I watched his car disappear into the darkness. I hesitated about telling him where I lived, but it shouldn’t bother me. It’s up to him if he will still talk to me after finding out. But there’s a part of me that hopes that he’s not like those rich kids who only want to hang out with those who are on the same level as them.

Just like him, I am comfortable being around him.

I opened the door and switched on the lights. As I closed the door, I stumbled and hit the door because of a slap. My left cheek feels numb because of it. My head starts throbbing again. I looked up and saw my raging mother. She looked pissed and ready to kill me in one snap.

"M-mother…" I utter.

"What did I tell you about hanging out with boys?!" she screamed.

"But, mother, he just helps me." I said.

"And why do you need help? Help from a boy? Really?" she asked hysterically.

I looked at her features. She appears ill. She usually applies her makeup flawlessly. She looked really beautiful in the clothing she was donning. Although she is calm and I have never seen her upset, the woman I was seeing was considerably different from the one I was used to. Her lips were cracked and dry, and there were evidently dark circles beneath her eyes. She exudes such tension and confusion. She seemed to be having issues with someone.

"I was sick." I pleaded.

"You can take care of yourself! If you need help, then why do you need it from a boy? You should ask me." she said. I couldn’t hear anything after she said that. I’m thinking if it was a joke, I should be laughing, but I don’t think she was also serious about it.

"Really mother?" I laughed. "You expect me to ask for your help? You don’t even see me! How could you even hear me? I’ve asked you a million times for help. Why are you saying those things right now when I needed you most of the time in the past?" She took a step back, as if to retract what she had said.

"Don’t change the subject. Alexa, this isn’t about me; it’s about you. asking for a boy’s help. I assumed you had a female best friend.” Something warms me when I hear my name from her, but I choose to shrug it off. I also frowned when she said that I have a friend. How did she know that I have a friend?

"And now you’re dodging my question. You’re not making any sense. Tell me, my dear mother, why can’t you consider me as your daughter? But I’m glad you knew that I have a friend, but I'm not okay at the moment. Want to know why? It's all because of you."

"Don’t be so dramatic. I will warn you again: don’t you dare talk to a boy again, especially to that boy. Now that I've discovered who he is. I shrugged it off the first time I saw you with him, but I will not just sit and let you be close to him." There’s a determination in her tone. I don’t know where it's coming from.

"What do you mean?" I am very confused right now. How does she know about him? When did she see us together? I have a lot of questions in my mind, and I don’t know where to start.

I don't want to make assumptions, but I can't help it given the way she is acting.

"Stay away from him!" He’s the son of Richard Wilson, for fuck’s sake! She puts her hands on her head and starts pacing around.

"What’s wrong, mother, if he’s a Wilson? Why can’t you just tell me about you?" I asked curiously; questions keep adding up, but I haven’t received a good answer: "I’ve just encountered my friend’s father this afternoon. I asked him if he knew who you were."

"Tell me who the hell is this person," she asked furiously.

"I saw you twice with him. at the bus stop near the supermarket. Does it ring the bell?" I watched how her eyes widened. Her mouth opens and closes as if she's calculating the words that will come out of it.

"W-what? Are you following me? "Are you that desperate to know about me?"

"Yes! I’m desperate, but I will never cross my line, and I think whatever is going on is on my side. It happened that I went to the supermarket, then I saw you with that man." I look at her and say, "So, would you mind telling me who that man is?" I don’t know where my courage is coming from, but I won’t hold back. Maybe this is the time to learn something about her.

"No, I won’t speak. Just stay away from those people. You don’t know them. Just listen to me. As your mother, I know what’s best for you." She straightened up and avoided my gaze.

"As my mother? Are you joking? When did you become my mother? Because you gave birth to me? Literally yes, but if you will look at it from a different aspect, no, you didn’t act like a mother to me. You’ll see me as your daughter when it is convenient to you." I calmed myself a bit and said, "You better stop acting like you care. I will find out on my own who those people are in your life."

"You better stop whatever you are planning. You don’t have to know who they are. They are not important.” She holds me by both shoulders and forces me to look at her. "Listen here, Alexa. I will tell you next time, but please stay away from them. You better listen to me; this is for your own sake." I never see her desperate like this.

This is the first time she begs for me to listen. This is the first time I felt something warm coming from her. I want to hug her at this moment, but I stop myself from doing it. I don’t want to get hurt because of my own stupidity. Ironic isn’t? I want to dig up some information about her, and I think it’s coming from my stupidity, and eventually I can sense that I’ll get hurt if ever I dig up some information.

"However, my curiosity has been piqued by how you are reacting right now, mother."

All the courage I've built up starts to crash down when tears start falling down her cheeks. I don’t know what to do.

"Please Alexa…" She moved closer and caressed my left cheek.

"M-mother." When she suddenly envelops me in her embrace, this was the only thing I could say.

"I know you have lots of questions in your head, and I will try to answer them one by one, just please." She let go of the hug and looked into my eyes while holding my cheeks, saying, "Promise me that you will stay away from those people."

I don’t know what to say. I love how close she is to me. I love the looks in her eyes; they are full of concerns. I would love to ask her questions, but if I do that, I will not be able to talk to those who saw my existence. Why is this happening all of a sudden? when I get used to their presence. I may be rude to Ria, but I enjoy every single day that I’m with her. I still remember the first time we met. It was the first day of our third year when she approached me.

She’s full of energy and loves to talk, but people tend to stay away from her. She always wears very brightly colored clothes, which makes people think that she’s weird. When she first talked to me, I just ignored her, but I didn’t push her away. She just continues to ramble on beside me. She got used to it and didn’t leave my side until now. But there’s a development, I guess. I tried to listen to her rants, and it makes her happy.

And when it comes to Travis, I don’t know if I can stay away from him. Even though he keeps annoying me, I just get used to it. I’ll be lying to myself if I say that I didn’t enjoy his presence. When I'm with him, I feel like I'm in another world. It feels like I’m transported to a world without any of my problems. I can be genuinely happy when I’m with him.

"I c-can’t…" I stammered. Tears start to form in my eyes.

"No, you can. You must do it. You must stay away from them. They will just ruin your life. "They already ruined mine, and I will not let them ruin my daughter’s life too."

I can’t hold my tears anymore; they fall freely from my eyes. I never saw my mother acting like this. I'm not sure how a mother shows her love and concern for her child, but that's what I'm seeing on her right now. The emotions that I've been waiting for a very long time. The eyes that glare at me every single time that we bump into each other are all gone now.

She also looks scared. But why? Is there anything serious about Ria and Travis that makes her scared of them?

I want to feel her hugs again and tell her that everything will be alright, even though I don’t know why she’s acting like this right now. I am more than willing to obey her if that will make me closer to her. I will always choose her over anyone else. It will hurt me as well. I would rather choose my mother over them.

"Alexa?"

I survived without them, and I can’t lose my mother when I’m only having her right now. I will not lose this chance to learn how to be her daughter, how to have a mother, and how to have a family.

"Y-yes…" I watched as her lips formed a smile; it was the first time I had seen her smile. I was used to seeing her with a scoff on her face. "I will stay away from them, mother." It breaks my heart to say those words, but I don’t want to lose this chance.

"Thank you," she pulls me in and embraces me once more. She keeps on thanking me while caressing my hair.

When the door opened and my aunt was revealed, we parted ways in an embrace. She clearly seems shocked. Her mouth droops a little. She even rubs her eyes to see if she's dreaming.

"Whoa…What’s going on?" she exclaimed.