1 - Strings of Fate
"You seem pretty absorbed."
Retreating my hand from the acacia tree, I turn to face my Mom. I know that she'd interfere given that I tell her about Owen, so I just shrug.
Mom looks at me with an eyebrow raised, but makes her way to Dad all the same. She sits down beside him on the bench, smiling as she squeezes the so-called stress ball. Dad, however, seems to take more notice of the time I spent staring at the said tree than Mom.
"Is something wrong, Amity?" he asks, the wrinkles on his forehead visible. His eyes search for an answer as I shake my head, then take my place on the bench adjacent theirs.
"It's nothing," I assure him, but he still looks troubled. Beside him, Mom giggles softly, muttering something I can't make out.
Dad hears, and he whispers something back, making her giggle again. Dad, not intending what he said to be funny, raises an eyebrow. I shake my head again, wondering how they even lasted as a married couple.
Birds chirp overhead, and I sigh as some of the tree's dried leaves fall slowly to the ground. The weather is getting slightly chilly, but as we're in a tropical country, this is good news. The cool breeze, I guess, is my favorite of the advantages of living in a province.
Even though we just moved back here from the city, I'm already starting to miss its peculiar charms; Erica's frantic shouts to wake me up in time for school; the nearby department store where she and I frequently hang out; the kind landlady who brings over cookies and juice during her free time; that cute guy I have a crush on since forever, but whose name I don't know ...
The city is not only about traffic jams and mobs (even though it has a lot of them). If a person tries, he or she can definitely see the beauty of cities too. And I'm not talking about how rich it is (although cities are generally wealthy), I'm talking about how nice some of the people there can be.
Sigh.
Now, I can't even get to see Erica, the best-est friend I've had for years.
We had to move miles away, back to the province where I grew up ... back to the place where we stayed back then. The province where we lived before Mom got her big city job seven years ago.
Moving back isn't bad, but as I've already made more friends in the city, I find it hard to leave them. I keep thinking of how I'll betray them by meeting others here. I mean, they even threw a despedida party a couple a weeks ago. If I do make friends, I think I'll feel weird around them since I still think my friends in the city are better.
But it's not Mom's fault she got fired. Okay, maybe it is, but the fault is not entirely hers.
There's just this weird rumor going around their office that Mom has an affair with her married boss. Mom, being the sarcastic lady she is, said she's "So glad they finally realized it, since hiding it is such a hassle" (actual quote her officemates recorded). Her ex-officemates posted the video of her on facebook, resulting to her boss' wife seeing it. This, of course, caused havoc in her boss' family, so Mom's boss fired her for causing it all.
To me, it still seems like a shallow reason for firing an employee, but ... here we are. And there's no turning back.
***
"Amy! I've missed you so much!"
"I missed you too."
She opens her mouth to say something but quickly shuts it, looking like a fish. Erica's normally chinky eyes widen until they're as big as saucers.
YOU ARE READING
Owen
Teen Fiction♡ History repeats itself too much, but that doesn't mean it's always bad. You just have to see the reoccurring positive thing squeezed between the negative ones. But, in my case, it's not a 'thing'. It's a person. And his name is Owen. ♡
