Let My Heart Rest In Pieces

Let My Heart Rest In Pieces 045

Mother And Daughter

"You know, a good teacher would give their pupil a break every now and then," I grumbled to Mr. Smith when he asked me to sing my final song once again. And by again, I meant for the sixth time.

The man's blue eyes rolled over to my form, and you could tell with just a glance at his face that he didn't really care about the complaint I had just made. "But a great teacher doesn't, especially if the pupil wants to win."

I pouted, folding my arms over my chest and glaring at my teacher. "You're going to make me sing myself hoarse and I won't be able to compete at all."

"Fine, we're done for the day then. As long as it will get you to shut up."

I grinned in my victory, jumping up and grabbing my stuff. Before I left the room, I walked up to the man and gave him a hug. He wasn't expecting this, and didn't have time to hug back before I let go. "Thanks for the help!" I yelled, rushing out the door towards freedom.

It was already three o'clock, which would give me a good amount of time to walk home, freshen up, then head off to work. Never enough rest for me. How the hell did I find time to do my homework?

On my way out of the school, I saw and heard a familiar blond walking down the hallway. A smile lit up my face and I hurried towards the woman, who seemed like she was having trouble holding all the things in her arms. I took the bag that was about to fall out of her hand, catching it before all the contents inside spilled on the floor.

"Thank you," she said, turning to me.

"Not a problem," I replied, "Need me to carry anything else?"

"I think this will do. What are you still doing here this late in the afternoon?"

I hugged the bag to my chest, walking in step with her as we continued our stroll. "I was with Mr. Smith, my Chorus teacher. He's helping to prepare me for the final round of the competition."

"Ah, yes, I have seen Mr. Smith around school," she giggled, making my smile wider, "He's quite the cute one if I do say so."

"Does Ms. Den have a crush on Mr. Smith!?" I gasped, faking shock. She laughed, the bell like sound bouncing off of the walls.

"Yes, that's exactly it Envy. He and I have a thing going on, but you have to promise not to tell anyone."

I snorted, trying to hide my laughter. We came closer and closer to her car when I gave me reply. "I promise not to tell anyone Mom."

Both of us stopped walking, frozen in place by what I had just said. I opened my mouth to say something, but closed it once I realized nothing was going to come out. I could feel my entire face heating up in embarrassment, and I wanted to run away, but I stood my ground. I would have seemed brave if I wasn't avoiding looking at the woman by my side.

"I, uh, well-"

Ms. Den set the things she had in her hands on her car then took the bag in my arms and did the same thing. The woman then turned to me, her eyes giving nothing away.

"I'm sorry, I don't even know why I said that. It just slipped out for some reason. I guess hanging out with you reminded me of spending time with..."

"Your mother," she said softly.

I nodded softly, turning away from her and sniffling. It was strange how this sudden sadness had hit me after I had learned to control and suppress it after all these years.

"You miss her, don't you?"

I let out a shaky sigh before nodding my head. "I've lived without her for so long, and then you come around and it feels like having a mom again. It felt really good, but it also makes me think of how empty my life is without her. I love my Dad, but sometimes it never feels like enough."

The blond woman stepped closer to me, laying a hand on my face and stroking my cheek. "And for the short time we have been bonding, I have thought of you as my own daughter. I will never have a child of my own, but you are the closest thing to one. I like the feeling of having one of my own to look after."

I saw tears start to fill her eyes, but she shook her head, starting to regain her composure. "Sometimes I wonder if it was a good idea to keep myself from the people I loved. Would it have been better to love the family I would have had rather than want a family that I don't?"

~~~~~

"How hard is it to put Cd's back the way that they were before?" I grumbled to myself, taking out things that didn't belong and putting them back in their places. This happened quite often, and was becoming annoying quickly.

"If you keep talking to yourself, people are going to think you're crazy," a masculine voice told me. I glanced over my shoulder to see Jeremy standing there, leaning against the wall.

"Well, people already think I'm crazy, so there's no point in stopping now."

He laughed softly, coming over to me and giving me a greeting hug. "What are you doing here? I thought you were going to ignore me since I humiliated you in front of your mom."

"Wow, that's a nice way to greet your friend. Maybe I should just leave now."

"Aw, no, don't leave."

"Hey V, got all those Cd's put back yet?" Scott teased, coming up to me.

"Um, yes?" I lied, hiding the plastic cases behind my back.

"Yeah, because I totally believe you. Hi, I'm Scott," the false red head said, turning to Jeremy.

"Hi, I'm Jeremy."

"Scott! Stop talking to the customers and get back to work!" Bob yelled from the other side of the room, putting his employee back in line before turning to an angry customer. Jeremy and I laughed at the look on Scott's face.

"But-but, it was Envy!" he whined, although our boss wasn't paying attention anymore.

"So not fair."

"Just go help Jeremy with whatever he wants help with while I do this."

The two boys went off together, to do what, I wasn't sure, but I continued putting Cd's away until the large stack was done. Ray skipped over to me, a smile on his face. "Wanna come to band practice after your shift is over?"

"Do you guys have some new songs?"

"Yeah! And we even fixed up some of the old ones."

"I'd love to come," I said, quickly glancing over at my friends, who seemed to be getting along well.

"I saw Frankie's new guitar yesterday. You bought it for him?"

"Mhm, for a birthday gift."

"That was really nice of you. I'm pretty sure he sleeps with the thing now."

"Haha, that's not creepy," I told him as we both walked into the back. I put all my stuff where it was supposed to go and grabbed my stuff.

"Just let me tell my friend where I'm going and we'll be all set."

I ran into the main room quickly, spotting Jeremy with Scott and Lisa. They all laughed at something while I walked up to them and I tapped the teenager on the shoulder. He looked at me and smiled.

"Making some new friends?"

"I believe I am. Me and Scott have a lot in common and Lisa, well, she's pretty hot."

I gagged at that comment while he slapped my arm. "Well, you have fun with the two, my shift is over and Ray and I are going to head out. See you tomorrow in English. Don't forget to bring the project stuff."

"Will do."

"Come on Envy!"

"I'm coming!"

~~~~~

"Liking the new guitar?" I asked Frank when I walked down into the basement of Sugar Ray's house. He looked up at me, his smirk lighting up his face.

"It's amazing. I really can't thank you enough for doing this for me."

"Just show me that my money was put to good use. And you won't be thanking me later in life when I get fifteen percent of all your money."

"Let's get this practice started," Matt said rudely, sitting behind his drums and making sure everything worked.

I narrowed my eyes at him, but walked over to the ugly couch they had and sat down. The band started to tune, making sure that everything was in check before we started.

"Alright all you fans," Gerard said, as if he was talking to more people than me. I giggled at this. "This is Demolition Lovers."

"Hand in mine, into your icy blues
And then I'd say to you we could take to the highway
With this trunk of ammunition too
I'd end my days with you in a hail of bullets

I'm trying, I'm trying
To let you know just how much you mean to me
And after all the things we put each other through and

I would drive on to the end with you
A liquor store or two keeps the gas tank full
And I feel like there's nothing left to do
But prove myself to you and we'll keep it running

But this time, I mean it
I'll let you know just how much you mean to me
As snow falls on desert sky
Until the end of everything

I'm trying, I'm trying
To let you know how much you mean
As days fade, and nights grow
And we go cold

Until the end, until this pool of blood
Until this, I mean this, I mean this
Until the end of...

I'm trying, I'm trying
To let you know how much you mean
As days fade, and nights grow
And we go cold

But this time, we'll show them
We'll show them all how much we mean
As snow falls on desert sky
Until the end of every...

All we are, all we are
Is bullets I mean this

All we are, all we are
Is bullets I mean this

All we are, all we are
Is bullets I mean this

All we are, all we are
Is bullets I mean this"

After that was sung, there was a long musical part, in which everyone who was playing instruments were so into what they were doing, they didn't care about anything else that was going on. Sweat was starting to form on all of their brows, but they didn't have time to wipe it away. I smiled at them all, because they really were good.

"As lead rains, will pass on through our phantoms
Forever, forever
Like scarecrows that fuel this flame we're burning
Forever, and ever
Know how much I want to show you you're the only one
Like a bed of roses there's a dozen reasons in this gun

And as we're falling down, and in this pool of blood
And as we're touching hands, and as we're falling down
And in this pool of blood, and as we're falling down
I'll see your eyes, and in this pool of blood
I'll meet your eyes, I mean this forever"

The music faded away slowly, the last beat of the song reverberating off the walls, sending a pleased shiver through my body. After a minute or so, they all seemed to remember that I was there, and five pairs of eyes were on me.

"Well?" Mikey asked.

My face grew excited as I smiled and yelled out, "That was amazing! Say hello to your first groupie!"