Elitease

Chapter 10

Winter break had come.

For the past week, I had been staying with another girl—one whose name I didn't know. I cried myself to sleep almost every night, thinking about what I had done and why. Maybe it was because I was starting to get scared of the familiarity and the comfort of having someone to trust. Maybe it was because I was starting to care for her, so I ran away, as I always do. I ran away from my problems instead of facing them head-on. Knock, knock, knock. I hear it from under the blankets of the comfortable bed. I know it's the driver whom Father probably fetched to get me home. "Miss Ledger, it is time to leave," says the... woman? Dad would have never hired a female driver. I had a gut feeling about this that told me not to open the door, but fuck it. I got out of bed and made my way to the exit. Looking through the peephole, I see a rather old-looking woman standing in front of it. There's something eerily familiar about her, but I still can't quite manage to find what it is.

Gently opening it, I look at her and recognize her more and more. No. No, no, no. This can't be her. What the fuck is she doing here? Yes, I loved my mom, but this time she had hit an all-time low. Disappearing for years on end wasn't necessarily a good thing for a child in need of protection. So yes, I loved her, almost as much as I resented seeing her face at my dorm room entrance. "What are you doing here?" I tried to keep my voice as serious as possible without showing just how much I wanted to slam the door in her face.

"Aren't you happy to see me?"
"No. No, not really. How did you even know where I was?"
"I always know where you are. Raven, I came all this way for you. You need to understand that things don't always go the way you want them to. So yes, I'm sorry for leaving all those years ago, but I'm here now, aren't I?"

I wanted to punch her so badly and ask her why she had. Why had she left and never come back? All those years I had spent suffering in the little hellhole when I needed her most, she wasn't there. 

"Fuck you."
"Raven don't you dare speak to your mother like tha⎼"
"Really? Mother? Who even are you? You leave off just like that years ago when you knew, you knew, Father mistreated me badly and now you come to excuse yourself? Now, suddenly, you have become that responsible mother who doesn't ghost her child? Yeah, no thank you. This argument is over."
"But⎼"

Bang! I don't give her a chance to finish her sentence when I slam the door in her face. She deserves it. If she ignored me for years, now it was my turn to as well. Barely under 10 minutes later, my real driver arrived. "Miss Ledger, it is time to leave," says a male voice this time. I take my bags and put them down in front of the man. Then I head down the stairs in the hallway while the driver takes care of them. In the car, of course, he's already there. Waiting is a high-political influent looking college boy. Although he is technically part of one of the richest families in the world, he just looks like an uncared-for child. I get in at his side and take a brief look at him. He isn't even that ugly. On the contrary, he is surprisingly handsome. "H-hey," he says, looking flustered. He really is like a child. Even if he presents himself as having a cold exterior, I can tell he is everything but. Maybe in another universe, we could fall in love, but in this one, I could only become his friend. Even maybe an acquaintance. At times I wish I could fall in love with a man such as Lanchester. I mean, the guy had the looks to impress. He had a charisma as well that not many people do.

The car was rolling soundly, but in the back mirror, I could see another car following us. Although it was sleek black and didn't raise suspicion, I could tell whose it was. Of course, Mother had to take a different drive to my school. Whatever. As long as I took a break from seeing Aaliyah around campus, life would be great. "So," Lanchester spoke in a low voice that was like a whisper, "how do you like school and its surroundings?" I had three options here. I could either tell him it was fine, I could not reply, or just shrug. "It was okay, I guess. Look ahead." Pointing through the car window at the forest in front, a huge mansion began to reveal itself. The car behind was indeed Mother's, as it was pulling up beside us. I got out of the vehicle, taking a look at the black and white building. It was still as plain and boring as I had left it. I didn't even look behind as I walked in through the opening gates. The maids all greeted me and Lanchester, who was following close behind. After going up to my room and looking out the window, I saw something that could not have been worse. What. The. Actual. Fuck. What is she doing here?

Again, just when life is seemingly getting a bit better, it has to have its ways and fuck up everything. Standing right outside of the car beside her was Aaliyah. The last person I needed to see right now and the only reason I accepted to come back for Christmas. I had absolutely no intention of seeing her anymore. I hurried off downstairs to see my mother smiling and Aaliyah looking up at the ceiling. "Now darling, be a good girl and show dearest Aaliyah to her room!" No way. No way this lady comes back into my life nearly a decade later, pretends to know everything that happened in the meantime, and then proceeds to order me to show Aaliyah to her room. I mean, how do they even know each other? My shock must be visible because then she stops smiling and my eyes meet those of the girl who's still standing next to her. Fuck me sideways. I can tell she isn't happy at all because a look of anger comes over her brown eyes. This is going to be a hell of a Christmas.