Page 7 of Falling With a Spin
“Wow, that sounds awesome. You'll have to send me pictures once you come back.” I smile at the thought of her going on another trip. She works too hard, and it’s rare for her to take a break and relax.
“Don’t worry. I will, and I might bring you something back,” Mom says, breathless. What in the world could she be doing?
“Mom, what are you doing?” Concern and worry drips from my voice.
“Cleaning the house, It’s just so dirty right now.” I chuckle because, of course, she thinks her place is dirty. “Anyways, how are you and Chad doing? I still haven’t met the guy yet.”
“We are doing well.” I lean against the wall and look up at the ceiling with a huge smile. “He is taking me somewhere tomorrow for our first anniversary. I might be able to come home for fall break; I’ll bring him then. I promise.”
“Okay, sweetie, I’m looking forward to it.” I push off the wall and restart the dusting again, shifting awkwardly to reach a particular area. “Anyways, I'm going to head to bed. It’s getting late, and I'm not getting any younger.”
“Okay, Mom, it was nice hearing from you. I love you.”
“I love you too, peanut. '' She finishes and ends the call.
I turn the music back on, grabbing the broom to start sweeping. Next thing I know, I’m spinning around from the kitchen to the living room, letting my body feel the music. Letting everything inside me loose as I’ve always done with dancing and having the movements relieve everything I worry about. The smile on my face drops when a pain goes through my knee, and I remember that something is missing and it won’t ever be like that again. I drop the broom, leaving it in the living room to turn off the music. To stop the darkness before it creeps in.
After a couple hours of complete silence, the entire place is spotless, and my anxiety has lessened. I walk back into my room to finish my bathroom and sort the laundry, which I will start tomorrow. A knock at the front door startles me, and I glance toward the clock. Taylor won’t be home for at least a couple more hours, and she won’t knock anyway. I walk over to the door open to find Chad standing there.
“Hey, babe.” He leans in, kisses me on the cheek, and walks past me to sit on the couch.
Closing the door, I look at him in confusion, wondering why he is here. I sit down next to him, and he wraps his arm around my shoulder, and I lean into his warmth.
“ I love having you here, but why are you?” I say softly, looking up at him.
“We talked about it on the phone earlier, remember?” He brushes back a piece of hair that fell, but confusion floods my face.
“No, I don’t remember.” I scoot back from him. The conversation was short and sweet on my way home from work.
“How am I not surprised?” He says under his breath, trying to hide it.
“Excuse me? What did you say?” I lean away from him, taken back by his comment.
“Nothing. We discussed this on your way home today, but you clearly don’t remember it.” He chuckles, but it's humorless.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t remember that conversation. You could have texted me a reminder.”
“Seriously?” he asks, heading for the door. “Well, I hope you remember our anniversary tomorrow. I can text you a reminder if you need it.”
He walks out the door, slamming it closed, and I just sit there, unsure of what happened.
We didn’t talk about it, right? I rake through my head of our conversation, and tears come to my head when nothing comes up, frustration building up in me.
I take a deep breath and walk towards my bedroom. Laying down, I pull the covers to my chin as the silent sobs rack through me.
Chapter 2
Emma
Today started terribly, with my anxiety getting the best of me. Last night's fight with Chad left me worried and second-guessing the phone call.
Did he tell me that he was coming? I rub the sleep from my eyes, trying to make sense of everything.
Anxiety has always been something I’ve struggled with since my parents divorced. Dance was my escape, making everything more manageable. But now, I push through it by listening to music or counting to ten until everything around me stops ringing. Most days, nothing calms the raging storm in my mind.
Taking a deep breath, I tell myself that everything will be okay because it will be. Right? I pull myself together and get ready for school. Walking out of my room and into the kitchen, I grab a granola bar and shove it in my bag and fill a cup with some coffee and vanilla creamer. As I close the lid to the mug and turn around to leave, a small scream leaves me when I see the same guy from yesterday walk out of Taylor’s room in just a towel. He runs a hand through his short black hair, spraying little water droplets everywhere. He stops mid-step and looks up, smirking at me.
“W-what are you doing here?” I ask, my words come out in a stutter as I struggle to get the lid to the coffee mug on.