Facade

Chapter 12

    Seeing Alex became a regular routine. We saw each other often and we had covered most of the town, spotting new places every day. As we did this we got to know each other better and slowly, Alex was becoming someone I considered my friend. That was a first and I knew Alex was worthy of being my first.

    The reason we were able to go out more was because Mother constantly had errands to run. Out of nowhere she'd pop into my room and tell me, and then she'd leave an hour later. I would leave an hour after that and enjoy my time outside, but the amount of errands she ran began to strike my curiosity. Mother used to have errands once a month, but these days she had errands a few times a week. She never told me where she went, so as I made a bun with my hair I wondered about her.

    Suddenly, I heard a knock on the door. Turning around from where I sat in front of my mirror, I had a feeling it was my mother.

    "Yes? Come in," I said, staring at the door.

    The door opened and Mother stepped in, looking as confident as ever. She held her head up high and her black dress looked lovely on her figure, but her eyes still expressed the permanent exhaustion she had.

    "Diana, hello dear," she said, walking closer to me. "I'm happy to see you're not looking homeless."

    "Thank you," I simply said, not knowing what else to say.

    "I have an errand today." She suddenly grew serious. "I'll be leaving in an hour or so, and I won't be back until much later."

    I tried to hide my surprise. Just yesterday she had went on an errand and she had been gone for most of the day. Mother never told me where she went, so I was incredibly curious.

    "Mother, what do you do on these errands?" I asked.

    "I do jobs for our castle," Mother replied, her face betraying no emotion. "There's a lot to do for this castle."

    "Like?"

    "Stuff."

    Mother eyes hardened and I knew once again, I was testing a lioness. The lioness wasn't very patient and was prone to roaring, but still I wanted to poke it. I wanted answers so I pushed stupidly.

    "What is this stuff you speak of?" I asked, hoping she'd tell me.

    I shouldn't have hoped because anger suddenly contorted Mother's features. Her eyes went cold and I gulped, realizing my mistake.

    "That is none of your business!" she snapped, causing me to flinch at her sharp tone. "Diana, stop acting so childish!"

    "I just want to know where you go. It's because I care..." I mumbled, offended.

    "Shut up," she sneered. "Stop thinking you know everything when you don't."

    Once again, I didn't know what she meant by that, but her words still hurt. They hurt and I didn't understand why Mother was so cruel. Father had never been like that, yet Mother lived off of making me feel horrible.

    Suddenly, I stood up. I had done everything I could to make my mother happy and yet she was never happy with me. All she ever did was tear me down and I was tired of it.