Strangers When We Meet

I walked into my house in the early hours of the morning, car keys in hand. I was hoping everyone was asleep and I could sneak up to my room, and delay the hell I was going to get from mom. The house was quiet. Or so I thought. But as soon as my foot touched the first step, heading to my room, the quiet was broken.

“Where have you been?!” My mothers angry voice boomed above me.

I looked up to see her standing in sweatpants, and a wrinkled t-shirt. She had bags under her eyes, and her hair was a mess. Andrew ran behind her as she stormed down the stairs. I saw the fury in her eyes. I had screwed up one to many times.

“Mom, I'm sorry.”

“Sorry? I thought something had happened to you. You're car was gone, you hadn't come home. I called you over and over and over. No answer. So I called the police. Until I found out the your two best friends were also gone. So where in hell were you?” she had gotten closer to me with every word. My back hit the front door. “Answer me.”

“I went to a concert. My phone was dead.”

“A concert?” she said, disbelief in her voice. “A concert? And you're only getting home now... because?”

I didn't answer. I couldn't tell her I was in California. I 'd be a dead girl. I felt pissed off now. I shouldn't be, I know. I should understand my moms reaction, I expected it, hell, I deserved it, but I still was pissed.

More yelled followed, from both of us, with Andrew trying his hand at being fatherly. I didn't even respond to the words he was saying.

“You promised me you would try to be better. And all you seemed inclined to do is disobey me. Give me the car keys, and your phone. And, and, and” she stammered, “You are not coming out of this house for a very long time. You are not hanging out with Junipher or Frankie.” There were tears in her eyes. “Hand it over now, Brie.”

I thrust my belongs at my mom. She looked down at my tee shirt. Her eyes widened.

“Oh, I see. Happy now. Met your idols, have you? Give me the shirt.”

What? “Mom!”

She shook her head. Andrew grabbed her shoulders. “Catherine. Enough.” He spoke in a calm tone.

I wiped a hand under my eyes. I was not crying. I was not.

“Upstairs. Stay in that room until I tell you to come out. Got it.” I said nothing, moving towards the stairs. “Are we clear?”

“Crystal.” I muttered.

She wrapped her arms around herself at the exact same time I did the same thing. “Well discuss your punishment later.”

”Can't wait.” I said, running up the stairs.

I knew I was not going to have any freedom for a very long time. But a part of me didn't care. The other parts of me were in rage. She seemed more upset when she saw my shirt. She knew I had met some people form her past. She had stopped talking to Jared and Shannon and I had sought them out. In her eyes they were the enemy.

Entering my room I realized something was wrong. My walls, which had held posters and pictures of my favorite bands, were bare. My TV was gone, my i-Pod, my CDs and the pictures I had stashed. All gone.

If I wasn't pissed before I was surely pissed now. I put my head in a pillow and screamed. How could she do this to me? She took all my things. You did just leave the state without telling her the reasonable voice in my head said. Shut up, stupid reason.

I had nothing, save for my shirt. I was glad June and Frankie had taken pictures because I was sure the ones on my phone were being deleted right now. I got up from the bed, and slipped my autographed tee over my head, smiling down at the three men whom I admired. Their names were on the back, except for Shannon's, which was on the right sleeve. I ran a hand over all three and I folded it up neatly, then hid it in a shoebox in the closet, hoping she wouldn't find it and burn it.

I went to find a shirt to change into when my door burst open. I froze, then was ready to shout something about privacy, realized it was futile and just grabbed a shirt. But mom stopped me.

“Why am I not surprised?”

“What?”

“What is this?” she poked my ribs, where my tattoo was. “Some kind of gang thing?” She stared hard a the four symbols, her head shaking. I had forgot all about them, this was the first time she was seeing them.

I snatched out of her grip, and tossed a shirt on, hiding the tattoo. “No, it isn't a gang thing. You think I'm in a gang?” I said in disbelieve. Was she serious?

“I don't know what to think anymore. I can't do this right now.” she said, throwing her hands up. “You... What am I going to do with you, Brie?”

Then she left the room, not bothering to shut the door. This just kept getting better and better.

I sat down hard at the foot of the bed and sighed. I truly hated my life sometimes.



I wiped the sweat from my forehead as I pulled up to my house. I had just gotten off work, a summer job at an animal shelter, and the AC in my car was on the fritz. There was an unfamiliar car parked in the driveway, behind my moms car. It looked like a rental.

I wondered why my mom was home. She should have still been at work. It was only Thursday. I wondered who was here. I really hoped it wasn't a surprise visit from my aunt Heather and her kids. Not that I didn't love them, I just like to be forewarned before they showed up. They were a pain.

My phone vibrate, a text from Oli, asking if we were still hang out tonight. I smiled.

We were supposed to go and see that new Bradley Cooper action movie and grab a bite to eat afterward. I was looking forward to it.

Oh, it wasn't a date, or anything. I still had a crush on him, but nothing was ever going to happen. At least not while I was still in high school. It really wasn't a date, a group of us were going.

Since the end of the school year Oliver and a few of his friends had been hanging out with Frankie, June and I. They were all Oli's around age, college students, but they didn't seem to mind being around us, even June, who belly was really showing now. She and Craig had broken up last week so we had been doing what we could to make her feel better. So a movie and a huge dinner would do nicely.

I send Oli a text saying, yes and got a smiley face in returned. Silly, but my heart fluttered all the same. Grinning from ear to ear, I grabbed my bag and headed inside, not knowing what to expect.

“Mom?” I said as I shut the front door.

Mom came quickly from the living room, she looked surprised to see me. I hung my bag up, but waited by the door, sighing as the cool air hit me. Heaven.

“What are you doing here?” she said, her voice soft, with a lot of emotion.

“I live here. Remember.”

“I thought you were working until six.” she sounded nervous.

Since last spring, my relationship with mom had been a bit strained. I was on lockdown practically until school had ended. I got my things back a few weeks into the punishment, and was allowed to leave for a few hours on the weekend. I hadn't gotten in any trouble, and mom eventually let Frankie and June come back over. She was happy I had gotten a job, saying it would occupy my time better. It did. And things were better. She was still mad about the tattoo, but what could she do about it now?

“I got off early. What's wrong? Why are you home?” She didn't answer, just looked worried .Her eyes were a little red and she was blocking the way into the living room with her body. “What's going on? Who's here?”

“Brie. I'm fine.”

“No you're not. You've been crying. Who's here?” I swept past her, and went into the living room, only to stop dead in my tracks.

Sitting on the sofa, wearing a distressed denim jacket and skinny jeans was none other than Jared Leto. He looked over to me and stood. “Hello, Brie. Nice to see you again.”

Mom came up behind me, looking nervous as hell. “Mom, what's going on?” I knew what I was seeing, it just wasn't making sense in my mind.

“Brie. I... I...” my mom stammered, but my eyes were only on Jared.

“Jared Leto is in my living room.”

He gave me a brief but soft smile. But as I looked at him I saw pain in his eyes. He too looked nervous, and his eyes were a bit red as well. I finally drew my gaze away from Jared to my mom. She stood slightly behind me, nervously ringing her hands.

“Sit down, honey.”

“Mom.”

“Sit down.” she said more firmly. She looked at Jared, too quick to decipher her expression. I sat in one of the armchair next to the sofa, mom sat in the other one, facing me.

No one spoke.

I suddenly started feeling nervous. It wasn't everyday that a rock star sat in my living room. But Jared looked less like a rock star now. And even though we had met before and he was mom's old friend, he was essentially a stranger to me.

“So. You two have been talking, I take it.” I said. “That's good right?”

“Yeah, I suppose.” Jared said. “How have you been?”

I wasn't expecting him to ask that, and it took me a moment to answer. “Good. You?”

“Okay, I guess.”

More silence.

“Uh, not that I don't want you here, but why are you at my house, Jared? What's this all about?”

Jared opened his mouth to speak, but mom stopped him with a look. Jared looked less than happy about it, but said nothing.

“Brie. Would you mind going upstairs for a while. I need to finish talking to Jared. In private.”

I made no move to get up. Mom gave me a scornful look.

“Just let me tell her, Kate.” Jared said.

“She's my daughter, Jared. You don't get a say.”

The look he gave my mother was icy cold. “Oh, I don't. The hell I don't. You took that away from me.”

“Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on?” I said loudly, followed by a soft, “Please.”

Mom was on the brink of tears, and at that Jared's hard expression softened a degree.

“I have to tell you something.” Mom said, her voice cracking. She cleared her throat. “I want you to actually listen. I know you're going to be upset with me. I know how you will react, but please, Brie. Just listen.”

She paused, looked at Jared for a brief second, more tears swam to her eyes. I didn't look at anyone but my mom. I had a strange feeling in my gut. I thought I was going to be sick. A thought had popped into my head. My mind was going down a path I didn't want to take. I stopped it before it reached the end of that thought. It was too much.

The thought sprang up again as I looked between the two of them.

No. No. No. I was not going there.

“Mom? Just tell me.”

But it was Jared who said, “Brie, I'm your dad.”

I was in shook. That's what this feeling was. My body had stopped moving. All I could do was stare.

“You wanted to meet your father.” Mom shut her eyes and tilted her head towards the man on the couch. “Well here he is.”

No. This wasn't real. This is where my mind wanted to take me. This was not real. How could she say that? They were lying.

But the look on the man's face told me it was the truth.

I stood up so quickly my head spun. I don't remember my body doing it, but I was standing, staring at my mom, and... and...

“This is a joke, right?”

“Brie.” Jared said, his voice was heavy. He looked a sad, his eyes were redder than before. “Sit, please.”

“Don't.” I said, pointing my finger at him. “You can't be my dad.”

He nodded. “Apparently I am.”

“No.” I shook my head, hoping those stupid tears that were not in my eyes wouldn't fall. I would not cry. I looked at my mom again. She seemed a bit more composed.

“This isn't fucking happening.”

“Brie! Language.”

“No, Kate, it's OK.” Jared said, his eyes on my face, studying my expression. “Let her say what she feels. Let her be honest, be real.” he snarled. “She seems to have gotten that from me.” Every word he said was dripping with acid. My mom seemed to recoil from each one. “Let it out.”

My head was still spinning. “How could you? How could you keep this from me?”

My mother said, “I did it to protect you.”

“To protect me? To protect me from what? You mean to protect yourself. You lied. You lied to me.” I accused. “All these years. Lie after lie, after lie.” I hissed. “You told me my father's name was Leonard. Not Jared.”

“I'm sorry.”

“Really? Really? I don't think you are. And you.” I pointed again at Jared who was now standing too. “You could have said something.”

“I didn't know.” he claimed.

“Like hell, you didn't”

“I swear, Brie. I didn't know. I only just found out.”

“You saw me as a child. You could have put two and two together then. After all you fucked each other, didn't you.”

Mom was shaking, sobbing.

“I didn't know you were my child. The math was off.” He was raising his voice, matching my tone. The louder I got, the louder he got. “I thought you were younger.”

“Sure. Right. Or you were just as selfish as her? She said my father wasn't a good man. Maybe she was right.”

“Is that right, Kate? I'm not a good man.”

Mom didn't even look up. “Jared, don't start.”

“Why not, Kate? Why not? Now is as good a time as any. What else did you say to poison her mind against me?”

She looked up then. “Poison? Aren't you being a bit dramatic, Jared?”

“I'm not the one who's lied to our daughter for seventeen years.”

“Our daughter? You do not get to claim her. You have not earned that right.”
I didn't want to hear this. I pushed past him and past mom. I had to get out of here.

“Brie.” Mom yelled, jumping up to follow me. Jared stayed behind. “This isn't how I wanted you to find out.”

I turned around to face her. “You didn't want me to find out at all.” I grabbed my bag. “I hate you. I will not forgive you for this. Never.” I opened the door and walked quickly to my car.

I was so shaky that I couldn't get the key in the ignition. I screamed and hit the steering wheel with the palms of my hands, then my fist.

Tears fell, and mom tried futilely to get my car door to open. I ignored her. I ignored Jared who stood in the doorway, watching us both. I think some of the neighbors were looking. I did not care.

Finally I got my hands to steady and peeled away from my mom, from my house, and most of all from Jared Leto.