Searchin' | Shuri

Part Twenty Three

| Hazel |

"Are you ready to go back home yet?" My cousin, Neicey, asked as she finished braiding the last braid
in my hair.

"Nope."

I've been spending the past few days with her. She's like another older sister to me. She also lives two hours away which makes it even easier to avoid everyone.

It felt like an escape to me. There was no Shuri or Riri or drama. It was just me enjoying my peace and attempting to find myself again.

I didn't have plans on being away for long, I just needed a little bit of time.

"Are you at least going to tell someone that you're here?"

"Not until I leave."

She sighed, passing me the mirror to look at the braids that took hours to do.

"These are so cute!" I said, admiring them. "Thank you!" I gave her the biggest hug that I could.

"You're welcome." She smiled, "but now you have to do something for me."

"What?" I scrunched my eyebrows together, already knowing what she was going to say.

"Go home." She laughed, making me roll my eyes.

"Am I overstaying my welcome?"

"Of course not, you know I love you being here but running away from your problems is not the solution."

"I'm not running." I mumbled under my breath.

"Yes you are." She disagreed. "And your mom and everyone else is worried about you Hazel. They're trying to declare you as missing."

I sighed, feeling the heaviness of everything start to take over.

"How do I go back there and just act like everything is okay?" I whispered.

"You don't. You go back there and face your issues and actually solve them. You don't have to be strong all of the time and you damn sure don't have to force yourself to be okay with things that you actually aren't."

A frown invaded my face hearing the words
come from her mouth.

"You got this." She reassured me.

"Fine... but I'm not happy about it." I said, pulling out my phone and dialing my moms number.

"Don't worry, she already knows."

"Traitor." I mumbled, walking to the guest room to grab my things.

• • •

A small groan escaped my lips as I pulled into my moms driveway. I had already played out how this would probably go in my head.

As much as I didn't want to confront my issues, I know Neicey was probably right. There's no way I could hide forever and the sooner I do this, the sooner I will feel at peace again.

I opened the front door, walking in and quietly closing the door behind me. I was praying no one would hear me. Which was definitely not answered.

My mom rushed to the door, immediately pulling me into a hug.

"I was so worried about you!" I could hear the relief in her voice, making me feel a little guilty for leaving without telling her. "Why would you do that?!" Her tone changed from relief to stern.

"I'm sorry." I sighed, "I just needed a break." I walked into the living room with her following closely behind me. I was preparing myself for the lecture that I knew was coming next.