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It was only 10 AM and my feet were already stepped on the Washington Dulles airport. Right after the party was over last night, I rejected Parker’s invitation to stay over his place and just went right home, even turning down Erica’s invitation. He knew that I was going home to Virginia for the whole holiday season and he failed to persuade me to come with him to Canada. It wasn’t that much of a big deal to me because we were just made it official, but it seems like a big deal to him.

When I was waiting in line for the X-ray scanner, my phone rang in my bag. The other people that were in line seemed a bit disturbed by my escalating ring tone but I ignored them and picked it up. It was from an unknown number but from the code, I could guess it was from Maine. “Hello?”

“Is this miss Turner?”, a woman asked in the other line. I furrowed my brows and decided to get out from the line first to get this call.

“Yes, this is Dareen Turner. Who am I speaking to?”, I asked back when I reached one of the empty seat that was scattered around.

“Yes, I’m a nurse from Maine general hospital. I want to inform you about your mother, Abigail Turner.”

My back stiffened and my jaw tightened. What could possibly happen to mom? She was supposed to be at home, packing and taking care of Blizzard, her new Siberian husky for the flight. “W-What happened?”

The nurse paused a bit before I could hear her sigh. “Miss Turner, we are very sorry.”, she started. “Your mother had a heart attack and was found by her neighbor, unconscious on her kitchen’s floor. We checked her body and found out that she had been unconscious for almost a day and a half. I called you to tell you with a heavy heart that she couldn’t be saved. I’m very sorry, miss Turner.”

By that, my whole world broke down; I broke down. Tears quickly burst from my eyes and I sobbed so hard and loud until I got attention from the people around me. I didn’t care if a fan of the show was here or someone noticed me, I just wanted to cry. The nurse stayed with me in the line, soothing me with words and saying she was sorry a million times, but that wouldn’t bring my mom back to life.

She told me that my mom’s body would be kept in the hospital until I got there to arrange a funeral and I told her that I would be there as soon as possible. I ended the phone call and just slumped back on the seat, crying my eyes out. My hand was covering my mouth and I bit my palm so hard until blood drawn out.

The last time I talked to my mom was two weeks ago, telling her about my flight and I booked her a ticket and a cargo for Blizzard. We even talked about how we would spend our holidays in Virginia. She even told me to make up with Cameron while we’d be there. Her voice played back in my mind and how she said she loved me with all her heart and she couldn’t wait to see me, and I did say that too.

It had been two years since the last time we met in person. When I was still Virginia, I was so busy working for Arletta and she was up in Maine, living her happy and single life. She asked me to visit her a couple times but I turned them down, saying I was busy with everything that now seems like a show of bullshit.

My phone rang again and I looked at it before realizing it was from Amy. Without any hesitation, I picked it up and I could hear Feranix, David and Eric in the background. “Hey girlie! We’re on our way to pick you up. Are you out yet?”

My eyes started to glisten and my vision started to blur out again by the tears. “I-I… Amy, I…”

“Dare, are you okay?”, Amy asked with a bit suspicion in her tone. She got me right.

Then, I cried again and I sobbed right on the phone. “I’m sorry, Amy.”, I hiccupped. “I have to go to Maine first. My mom…”

“What happened to your mom?”

“She…”, I trailed off. The word sounded bitter and hard to say on my tongue. “She died.”

Cameron

When David and Eric convinced me to come with them and the girls to the airport to pick Dareen up, it was a bit of a bold decision. I didn’t know what I would say or do when I meet her, let alone to say hi. The drive to the airport took almost 2 and a half hour, so I had plenty of time to arrange my sentences.

We were only a couple miles away from the airport when Amy called Dareen to check up on her. All of them told me to shut up so she wouldn’t be freaked out by me, tagging along. Amy put the phone on speaker and I even held my breath when she answered.

“Hey girlie! We’re on our way to pick you up. Are you out yet?”, Amy blurted out before Dareen could even say hello.

On the other line, we could hear some sobbing that was coming from none other than Dareen herself. I was about to say something when David, who was sitting next to me, put his hand over my mouth. “Don’t you dare to make a sound!”, he whispered and I just glared at him until he put his hand away.

“Dare, are you okay?”, Amy asked carefully. All of us waited for Dareen’s answer and I was so impatient to hear it. If this had anything to do with that guy she worked with, I would be flying to L.A. personally to beat the living shit out of him.

Dareen sobbed some more and it was harder than before. “I’m sorry, Amy.”, she hiccupped between her sobs. “I have to go to Maine first. My mom…”

All I knew about her mom was she lived in Maine because of their family problems and let Dareen to live alone in Virginia ever since college. I met her a lot back in high school when Dareen and I would come to her place to do a project together. “What happened to your mom?”, Amy’s voice snapped me out from my thoughts.

We stayed quiet and our faces turned a bit pale. Mine would be the palest, I think. “She…”, Dareen trailed off. I just wished she would get to the point but considering her crying her eyes out now, it would be hard. “She died.”

I felt like my throat got tied and strangled so no air could get into my lungs. The girl that I loved was crying her eyes out alone because her only family left just died. If we made up a month and a half ago, I would be there for her when this happened. I felt like I could jump out from the car and just let myself got hit by another car.

“Dareen, I’m sorry.”, Amy said softly. “What are you planning to do?”

“I have to go to Maine to take care of her funeral, but after that, I’ll go straight to Virginia. I need to spend time with you guys, away from the never ending fake parade.”, she chuckled bitterly at her own dark joke. “I have to go now. I’ll call you later.”

Before any of us could say anything else, she hung up. The cheerful air turned into gloomy in a matter of second. No one had something to say. All of us just kept quiet and thought about our friend’s loss. “We have to do something.”, Feranix started.

David nodded next to me. “We have to help her. She’s alone.”

“What are we going to do?”, Amy decided to pull over for a bit at the high way. It was the best thing to do.

I turned my brain over and out to try to think of something. There wasn’t much we could do if we stayed in Virginia and Dareen would be over at Maine. “We have to go with her.”

All of their eyes were on me, especially from the girls. “We have to go with Dareen to Maine.”

“How?”, Eric asked. Good thing none of them asked about how Dareen would react to my presence.

“Come on, get your credit cards out.”