THE FILE

I walked into my room and pratfell on the bed in deep thoughts; Casey was coming to Avalon to stay for the summer and it was weird because throughout our relationship she never mentioned the islands to me, she always dreamt of Florida and San Francisco but never Avalon or anywhere near the countryside.

I sighed and sniffled at the thoughts of Casey double-worsening my holiday if I ever dared stepped foot in Avalon, I couldn't bear seeing her face again especially not after fraternizing with the fact that she had sex with someone when we still had a thing called a relationship, it wasn't happening, not now or ever.

The door creaked open and my mother stepped in, "Can I come in?" she said with a laugh.

"Oh c'mon, you literally have one foot in already." I chuckled and replaced my gaze to the ceiling.

"Well," She drawled. "I'm just being protocol-ISH." She said.

My eyes furrowed down at her word; that was the dumbest thing I've heard so far, especially from a woman with a PhD in philosophy.

"Protocolish? Can you get any wiser?" I said with an apparent sarcastic note.

My mother laughed at that and walked towards me in the bed, "You know I spent a lot of time making those pancakes right? And the least you could do was being grateful." Her voice sounded stern and so serious now as she spoke.

"Didn't just feel like eating anymore, you used so much oil." I pointed out a blatant lie.

"Liar!" She shouted and scoffed, "I used the oven you kidder." She chuckled and I laughed hardly at myself.

"Sorry," I whispered in a subsiding mirth, "lost my appetite." I added.

"Over a girl you claim to hate and even forget about? Now that makes so much sense."

"I never said I forgot about Casey, no, you know, we all have certain exes, yes like dad, you wouldn't forget about him just like that right but at the same wouldn't want to be with him, that's exactly what's going on between Casey and me, geddit?" I said and watched how my mother's eyes squinted,

"I don't, honestly I don't, I want to be with your dad, I'm not losing my appetite at the mention of his name or... my mood alternating because I remembered him, no that's childish okay, what adults do is that they don't let the past weigh them down from striving up to the future," She said with a modest blush, "and secondly you ain't going to see Casey, you are going to have the best summer of your life, in the country, in Avalon." She nudged me with her elbow and chuckled.

"I understand you mom," I pulled upright on the bed, "it's just that being with dad and Casey is just gonna be unbearable, I mean, these are the two people that have hurt me terribly and I can't just bear being with them, you won't understand that of course," I sighed, "dad didn't have an affair or became infidel or anything of the sort and if we look at it more realistically and without sentiments then we'd definitely realize that he was searching for a better life; away from us, maybe we were making life inconvenient for him and he..." My lips pursed.

My mother shushed, "Stop!" She pressed her eyelids tightly against each other, "not another word," she ordered. "Your father didn't cheat yeah I know that, but do you really understand what it means to be lied to about being loved? Your dad wasn't straight up with me okay, and it hurt, he made me believe..." she blubbered stiflingly.

"It's okay mom, let's not talk about it," I inhaled deeply, "I'm coming with you to Avalon."

My hands fell on her plump soft cheeks and I gently squeezed them.

"Promise?" She said and held my wrists.

"Pinky swear." I and stuck out my pinky.

She furrowed her brow and shook her head, "Pinky promise." She said and our little fingers entwined.

"Go get the car started and I'd get my things." I said and jumped from the bed; raking my hair with my fingers.

My mother radiated a smile to me and walked out of the room; I was alone now, prepared to embark on the worst journey of my life.

I dragged my big box outside the room and ran back in to pick up my backpack now stuffed with clothing.

"See y'all." I blew my room a kiss as I stood in the doorway...

I heard the car sputter and I hurriedly climbed down the stairs with reluctant mumbles and my box handle clutched in my hand and my backpack hanging from my shoulders.

"It's started Jace'." My mother's voice waved with the air to my ear.

"Coming!" I replied back but stopped by the kitchen and grabbed an apple before running to the garage.

My mother sat behind the wheel with a dark sunshade obscuring her eyes.

"Seriously? No like seriously?" I said and huffed.

"What?" She drawled.

"What's with the shades?" I asked and dropped my box in the trunk.

"It's a swag." She replied from the driver's seat, "and besides I look good in it innit?"

"Tryna be British so badly," I muttered, "on the contrary I can't even tell who's who, you look like the doppelganger of... I can't even place who right now, oh yeah, Sarah Grey from next door." I laughed hardly and walked to the passenger's seat.

I knew how much she hated Sarah and I knew exactly what was coming...

"Ew!" She suddered and hurled the specs to the backseat

Next.

"How do I look now?" She asked and clicked her tongue.

I rubbed my chin in pretence to think then said, "Sarah's little sister." I said and guffawed hysterically.

"Oh gotta be kidding me." She poked my arm and stepped down from the car and ran; running hastily back to the house.

I sighed and brought out my phone from my pocket; powering it on, it had been off throughout the graduation and till now, I wasn't obsessed with the technological delusions but that felt so fallacious to say right now amid the fact that I was using the iPhone 14 version and had over a hundred thousand followers on Instagram.

The phone finally powered on and I had missed calls; apparently several missed calls but all from one person, remember when I said I had two friends from High School, well aside Casey Henderson I had another friend and his name was Trevor Jones, not the typical cliché of a bad boy's friend in his case, he was cool of course, cute, not too cute but exceptionally brilliant especially in my worst subject- Mathematics, nobody should love mathematics at all!

Anyway I called him back as quickly as I could and heaved an anticipant sigh when the phone clicked.

"Hullo." His voice was in a sing-song tone.

We were that close

"Oh, is this John Snow 'cause I think I called a wrong number." I said and warred with laughter.

"Oh, then I guess I'm unto someone, uh, more of an idiot than a person err." He said and I heard a mild laugh.

"Fool," I burst out into laughter, "'sup doggie?"

"Yo I'm cool, missed all my calls, what's with you?"

"At this point I don't know," I chuckled, "can you believe mom is taking me to Avalon."

"Avalon? That's the country man, I'd die to be in the countryside." He said ecstatically and snorted.

I darted my head from the phone at the snort, "Eww man, don't do that again." I said, "Anyways you wouldn't die to be in the country if your ex were there I bet."

"What you mean?" He asked innocently and I let him process my words.

"Holy smokes! Casey coming too?" He asked.

"'xactly man, shit's so messed up round here."

"Yeah bro, I feel you, sorry 'bout that, anything to placate? Nudes or nudes?" He cackled loudly and I frowned.

"No way you just said that, jeez!" I violently shook my head. "I'ma end this call right now, bitch, and don't call me without apologizing." I said defiantly and pouted at the phone.

I could see my mother step into the porch and lock the door...

"And how in God's name would I do that if I can't call you?"

"I don't know, figure out a way." I snapped and ended the call.

"Ew! gross." I mumbled.

"Need some help over there?" I shouted at my mother as I watched her struggle with a sack.

"No I'm good." She smiled and the stuffs in the sack just littered on the ground.

"Exactly what good looks like." I smirked and walked out from the car towards her.

"You should never decline my help." I said satirically.

"I had it under control." She said and it was clear she was suppressing a laugh.

"You ain't superwoman you know that?" I bent down towards the stuff that sprawled inanimately on the ground.

"What are these?" I asked, raising up a file from the ground to my face.

My mother's face seemed to melt as I looked at the closed file.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

I opened it up curiously and gaped at the content at the file...

"I know I should have told you Jason, and I'm sorry about that." She said and held my shoulder.

I shrugged her hand off immediately, "Sorry? This is frigging ruination mother, gosh!" I dropped the file to the floor and stomped back to the car.

"I can explain." My mother said and I hushed her with a hand raised up.

I can't believe she had done that.

What had Jason seen?