"If obsession were a person, it'd be you."
A street racer by evening, and a high-school student by day, 17 year-old Ola Sainz is forced to move to Los Angeles with her mother, where she crosses path with a typical California teenage boy.
Theo Lauder...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
In middle school I always listened to how my peers at school described their parents, and there was this one kid in particular, Jude, who was your typical sunshine in the classroom.
A magnet, he was. It was evident that he carried himself with so much confidence that it radiated off him. It didn't matter how ridiculous he appeared to us. To the kids he wouldn't even remember years later. It was plausible, but one thing stuck out to me.
A memory so distant yet so familiar. He had told his friends about hearing his parents do the deed one too many nights. He paid no mind to it until he realized what had become of it. The conversation I overheard wasn't meant for my innocent ears because I asked as soon as I got home. Mom and dad. During dinner just as Mom had finished setting the table.
Dad had become unusually quiet when the subject was broached much to my dismay. Despite Mom's subtle remark of 'you shouldn't be concerned with such things at a young age' — followed by a firm 'concerns don't define a person' that was the end of it.
It was never brought up again, and even after all this time, I'd never figured out what she truly meant by that.
Perhaps it didn't need to be dissected and pulled apart to form a more profound sense. Maybe she hadn't even considered her words because she was more concerned with how I came to my conclusions.
On the contrary, Mom had always been the strict parent, and dad was the one to say yes to everything. Ice cream before bed on Sundays when Mom was too exhausted from work? He would be the one to sneak into my room at midnight with two Bomb Pops in hand. One for him, and one for me. We'd sit on the floor, quietly giggling to ourselves for yet another successful mission up and fro the kitchenette. It didn't matter if I had school the next morning, I'd fallen asleep with a satisfied stomach.
Mom never found out, is what I think, because the fridge was always filled with treats. Although they were placed quite high and I would have needed a stool to reach them.
To cope with my sorrows, I always told myself that maybe dad left because mom was always grumpy. But I know that wasn't it because she was the most caring woman behind closed doors. There were times when they argued about our financial hardships and that was understandable, it's what married couples do.
Their arguments didn't fall on deaf ears, though, because once I learned to earn my own money, I made sure I had so much it wouldn't be a problem anymore.
Like everything else in my life, it didn't matter. Dad was gone before I could fix things. Before I could give back.
He was the first man I had ever loved. That is what girls like me say growing up with both parents present. Although I wish I had known the true value of having them at my side sooner than later. If I had only known it was going to end this way, I would have done my best to be a better daughter. Once they were proud to show off to friends and family.
