A Unique Kind of Love (PUBLISHED)

7.The Girl With The Broken Smile

After all the drama at school this month, I felt overwhelmed. Mark and his cronies would insult me whenever I walked by them. I guess they didn't learn a lesson. The last thing I wanted to do is deal with him. I ignored them. I put my head down so my tears don't fall. Badass Lena was gone, and the good, old Lena was back. A friendless Lena. I now sat alone. All I wanted to do is cuddle up my comfy, fluffy bed, read the Vampire Diaries, eat ice cream and listen to Ed Sheeran. The man is a music phenomenon. Anyways, on the bright side, autumn is at its best right now. It's the perfect time to take out my camera. I'll go to the nearby park this weekend, and relax.

***

I twisted the doorknob to my house, and hastily went inside. It was raining buckets out there! Oh well, it's Friday. I shook all the water out of my umbrella, took off my boots, not once looking up. Something was weird. All the lights were on. My mom was at work, and she wasn't supposed to come back before 10. It was five. I heard some whispering coming from the kitchen.

Alarmed, I held my now closed umbrella in my hands. I was shaking, but prepared to face the worst. I tiptoed to the kitchen door. The whispering was now getting louder. Someone was sobbing. I could hear them sniffling. No pity. No burglar was going to be depressed in my kitchen.

I opened the door, and pointed my umbrella at the "person", then yelled:

"You! Don't steal anything, y-you...Mom?"

My own mother was sitting on our small, round table, crying her heart out and muttering: "This shouldn't be happening."

When she saw me, she stood up, almost laughed and screamed: "Lena! Baby girl...!"

She took me in her arms, and held on me as if her life depended on it. All I could do was pat her back soothingly. I could feel my shirt getting wet by her tears. 10 minutes later, she let go of my embrace and took a seat on one of the chairs.

Her face looked older. Framed with worry, and fatigue. Now, I could look at her. Her long hair was put up in a messy bun, she was wearing huge t-shirt and jeans that were double her size.

She ushered for me to sit in front of her, I obeyed.

"What's wrong, Mom?" I asked anxiously.

"Well, I may have..." She started nervously, looking like a scared child who's done something bad.

"Mom! Spit it out!" I said impatiently.

"Igotfired."

My eyes bulged out of my head so much, I was pretty sure I looked like a fish right now.

"What?"

"I got fired! It happens! My boss said that my designs were boring, and that he had a better worker than me." She played with her sleeves, a habit I'd inherited from her.

A million questions were running through my head right now, how were we supposed to pay rent? How could we live? Then I remembered something.

"But, we still have the money in the bank, right?"

Her eyes went down to her bitten nails.

"Oh, darling, you know we never had much. My salary was everything. Plus,wasting all my money on moving a lot is a problem," Sighing, she let her eyes well with tears again.

I felt as if the weight of the world was on my shoulders.

I knew what this meant. It meant the start of a new life. It meant that I had to get a job.

***

-Saturday, 1 p.m.-

Having decided I wasn't going to mope around all weekend, I decided to go to the park. I put a huge hoodie, my favorite comfortable sweats, and my Ugg boots. My hair was in a messy braid and my face was make up free. I couldn't care less about how I looked. I had my camera around my neck, and that's all that mattered.