Priceless

~~~

Time flew by fast. It seemed like yesterday, the year had just begun, and now we were five days before Christmas, the most awaited holiday of the year as I’ve been told.

I was done already with my Christmas shopping; I had gone to the mall with Erin on the first weekend of December, and she helped me pick out gifts for everybody, especially the people from The Summer Set since I didn’t know what they wanted.

It still bummed me that I didn’t get to say my personal goodbyes to them when they left for a short tour again that last day of November. I was busy doing school stuff, so I just sent my goodbyes through a phone call from John. Part of me was sad; but the other part was thankful because I didn’t see Stephen. Not being with him made me feel less guilty about the whole, as Tasha put it, torn-between-two-lovers situation; but I knew I needed to get my shit straight soon. There was still Alex and I hadn’t gotten rid of these Stephen feelings yet, but really I was working on it. I lessened the phone calls and texts with him, in hopes of freeing myself from the feelings he gave me. I had to do it, otherwise, this mess would just be bigger and bigger and I would fall even deeper into the pit of confusion my heart was making.

School officially ended today, and there was a ruckus inside the campus; people kept hooting and cheering and going wild as if it was summer. They were all happy to be freed from the stress school was bringing, and as much as I was happy as well, I didn’t want to yell it out like what they were doing.

I was surprised when I walked out of the campus and saw no one waiting for me. I was already expecting that my father’s driver would already be there, ready to pick me up, but he wasn’t. I stood there and pulled out my phone, and texted my parents to inform them of that. When after five minutes, I didn’t receive a text from either of them, I decided to call the household.

Hi, you have reached the Fitzgeralds’ residence. No one is around right now, so you might just want to leave a message. Thank you, the programmed voice said, and I furrowed my eyebrows in wonder. Mary or any other helper could have answered that, but neither did. I suddenly felt all panicky, imagining all sorts of negative things in my head. What if someone broke into our house and...

I shook my head, not wanting to think anymore. I decided to just call Erin and see if I could hitch a ride home from her. But she wasn’t picking up either; I had reached her voicemail and left several messages, but she wasn’t calling back.

I was about to dial the number to the Nickelsens’ household, when all of a sudden, a car pulled over in front of me. The windows rolled down and Justine’s friendly face greeted me.

“Hey, Bails, need a ride?” she asked with a smile.

I smiled sheepishly. “If it isn’t any trouble?” I asked.

“No problem. Just get in the backseat, Amy’s with me,” she said. I gave her a thankful smile as I made my way to the backseat. As we began to drive away, I couldn’t help but feel fidgety. I just felt like something bad was bound to happen and I didn’t know what it was.

The whole ride was filled with conversations about our classes, but it didn’t fully disconnect me from my troubled thoughts. When we finally reached the Fitzgeralds’, I was surprised to see that all of our helpers were outside the house, in a big circle talking. I was confused as I quickly thanked Justine and Amy, and got off the car. When they drove away, I walked inside, ready to know what was happening.

“What’s going on?” I asked. Some of them jumped at the tone of my voice, and some looked sheepish.

“Um...” the gardener, Peter, started, “your parents, Miss Bailey...”

“I think it would be best if you just enter the house and find out, Miss Bailey,” Mary put in.

I didn’t bother wasting another second there. I immediately walked to the house and opened the door, only to hear a crashing sound as soon as I stepped in.

“You said it was over! You said it was over and I believed you!”

It pained me hearing that voice. It was the voice of my mom I had heard 8 years ago, one I’d hoped I’d never have to hear ever again. That voice killed me, and combined with those words, just made me want to burst out crying.

“Sofie, just hear me out—”

“No!” There was another crashing sound and I realized my mom was throwing things. I started to walk towards the living room and there I found them. Mom had tears in her eyes; her mascara was completely ruined and washed off, and her hair was a mess. She had in her hand a vase, and it looked like she was ready to throw them towards the man a few feet before her, who was my father. He was trying to approach her, but he couldn’t for she was armed. There were several shattered pieces of glass on the floor and I’d assumed it was from the crashing I’d heard earlier.

I had witnessed a scene similar to this one 8 years ago; I just never thought it would happen again.

“Stay away from me,” Mom warned as my father took one step towards her. That was when I decided to take action. I walked quickly to my mom, and this took both their attention.

“Bailey—” my father started, but I wasn’t about to listen to him.

“Mom, do you want to leave?” I asked as I finally reached my mother. I wrapped my arms around her and she looked at me sadly.

“Bailey,” she said in a broken voice. “Sweetheart...”

“Bailey, I—”

“Just leave, Dad. Please, leave for now,” I said, my voice full of conviction. I didn’t want to hear from him right now because I already had a clue as to what he had done. I didn’t want to see him for a long time, that much I knew. “It’s what you should do for now.”

I heard him sigh but for a minute he just stood there, until he finally retracted and left. When he was finally out of sight, my weeping mother slowly let go of the vase. It made a crashing sound as it hit the ground, but to me my mom’s cries were still louder.

“Sweetie...” she cried.

“It’s going to be okay, Mom,” I soothed, though I didn’t know if it was going to be okay. I held her tighter as a few tears made their way to my eyes. “We’re going to be okay.”

~~~