The Silence Between Us

A Mom's Advice

Chapter 29:

"Mom?" I called out tentatively, terrified that I was actually about to go through with this.

Mae, Clara, and I talked it out this morning. I didn't know how to approach this, hell, I still don't know how I'm going to talk to my mom. I can't bring myself to tell her that I've been keeping this a secret from her for years. The one thing that we did figure out was that it would be best to not put any makeup on the nasty bruise that formed on my face. It was probably for the best if I was going to tell my mom that I wasn't going to hide things from her anymore if I didn't try to hide what happened to my face.

"In the kitchen!" She replied almost immediately.

I don't know why my entire body froze up, but I just couldn't take another step towards her. I didn't want to go in there and have her see my face, and then tell her that I've been being bullied for years. How would she react? Would she be mad at me? Would she hate me for keeping this a secret from her for so long?

"What are you standing over by the door for? Come over and talk to me, Louisa. I want to hear about your day!" My mom called out again.

I cannot do this. I can't. I just can't. I thought I could when I had Mae and Clara giving me the confidence I needed. But now...without them? I don't think I had the courage to do it on my own.

"Louisa?"

"What are you doing by the door?"

Both twins appeared on my sides just like always, being the support that I desperately needed. I was so damn lucky to have these two in my life.

"Nothing." I said, squatting down so I could be at eye level with them. "Just thinking that's all."

They both paused and one of them gasped next to me. I shut my eyes tightly and nearly groaned out loud when I realized my bruise that I had briefly forgotten about was still very noticeable. This was the last thing that I wanted to do, show the twins. I was such an idiot. Would they think less of their big sister now because they knew she was being bullied?

One of the twins, Oliver since he was on my left side, ran his fingers across the side of my face where the bruise was. I tried not to flinch from his touch. Even though Oliver was being gentle, it still hurt badly if even the tiniest of pressure was placed on it.

"You're telling her today, aren't you? That's why you won't go into the kitchen?" Dylan's small voice piped up from my right.

I nearly strained my neck from how fast I whipped my head around in his direction. How did... "What are you talking about?" I blurted out, completely shocked at what he said.

He shrugged, shifting his weight from foot to foot like he did when he was nervous. "We know. That you're being bullied and all. We figured it out years ago..."

I stood there completely shocked. They knew? After all this time, after all these years? How did they know? How did they figure it out? A million other questions ran through my head as I stood there, dumfounded.

"You didn't have to tell us...we knew what was going on from the start. The way you would never hang out with any of your friends, how you refused to draw in your sketchbook, then how you were always so sad when you came home. And don't be mad, but we read your diary once we knew something odd was going on with you."

I instantly paled when they said that. They read my diary? I wrote about everything that happened in there. And when I say everything, I mean everything. Every little prank Cora would pull, every remark she would make, any way she would hurt me. All of that was in there.