing started. I tried to ignore them, but it was hard, real hard. And to make matters worse, both Nathan and I blushed crimson red, allowing the whole world to see our obvious feelings for each other. I wasn't going to lie now, I knew he liked me, and vice versa. The feelings were mutual.

"Why can't you guys just hook up already?" A voice coming from a few feet away called out to us.

Blake made his way to us, before he asked if everyone was watching. We nodded, and gave him an "of course," before the whole group headed over to the soccer field. We sat on the grass, and since the game wasn't going to start anytime soon we decided to hang out, and just talk.