I Slapped Mr. Popular

38

About two hours later, I find myself out of tears and out of words. The entire time I was telling Mom about what happened, she listened carefully. Now, she rubs my back. After a few minutes of silence, she asks, "Do you still love him?"

I take a sip of my tea then shrug. "I don't know anymore, if I'm being honest. What he did was unforgivable."

"But you forgave Jared," Mom points out.

"That was different. Jared wasn't dating me because of a dare."

She sighs, "No, but it was just as bad."

I groan, realizing she's right. "I'm just so tired of getting my heart broken."

"Honey, you're going to get hurt. That's life."

I nod, and that's when the door opens. "Mom?" the twins call in unison.

"In here, boys," Mom says, getting up from her stool.

Nathan and Nick hurry into the kitchen and envelope Mom into a hug. Nathan starts to cry, and it makes me want to cry. But I can't. I spent two hours crying. The twins release her, and Mom fixes her t-shirt. It is so nice to see Mom in her usual clothes instead of her uniform. It makes me feel that she isn't leaving again.

"Where's your friends at? I thought they would be here," Nick questions.

I groan, realizing that I forgot to tell Emma, Marcus, and Xavier. I grab the home phone and dial Emma's number. "Hey," Emma says.

"Hey, I'm sorry," I reply.

"It's fine. I understand why you were the way you were."

"And Mom's home," I tell her, smiling.

She squeals, "I'll be there in ten!"

The line goes dead, and I look at Mom. "They'll be here in ten."
××××××
All of us sit in the living room, watching The Walking Dead. Emma and Marcus sit on the floor in front of me, and Xavier sits beside me. Mom, Nathan, Nick, and Kyle sit on the other side of our couch with a bowl of caramel popcorn. I smile. It feels like old times when we would watch Spongebob all the time.

Xavier nudges me, and I look at him. "You okay?" he asks.

I nod. "Yeah," I say.

"I mean about everything that has happened with you know who," Xavier replies.

I shrug. "I'll get over it," I tell him.

He shakes his head and gets up. I decide to follow him. Xavier looks at me as he opens the fridge, getting a root beer. He pops it open, and he sighs, "What he did was terrible, but I-"

"Told you so," I finish.

He shakes his head. "No, I was going to say that I know you love him." I stare at him, waiting for him to continue. He takes a sip of his drink then continues. "You fell for him, and I can't get in the way of that. So, I'm going to be here for you, and I won't try to sabotage whatever you do to get back with him."

"Who says I'm getting back with him?" I reply.

He chuckles, "It just happened Saturday, Braelyn. Give it time. You will want to get back with him, and I don't blame you. He loves you."

"Did you realize that when you were beating his face in?" I laugh softly.

He nods, surprising me. "Yeah, I did. He didn't fight back. How'd you know that I fought him?"

"I saw his face, and I heard the rumors."

Xavier runs a hand through his hair. "Yeah, I was pretty mad about that."

"Mad that you were right about him?"

He meets my eyes. "Yeah, actually. I just want you to be happy, Braelyn," he says.

I lean against the counter. "I will be one day. I just need to figure out what I'm doing wrong with boys."

"You're not doing anything wrong. You just have a bad habit of attracting jerks," he replies.

I nod. "Well, we better get back before everyone wonders where we are."

We make our way back into the living room, but no one gives us weird looks or anything. I don't think they realized we were gone.
××××××
Later that night Emma, Marcus, Xavier, and I bunk in the living room instead of my room. We all sit in silence for a while before Emma speaks up. "It's good to have Mom back."

"Yeah, it is," I reply.

"It's like she never left, if I'm being honest," Marcus says.

Emma laughs, "Yeah, I agree. She's still the same pers-"

Screams cut her off, and we all hurry upstairs. I open my mom's door, and I see her thrashing around in the moonlight. I run over to her, and I turn on the lamp. "Mom!" I exclaim, grabbing her hand.

She keeps thrashing, and the twins and Kyle hurry into the room and rushes toward the bed. It takes a few minutes, but she finally calms down. I look at Kyle, but he wouldn't meet my eyes. "Kyle, what just happened?" I ask.

"Just go back to bed, Braelyn."

"No, what just happened?" I hiss.

"I said to go back to bed," Kyle says firmly.

I stand there for a moment before turning around and walking downstairs. Emma, Marcus, and Xavier follow, and when we get down stairs, Xavier says, "PTSD."

I stop and face him. "What?"

"She may have PTSD," Xavier says.

"Let's not talk about this. Let's just go to bed," Emma says, laying a hand on my shoulder.

We all get settled back into our spots, but none of could go to sleep. Thoughts swim through my head, and I can't seem to close my eyes. First day back, and Mom has scared me half to death.

Maybe she does have PTSD.