The Uneventful Dinner.

"You don't mean it?" Ari asked, the shock evident on his face. I was recounting the event of the day with her. " He was at your house?" I nodded as I thought back to this evening. If anyone asked me about this evening, I really wouldn't know how to answer.

It was not exactly what I had in mind, but it sure as hell makes me happy. The thought of being in a closed space with the two people who manage to make my blood boil without working too hard was suffocating.

First of all, the dreadful dinner did not hold. Aiden and his mom were here for only about ten minutes when they got a frightening call that Aiden's grandmother fell down the stairs and is in the hospital. Even though that did make me a tad bit happy, I felt bad for the poor old lady.

I'm sure Aiden didn't know he was coming to my house. I could tell from the way his eyes widened when he saw me. We stared at each other for almost 5 minutes in complete shock.

Well, I think it's safe to say my mom was pretty disappointed after the whole thing, mainly because I couldn't meet the person who was going to Harvard in the fall. Eva said he was too busy to come.

I'm currently on my bed talking to the only two friends I have.

"Yeah, he did," I answered as I took a big scoop of the cookies and cream ice cream that I managed to sneak into my room without my mom's knowledge. She'll kill me if she sees it. "But to be fair, from the way he reacted to seeing me, I don't think he knew he was coming to my house."

"So your parents went with them to the hospital?" Ashton asked, making me nod my head in positive. "Why didn't you go with them?"

"I wanted to," I shrugged, taking another bite of the ice cream. "But I'll rather not intervene in that guy's family matter. Besides, I'm sure his family wouldn't appreciate the constant arguments."

"Yeah, they keep fighting every single time they see each other. " Ari said, making me nod. Ashton looked between the two of us like he was about to say something, but he didn't.

"Sounds good. we are still on for tomorrow, right?" I told them I wanted to go to my dad's grave tomorrow, and they insisted on coming along. Considering I didn't have a ride, I took up their offer.

"Yeah, still figuring a way to sneak out of the house," I said. Just then, a knock resounded through the room. I looked at the clock beside me to see it was almost midnight. It's probably my mom.

I greeted my friends' goodnight as I hid the ice cream container under my bed. I walked up to the door and opened it. There stood my mother in her flashy pink robe, giving me a hint that she came straight from the shower.

"Why was the door locked?" she asked as she folded her hands in front of her chest.

"Uh, I might have forgotten to unlock it after I took a shower." She looked at me for a long minute before coming into my room. She walked over to my bed, looking around for something.

"Tonight didn't go as planned." She said as she took a seat on the edge of my bed. She turned to me, her face void of any emotions. "I bet you're really excited about that."

I don't understand how what happened tonight is my fault. It's not like I was the one who pushed the old lady down the stairs, but I chose not to say anything. I'm tired of the constant back and forths with her.

"I managed to speak with Eva, and she suggested we come to her house for dinner next week. We'll be doing it again soon, and this time it'll be in their house." I honestly do not understand why she was telling me all this.

"Is there something you want to say to me, Ma?" I asked as I leaned against the wall behind me. She let out a deep sigh as she ran her hand through her hair.

"Do you mean it when you said I am a bad mother?" She looked up to meet my eyes. To say I was shocked is an understatement. She has never taken my word to heart before. Nothing but her opinion had always mattered.

"I- Well, I know for sure that I don't want to be like you when I have kids of my own." She nodded her head in understanding before letting out a deep breath.

"So you wouldn't want your kids going to Harvard?" She said. I let out a disbelieving scoff as I shook my head.

"Of course, they can go, but it has to be their choice. You've never asked me what my ambition, what I wanted to do. You only dictate what you want me to do."

"That's because what you want to do can't sustain you. You want to be a singer like your father, and that is not a successful business."

"So it all falls back to money? You think everything is about money. That was the same reason you left Dad in the first place. I heard your conversation that afternoon."

"And that's a bad thing? I am from a poor background. You think it's a bad thing that I didn't want you to go through the same thing I went through as a child?" She let out a breath before continuing, "Your father knew I was going to leave at one point. He knew I wanted you to have the best life, Athena." Why do I even bother? It will always be the back and forths with her. My mother sees herself as a perfect human that would never make a mistake.

"Yeah, the best life indeed," I muttered under my breath as I felt a headache setting in from all the yellings today. "Is that all, Ma? I'll like to go to bed now," I said as I massaged my throbbing temples.

I got on top of the bed, wrapping my blanket around my body. I watched as my mom walked over to the table at the corner of the room where I keep most of my assignments. She picked up a particular paper as her eyes glanced through the words inscribed on it. At first, I was curious about what could be the contents of the note.

She let out a scoff that sounded between a cry and a laugh before looking at me. "You remember the story?"

The story she's talking about is the one of how she met my father. Dad told that story to me when I was eight, and I've held on to it since then. We were given an assignment earlier this week to write a memory that would always be dear to our hearts. I chose to write the piece of how they met, knowing how much my dad clung to that memory.

"I love your father, Athena. You may think I don't, but I do. I love the both of you so much." She whispered as she ran her hands through my hair. Tears prickled the back of my eyes at her words.

"Then you wouldn't hurt us like you did." I turned my face away from her to hide the tears in my eyes. I don't know how long she sat there before she left my room.

After she left my room, I took my phone from the stand beside me. I opened the last message I received from my father on my birthday, feeling closer to him. A small smile appeared on my face when I saw the nickname he chose to give me. I miss him calling me Bean. I miss his gentle, angelic voice.

I know how stupid this is, but it felt right at that moment. I typed a message to him, knowing fully well that he won't see it.

'Today is our day, Dad. Whether we get to celebrate it or not, we'd always have each other no matter what, no matter how far apart we are from each other. I'll come to visit you tomorrow. I love you, Dad, and I miss you terribly.'

I sent the message before I could allow myself to think of how stupid it was to do that. I just wanted to be sure I wasn't alone in any of this.

I grabbed his guitar pick that I always kept under my pillow as I brought it closer to my heart. Call me weird, but that's how I've been able to sleep. After his death, I started having panic attacks and BDP. Luckily for me, Madison was a therapist, and she helped me through it. I still have it, but it's not as worse as before.

I felt more protected and loved as I slowly ran my finger on the pick. I closed my eyes to see his pair of brown eyes, which brought a smile to my face.

With every passing second, I felt sleep calling for me as I let myself go into a dreamless adventure with one thought in mind.

I'll see you soon, dad.