Chapter 7
At school, I have been trying my best to avoid Jolie. It wasn't too hard. It was easy not to talk to her during class because the only classes she shared with me, Nova was in as well so if we had to pair up, it was always me and Nova.
It was a lot easier pairing up with the girl I liked than with my ex-girlfriend who abandoned me and my son.
Besides, even though I liked Nova, I wasn't going to let that stop me from being friends with her. She had really helped out a lot, and even babysat Xavier a few times while I was scheduled to work the same time as my mom and neither of us were able to change it.
What I liked even more about Nova was that Xavier liked her a lot. He was always excited to see her come by and wouldn't stop talking to her in his toddler-language.
Usually at lunch, Nova and I would find a place to eat that Jolie most likely wouldn't go. If we both had enough money, we would go off the school grounds for lunch. Other than that, we alternated places from the library to the roof to a classroom pretending we were working on a project.
Jolie never really made any attempt to talk to me, but it was never a bad idea to stay on the safe side.
Then that one day came.
Nova and I were on a bench away from the school, eating our lunch. She decided to take my phone and, somehow, was able to unlock it before going to my photos and gushing over photos of Xavier. Jolie decided to walk over to us. "I want to see Xavier," she said.
I just stared at her for a bit. "....Uh, what?"
"I want to see my son," Jolie repeated.
"Let me get this straight," I said. "You want to see your son whom you left for me to raise on my own a year and a half ago with no contact whatsoever?"
"Yes."
"No."
"He's my son," Jolie said. "You can't stop me from seeing him."
"I can, actually," I said. "For one, I have full custody of him."
"No, it's joint custody," she said.
"It really isn't," I said. "Yeah, after you left, I applied for full custody and since you didn't show up to the meeting, I was granted it. They tried contacting you and reached your voicemail dozens of times. It was your fault you didn't bother answering them. And second of all, how am I going to explain to Xavier who you are? 'Oh, here's your mom that decided to leave you because she didn't want to be a parent'."
"Like I said, I had my reasons," she said.
"Yeah, that you wanted to go our partying and not want to be responsible for a child," I said. "I had to drop everything for him. I still do, but I'm okay with it being he's my responsible. I'm not going to bail whenever it gets rough because a true parent would never do that to their child."
"You can't stop me from seeing him," Jolie said. "Trust me, I'll find my ways."
"Like what?" I asked.
"I'm going to fight for custody," she said. "Full custody."
I raised my eyebrows. "You're what?"
"You heard me," she said. "I can afford getting the best lawyer there is and I will fight for his custody because I'm his mom. A child needs a mom in their life."
"A lot of children don't have mothers," Nova speaks up. "And if you're so concerned about that, at least Xavier has Hudson's mom, who I'm sure is a motherly figure towards him."
Jolie snorted. "You can't tell me what to do when it comes to my son. You have no relation to him, so stay out of it."
"Like you did?" Nova asked.
"Stay out of it," Jolie repeated, this time more sharply. She then looked at me. "I will be getting full custody."
"No, Nova is right," I said. "You really should save money and trouble. Getting you a good lawyer isn't going to do anything. You really think they're going to grant you full custody when I have been raising Xavier perfectly fine with no trouble whatsoever for the past year and a half? Oh, and they'll take in consideration of what you did while we were raising him together. You know, going out and partying, always expecting me to watch him. It's going to be a waste of time and money for you."
"You have no idea what I'm capable of," Jolie said before walking away.
"Is she actually going to fight for full custody?" Nova asked.
"I wouldn't doubt it," I said. "She's stubborn. When she has an idea in her head, it takes a lot of convincing for her to change her mind."
"You worried?" Nova asked.
I shook my head. "Not at all." I mean, I was a bit worried. I knew they wouldn't grant her full custody over me, but I was a bit worried we would have joint custody. I don't think I could handle not having Xavier living with me for even a weekend.
When school was over, I made sure I got him right away so I would have a bit of time to talk to Mom before she went off to work.
"You wouldn't believe it," I said as soon as I walked in. Mom was getting ready to leave, but I knew she could wait for a few minutes. "First off, where's Xavier?"
"Napping," Mom said. "He'll probably wake up soon. So, what wouldn't I believe?"
"Jolie," I said. "She approached me today at lunch to say she wanted to see Xavier and, of course, I refused to let her. So you know what she told me? She's going to fight for custody."
"Joint?"
"No. Full."
Mom raised an eyebrow. "Full custody? What makes her think she'll get full custody over you?"
"Who knows?" I said. "I didn't tell Nova this, but I'm really worried. What if they decide to go for joint custody? I can't handle him not being here for a day. And I don't think he'll handle living in a completely different house without me or you."
"Then we'll make sure they know that," Mom said. "If she really does go for custody, then we'll have to get a lawyer."
"You really think we can afford one?"
"We'll have no choice," Mom said.
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Ooh, drama. Yay. :D
Omg it took me so long to update I'm so sorry. cx
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The Secret of Xavier
Teen Fiction*cover by Lunagust* Eighteen year old Hudson Baxter has a secret; one that he has kept for three years so far. The secret caused him to move to a new city. A secret that has caused him and his first love trouble. More importantly, a secret th...
