Elizabeth lingered for a moment near me, making sure I wasn't going to climb out the window and then left me alone in my new room. I sat down on the bed that had been placed there, and rested my head in my hands. "I need to get out of here," I said, and sighed deeply. I'd already been there for ten whole minutes, and I was already planning my escape route. Why don't you give it a try? She might not be as bad as you think she is. The voice was right; I'd give my mother one chance.

"Hey Eliza…uh, I mean mom?" I said, walking out of the bedroom and into the hallway, searching for her.

"Yes, dear?" her voice said from the little alcove that was a kitchen.

"Do you think I could go out for a bit?" I asked, my voice breaking slightly. I hadn't gone out in awhile, and I didn't know if I'd be able to do it again.

"Sure. Where were you thinking of going? Do you need a ride?"

"I was going to hang out with my boyfriend for a bit. It's been about a week or two since I've last seen him, so I wanted to see him," I explained, feeling my heart beat rapidly just thinking about him. "And I can just catch the bus. He doesn't live that far."

"Sure. Just be back for dinner at six."

I nodded and went back into my room, pulling my cell phone from the bedside table and my wallet, and ran out the door without a word. I waited at the bus stop, jumping from foot to foot, excited to finally see my boyfriend again. I got on the bus and was headed back to my old town where I was going to see my boyfriend, Ryan. I got off at the right bus stop, and began walking down the familiar street.

"Good afternoon there Leandra," his neighbor, Mr. Marks, called to me.

"Hello Mr. Marks. How is everything?" I replied cheerily.

"Peachy keen darling."

I walked up the front steps of my boyfriends' house and knocked on the door briskly, putting a smile on my face. It faded immediately as someone I didn't recognize answered the door. "Hello?" she asked. She was fairly pretty, with blonde hair and blue eyes.

"Hi. I'm here to see Ryan. Is he home?" I asked haltingly.

"Yeah, one second. Ryan! There's a girl here to see you," she said, jealousy dripping from her every word.

I saw him come down the stairs, and he looked at me for a moment and his eyes went wide and his mouth dropped open. "Evelynn?"

"Yeah…who else?" I asked, surprised that he was surprised.

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to see my boyfriend. Did I do something wrong?" I asked, fear gripping me.

"Your boyfriend? Uh, listen honey," the girl said. "This is my boyfriend. I don't know where you got your information from."

My boyfriend was cheating on me! What the hell? "Pardon me?" I said to the girl, infuriated by her attitude. I grabbed her hair and pulled her out of the house, throwing her to the ground. Ryan tried to stop me, but I sent him a stare that stopped him in his tracks. "Don't you ever fucking talk to me like that. Do you understand me? And you! How long have you been cheating on me? Huh!?" Tears welled up in my eyes, and I looked at him, pleadingly.

"Evelynn, listen. You didn't return any of my calls, and I thought you were done with me, so I kinda…asked out another girl," Ryan said, blushing furiously, and putting his hand behind his head.

"My parents just died you fucking asshole! That's why I didn't fucking call you! You know what then? Fine. It is over. Have your whore then," I said and stormed off, leaving Ms. Bimbo on the front steps of my ex-boyfriends front step, crying. He didn't bend down to pick her up. I don't how long I ran for, but I ended up running to my old house and practically collapsing in the driveway, crying. My phone vibrated in my pocket; it was Ryan calling me, so I didn't answer. I didn't want to talk to him right now. "Why is my life falling apart? Is this your idea of a joke? Because if it is, it isn't funny Lord!"

So, I ran through a list of events in my mind that had happened to me. My parents die, my family is separated from me, I get sent to a new part of town, my birth-mother has finally decided to become a part of my life, my boyfriend cheats on me and then we break up, and now I'm sitting in front of the damned house crying. There must be some sort of lesson behind all this, but I couldn't think of one at all. Then, for no reason at all, I started laughing. I think I was going into hysterics because I suddenly found it all very funny, and I got a few stares as people passed me on the street.

I lay on the front lawn, stretching my arms up above my head and looked up at the cloudy sky and saw the sunset. My cell phone vibrated again and I pulled it out; it was Elizabeth. "Hello?" I asked warily.

"Hey honey," she said. "Where are you? It's almost six."

I glanced at my clock and it was 5:52pm. "Oh, I'm uh…at the park."

"Are you with your boyfriend."

"No," I said harshly, and she could tell something was wrong.

"Do you want me to come get you and we can talk? I'm here for you, you know?" she said.

"Sure," I said and told her the location of the nearest park and I hung up. I began walking down the road towards the park and sat on the swings, waiting for my mom to pull up in her Ford. While I sat there, I watched the children play on the playground and began to remember all the things I used to do with my mother and father before they broke up. I miss those days. I'm definitely going to give her a chance. I heard a horn honk, and I got up from the swings and ran to the now familiar car and jumped in, smiled half-heartedly to my mother and we drove away.

"So, what happened?" she asked once we were a far enough distance away from the playground.

"I don't want to talk about it," I said, staring out the window.

"Evelynn Liana Michaels, why don't you want to talk to me?" she said, using my full name. I hated when she did that.

"Because I don't feel like it. Is that okay? God!" I said, looking first to her then out the window. We pulled into the underground parking lot of the apartments that we now lived in, and I climbed out even before the car had turned off and went to the door where the elevator was and pulled out my key. Taking a deep breath, I went to put my key in the door when it opened suddenly, and there before me, stood a young man, about eighteen and he stared at me for a moment.

"Sorry," he said in a deep voice, and stepped aside for me to walk through. My mom caught up to me and was behind me, looking at him quickly, then to me.

"Oh, that's alright," I said quietly and blushed, then walked past him and into the elevator, my mom stepping in after me. Before the door closed, I got one last look at the mysterious guy and smiled to him. He flashed his teeth back to me and I leaned against the wall and the door closed. I wonder where he lives. Probably here to visit his girlfriend or something, I thought to myself and my smile faded.

When we were back inside the apartment, I went into my room and opened my phone to see I had a voice mail; it was from Ryan. Taking a breath, I listened to his desperate pleas of forgiveness and how sorry he was and everything, so I called him back. "Hello Ryan," I said, keeping my voice from cracking.

"Evelynn, I am so sorry, you don't know how sorry I am. I panicked, I didn't know what else to do, so I did the first thing that came to mind," he said.

"What? To not even call me and to go out with some other chick because I couldn't call you for two weeks, because my parents died?" I said, not giving him a chance to speak. "Do you realize how petty that sounds?"

"I know, and I'm sorry. I broke up with Chantal, please take me back. Please?" he said, his voice pleading and sounding cute. That was one reason I fell in love with him: his ability to make me feel loved with his voice. But, this time wouldn't work. I was done with love, and I was done with Ryan.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, thinking about him and his face, and everything we'd been through. I did this for about three seconds, and then, I took him from my heart. "Ryan," I said. "It's over. I don't want to see you anymore. And I think it'd be best if we weren't friends for now. Goodbye." Then, I hung up and sat down on my bed. I could just imagine Ryan's face, and how sad he felt; we'd been through so much together, having slept with each other only a week before my parents passed on. I loved him, but I was taught never to put up with those kind of actions, so I did what I had to.

"That's why you didn't want to talk about it," my mom said, stepping in and sitting next to me. She put her arm around me and pulled my head towards her shoulder, where I rested willingly. "Guys aren't worth your tears. Some things are more important." Elizabeth may not have been a good mother, but she was a good shoulder to cry on, that much I remembered from my early childhood. I took a breath, to steady my rapidly beating heart and began to cry. I must have fallen asleep because when I opened my eyes, it was dark outside and I was laying down on my bed, still dressed

I walked out into the living room and glanced at the clock, it was nine o'clock. I went into the kitchen, and there was a bowl of salad with some chicken strips on it, waiting to be eaten. I searched the kitchen until I found the drawer with the utensils in it, and pulled out a fork and knife, then rummaged through the fridge looking for the salad dressing and settled on ranch. I went over to the dining room, which was part of the living room, and sat down at the table and began to eat. I didn't realize how hungry I was, and I was done within ten minutes.

"I was wondering when you'd wake up," I heard a voice say, and I looked up to see my mother, in a deep purple house robe and her hair in a messy ponytail. She looked like me on my best day, and I giggled at the thought. "What? Is my robe open?" Elizabeth quickly checked herself, hearing my giggle.

"No," I said and smiled. "You just look like me on my best day." She laughed with me. It was good to hear someone else's laughter after so long without it, and it felt good to laugh as well.

"Well, I'm going to bed. I have to work tomorrow. Will you be alright here by yourself tomorrow? I can take the day off, or you can invite a friend over or something," she said, looking at me with a worried expression.

"I'll be okay. I'll probably call Nana and talk to my brother and sister," I said, which was something I had been planning to do for a while.

"Okay," she said and walked over to me, bent down and kissed me on the head. "Have a good night dear. I love you, and I'm happy you're here."

"Me too, mom. Me too," I said and watched her walk off into her bedroom. After I had finished my salad, I went into my room and pulled out all my bathroom accessories from my suitcase and went into the bathroom, first brushing my teeth, then washing my face, and brushing through my hair thoroughly. I looked in the mirror, and for a moment, thought I saw Elizabeth, but it was only me. Then, I too, went to bed, and slept peacefully for the first time in three weeks.