Forever

Not able to face going back to school, Brooklyn took the rest of the week off and spent the weekend with Axel’s family. Sat the kitchen table, she listened as Axel’s little brother excitedly told her about school and focused on the desert she’d been making to go with dinner.

It wasn’t long before the table was set and the Garcia family were all gathered around it, talking about their day as they ate. Once she had finished eating, Brooklyn joined Mrs. Garcia in the kitchen and helped with the washing up.

“How’re you doing Carino?”

“Some days are better than others,” Brooklyn replied with a shrug, “I just miss her.”

“Of course you do, but she is always with you,” Mrs. Garcia told her, lifting Brooklyn’s chin and pointing at her chest, “In here... she was very proud of you, Brooklyn and the person you have become.”

It was late when Brooklyn decided to head home, accepting Axel’s offer of a lift and kissing his cheek as she made her way inside.

“Hey, how was it at Brandon’s house?” her dad asked as soon as she closed the front door.

“It was good,” Brooklyn lied, glancing over at Jared and hanging up her coat.

“Funny that,” her dad continued, “You see, I ran into Brandon’s mom earlier today and she was saying that she hadn’t seen you in a long time. Care to explain?”

“It was my fault...” Jared began, but Brooklyn wasn’t going to let him take the blame this time and cut him off.

“I was at the Garcia’s house,” Brooklyn admitted, “Axel invited me over to distract me from everything else going on and I know that you don’t like him or his family, but I do. They’re not bad people, dad...”

“If you know how I feel about them, why do you insist on going against my wishes?”

“What about how Brook feels?” Jared inquired with a frown, “Not all of us have the ability to push our emotions away like you do, some of us need others to help us through and Axel has been that person for her.”

“That may be so, but my orders still stand... you will stay away from him and his family. Do you understand me?”

“Dad...” Brooklyn began to argue, falling quiet as he glared at her and turning to walk away, “Mom would understand.”

Unable to hold back her tears, she ran upstairs to her room and slammed the door closed behind her. Laid on her bed a while later, Brooklyn browsed her Facebook and paused as she came across a picture that Axel had posted of them.

It was just a snap of the two of them that his sister had taken, but they both wore matching goofy grins and Brooklyn realized that the happiness was genuine. The loss of her mom was still raw and she wasn’t sure that it would ever really get easier, but for that fraction of a second... she was happy. Clicking on the photo, Brooklyn saved it to her laptop and smiled as she typed out a comment.

Tu eres mi razon para sonreir ♥