Coming from an abusive household, Meredith Hill makes up her mind to finally escape. She runs till she meets a family friend who decides to take her in as one of her own. When high school is added to the mix, she must learn how to cope with her past...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Go ahead and watch my heart burn With the fire that you started in me But I'll never let you back to put it out" —Billie Eilish
My fingers shake as I stare at her in shock. I didn't need a mirror to know all the color was drained from my face. My blood ran ice cold in my veins. That odd, yet seemingly familiar shiver of distress tingled through my spine.
How did she find me?
Better yet, why was she here?
"Mother," I choked out. My hand tightened around Holly's and out of my peripheral vision, I saw Reid and the Marshmallows shift closer to me. Reid stood directly by my shoulder, his big hand gently set on the small of my back.
"You have no idea how long I've been looking for you," her honey eyes squinted as she gave me a displeased once over.
Her eyes were the only thing I received from her, thank god. She had icy blonde hair, while I had my dads beautiful brown locks. Her lips were tiny and chapped, while mine were cherry and plump.
But of course, I just had to have her eyes. The eyes that looked at me like I was the most disgusting thing in the world. The eyes that judged me without even having to say words. The eyes that watched me suffer as she struck me with the hands that raised me.
There was a long, eerie pause. Silence became our language while tension became our interaction, but that didn't last for long.
"Why, if I'll be damned. You're pregnant," she lets out a boisterous laugh that makes the hair on my neck stand at attention.
"I always knew you were a whore," she sneered. She looks around the group, taking in the faces of my family. Her eyes zero in on Reid, they flicker back to me, then to Reid again. "And I assume, you are the father?"
She takes a step closer, almost toe to toe with Reid. "I'm sorry you have to live with such a disgrace, your poor child will have a bitch for a mother."
Her statement stings more than salt on a wound. An unwanted build up of tears prick my eyes and threaten to spill at any moment.
Although, her words seem to ignite a fire in Reid. His stern face pinches and his nostrils flare. He takes a protective stance in front of me and stares daggers into my mothers eyes.
"I think you need to check yourself. If anything, you're the bitch. Meredith hasn't done anything to make you hate her so much. And if you think—even for a second—that this," he points a finger between himself and her, "little reunion is okay, you're sorely wrong."
Mothers eyes flash with something foreign, but it's gone as fast as it came, before I could even decipher what it was. She puts her mask of hate back on and looks over Reid's shoulder to me.
