I Broke The Girl I Loved

They're Back

(Back to Jayce's POV)

As soon as I got home from dropping Aydrian off I laid in my bed for a split second and I was out like a light.

I woke up late; 8:50am to be exact. First period was already over and I didn't care much for my second period so I took my time getting ready. My dad was long gone by now; he was probably in a rush and assumed I'd wake up when my alarm went off.

I got out of bed and removed my clothes before hopping in the shower. I just stood there and let the cold water run down my back, savoring the chill on my skin. I washed off and then dried off before throwing on some sweatpants. By then it was 9:30am and I made my way downstairs and into the kitchen to make myself breakfast. There were a few eggs left so I decided I'd make scrambled eggs. I had just finished making the eggs when I heard keys jiggle on the door. My dad can't be home already because he always works late, I thought to myself.

The door opened and standing outside was my dad, my mom, and Evie. My dad was in a conversation with Darla, my mom, when Evie squealed my name.

"Jayceeeee!" She came running towards me.

"Hey Evie," I said, pulling her into a hug.

I was more than happy to see Evie but my mom, not so much. I broke away from the hug and looked back at where my dad was bringing in suitcases.

He spoke out to me, "Jayce, I thought you went to school?"

I scratched the back of my neck. "Yeah, I slept through my alarm and decided to just not go. Why are you carrying suitcases?"

"They're your mom's and Evelyn's. They're moving in with us," he said nonchalantly.

I coughed. "Dad? Can I speak to you for a moment?"

He set the bags down and made a quick apology to Darla before signaling for me to follow him to his room. I did and once we were inside, the door closed, I asked my first question, "what do you mean they're moving back in with us?"

He sighed. "It's just that. They're moving back in."

"Why?"

"It's complicated."

"No dad, it's really not. Darla left to live with another family." I was not going to just let her back into my life as easily as that.

"Son-"

"Don't son me. She abandoned us. You know better than anyone how much that hurt and you're just letting her back in?" It was a rhetorical question that I knew the answer to.

"Let me expla-"

I cut him off. "It's fine, don't waste your breath. Besides, I have school." With that I walked out of his room. I grabbed my keys from the living room and ignored my mom as I walked past her.

"Baby," she whispered. I didn't react as I walked out the door, slamming it behind me.

I got in my car and drove in the opposite direction of school. I didn't think about where I was going. I just put my foot on the gas and hoped I didn't crash. An hour passed and I had driven out to the edge of Dankwoods. From there I parked my car and started walking into the woods along the road. My mind was still spinning at the thought of living with my mom again after so many years.

I shouldn't be surprised that Darla is back. Of course he let her move back in with us. I knew that if she ever came crawling back to us my dad would let her in as if she never left. Hating her for leaving my dad and I would've been useless so I always told myself I didn't hate her but now that she's back I don't know what to think.

She abandoned me when I was three. Old enough to know who she was but not old enough to comprehend what was happening when she left. The years after that I saw her on holidays and at birthday parties and I just assumed she was on a long work trip where she only came back to visit when she could. That was until I was seven and realized that she was gone for good. She met a new man, Michael, and had cheated on my dad. They signed divorce papers and that was that. She still tried to include me in her life but it was too late for that. She had a child with Michael, Evelyn. Evelyn was the only reason I still talked to my mom anymore. We only ever texted about Evelyn. I guess I always hated my mom in some way for leaving me. I felt like I wasn't good enough for her and that feeling just increased as I got older.

My mom left me and so did my first and only girlfriend, Megan. Megan and I were both seventeen at the time and I believed we were in love. We did everything together. She was my everything. It was our nine month anniversary and I planned the whole day out; I was going to take her to Judy's diner in the middle of town for breakfast and from there we were going to get ice cream and walk around, then at night I was going to tell her that I loved her. None of that happened. That morning I woke up and got myself all ready. I grabbed the flowers I had bought the night before and drove to her house. Once I got there I walked up to her front door and rang the doorbell with the biggest smile on my face. She opened the door and that's when she told me she couldn't date me anymore. I asked why and she told me I was a great guy but she'd found someone else. That was the end of my first, what I thought was, true love. I didn't try hard to date again after that.

I continued walking until I found an opening, probably a mile into the woods. There was a cliff that overlooked the ocean behind it. It was breathtakingly beautiful. I walked to the edge and stood there, overlooking the view in front of me. The wind was rushing against me and I could faintly hear the sounds of the waves crashing against the rocks below the cliff. I sat down letting my legs dangle off the edge as I thought about my mom moving back in. As much as I hate her it couldn't be that bad. She's tried for all these years to stay connected with me. She had her reasons for leaving and I guess I should give her a second chance.

The sun had dipped below the horizon as the moon took its place in the sky. The stars followed after the moon, dotting the sky as if it were painted on an empty canvas. It was starting to get cold and I couldn't stay out much longer. I didn't know what time it was since I'd left my phone in the car. The walk back to my car felt shorter than the walk to the cliff earlier. When I got back to my car, I got inside and checked my phone. I had two missed calls from my dad along with seventeen texts from him asking where I was and if I was okay. Below that was a text from Aydrian:

Hey, is everything alright? You weren't at school today. We didn't do much so you didn't miss much but I was hoping we could work on the physics project. I guess just text me when you see this.

I avoided responding to any texts and put my phone on silent in the cup holder before driving back home.

It was 9pm when I pulled into the driveway. I turned my car off and grabbed my stuff before getting out and walking to the door. There was a faint sound of talking coming from inside the house meaning that my parents were awake and in the living room. Knowing I couldn't sneak past them I opened the front door and walked into the house. There were my parents, both sitting next to each other on the couch, and pacing in front of them was Aydrian.