SIERRA'S EYES FLUTTERED OPEN as the sun was setting. The fading sun-rays inside her room illuminated her body as she sat up, wincing at the pounding in her head. She pressed her palm to the side of her forehead, wanting the pressure to get rid of the ache.
She heard footsteps outside of her bedroom and whipped her head to the door. It was left ajar, but she couldn't see outside. She threw the blanket to the side and stood up.
Opening the door, she was met with an interesting view of Kyle sitting on her couch, Netflix on her television, typing furiously on his tablet keyboard. She raised a brow and walked more into the light.
Kyle looked up, and immediately abandoned whatever he was doing.
"How are you feeling?" He asked, walking up to her.
"I've been better."
His lips quirked upwards. "Why don't you come eat? I bought dinner, and we already have dessert."
Sierra nodded, realizing how empty her stomach was. She hadn't eaten anything other than a cupcake in the morning.
Kyle guided her to her dining table, and pulled up a chair for her. She leaned on her elbows watching him go about her tiny kitchen, searching for the dinner he promised.
Within five minutes, he served her a big bowl of rice with lots of veggies and grilled chicken. He gave her a bottle of soy sauce, insisting that it was the best way to eat the rice bowl. "Most of my family doesn't like it, but I do," he said.
Sierra gave it a shot, and poured it a little over her white rice. She had never been one to eat soy sauce, but she supposed she didn't lose anything by trying.
Kyle went about to serve himself some of the food too, claiming he had been waiting for her to wake up. She smiled as she indulged in the delicious meal.
"So," Kyle started, breaking the comfortable silence, "I never got to wish you a proper happy birthday."
"It hasn't been quite happy, so save your breath."
"Can you tell me what happened?" He furrowed his brows. "We saw your parents leave, so I guess it has to do with them."
"Yeah, I don't have the best relationship with them," she explained. She sighed thinking back to her and her mother's outbursts. Her father was the one trying to set things right, but they were past the calming point by then.
"Did they say something to you?"
She snorted. "That's the understatement of the year." Recalling her mother's hurtful words, she almost wanted to puke her dinner out. Her mother was always so vile, but she didn't think she would say something so terrible to her own child.
"My mother...she's a difficult person to please." Sierra shook her head. "I have never been able to please her." The only time her mother saved her hurtful comments was on the day of her high school graduation. Right after that, she was bombarded with insults left and right about her choice to move out into the city and find a job of her own.
What was the point of staying anyway?
They were going to cut her off whether she lived with them or not. They had said so already. She would just pay rent to them, so she figured she'd move out and be herself without the nagging and criticism.
Unfortunately, the nagging and criticism followed her to her apartment where she believed she wasn't good enough for anything, and succumbed to overthinking and stress.
"What does she want from you?" He asked.
"Success." The world alone made her shudder. "And since she never sees it in me, she always tells me I'm a failure. I've always been a failure to her."
YOU ARE READING
Forever Enigmatic
General Fiction"Distracting myself is the only way I can survive." Sierra Jenkins didn't think she'd escape the darkness unharmed, but there she was walking into The Gain trying to live a normal life. Just when she thinks everything is too good to be true, she's...
