The Survivor (Book #2)

Chapter 11

I dropped my backpack in the garage where it would presumably remain for the entirety of the holiday season and then sprinted inside to find Dominic.

"DOM!" I yelled as I walked in the front door. I didn't hear an answer, so I ran up the stairs and knocked on his door before busting in.

"Maya." He replied patiently from his desk, as I rushed over and jumped onto his back with a hug. "What did I say about you running home and attacking me?"

"You said I'm supposed to wait for your answer after I knock but it takes too long!" I said as I let go of him and ran to his bed, hopping in.

He rolled his swivel chair over as I threw his covers over myself and got cozy.

"Do you need a nap?" he asked.

"Nope!" I said, with my eyes shut. "I just wanted to tell you something super exciting!"

"What?" he asked.

"I'm officially on break and that means it's almost time for the holidays!" I said, wiggling around excitedly.

"Wow! How fun!" he said, only half-genuine. "Want to hear something even more exciting?"

I cracked one eye open. "What?"

"I'm on winter break too."

"YES!" I said, jumping out of bed. "That means we can hang out all the time!"

He let out a laugh and said "Yes. But you have to share me with Christine." He reminded, raising his eyebrows. I'm sure he was thinking of the same thing as me; Christine had come over to watch a movie and spend time with Dominic while I was sick recently. I wasn't entirely sure what happened, but the day ended with me sitting in between them and choosing the movie I wanted to watch with them. Christine was very nice about it. When she had to leave, she hugged me goodbye and told me she had way more fun sitting next to me. Dominic looked angry, but I knew he secretly liked it. I wondered if they were going to get married someday, but when I asked him, he told me they might if they ever got a chance to spend any time together alone.

"I'll share," I said monotonously as I nodded.

"Good." He said, "Besides, Mom is going to want to see you sometimes too. Have you told her you're on break yet?"

I shook my head and he pointed at the door with wide eyes. "Get to it then!" he encouraged. He was definitely making fun of me.

I jumped up and ran out of the room and down the stairs, before knocking on Charlotte's office door. I waited for a response patiently, which I was completely capable of doing, but preferred not to with Dominic. I wanted to keep him on his toes.

"Come in!" Charlotte called out. I smiled to myself. I knew she wouldn't be in her bedroom taking a nap or something; she was all about productivity.

I walked in and shut the door behind me before running up to her and then awkwardly hesitating. She laughed and held out her arms, knowing what I wanted. I walked over to her and hugged her back, smiling to myself. I always thought I didn't like physical affection until I realized it was simply the type of affection I was receiving that I didn't want.

I stepped back and sat down on her plush carpet, looking up at her with a grin. 

"How are you today, Maya?" she asked me. I took a deep breath and then let it out in one abrupt but verbose statement.

"Well, I'm doing great because today was our last day of school and now it's Thanksgiving Break and then it'll be Winter Break and I'm super excited for the holidays because it's almost Christmas and I've never really loved Christmas before now!" I said.

"Oh! Well, it's definitely a big deal around here! For Thanksgiving, we will invite some people over and have a giant delicious feast and play games. And then, winter will be even more fun. I set up the decorations and the boys handle the lights, and we'll make cookies and prep for Santa!" she said with a wink.

My stomach started turning and I assessed the feeling warily. Was I nervous? How come?

She quirked her mouth to the side in thought and asked, "How are you feeling?" I rolled my eyes because she knew me too well.

"I'm good!" I said, but there was a hint of a question in my tone.

"Is good a feeling?" she asked me, falling back into the role of therapist. She told me we would have to stop our sessions after the adoption went through, but for now, we could continue.

"I think good is a feeling," I said haughtily, evading her real question.

"Oh, you're being smart." She teased. "Well then how about, what were you feeling when I talked about Thanksgiving? Christmas?"

I bit my cheek and thought about it.

"I was nervous about Christmas, but I don't know why. It just felt bad." I rolled my eyes again as I realized she wanted more than 'bad'. "It felt uncomfortable, kind of gross."

She nodded in thought and I wanted to explain to her how good it felt when she took me seriously and treated the words I said like they were important.

"Do you have any idea why you were feeling that way?" she asked.

I thought about it and nothing came to my mind.

"No, sorry."

"No need to be sorry," she reassured me. "But I can promise you that you will be safe and happy during this season and if you ever don't feel that way, tell me and I will take you away from the house and we can just have a girls day!"

I looked at her in awe. "We could do that?"

"Of course, Maya. Whatever makes you feel safest." Her phone buzzed on her desk and she turned to look at it and then back to me, apologetically. I waved away her apologies and slipped out of her office and up to my room. I jumped onto my bed and curled up under the blankets, deciding I did want to take a nap. My head felt heavy and overwhelmed and I was sure it had to do with the fact that I was up at 6:00 am for school!

It took me a while to fall asleep, but once I did, the dreams were endless.