Page 13 of Mending Scars

At dinner that night, I waited until everyone had plated their food before I brought it up. “You know that project I’ve been working on? For my biology class?”“

What about it, sweetheart?” Dad responded as he picked at his food. He always seemed to be somewhere else, not really with us.

A smile spread over my face as I excitedly replied, “Well, we got our grades, and I got an A! I was so—”

“That’s nice, Kaiya,” Mom interrupted. Her tone was dismissive and uninterested. “How was your day, Kaleb?” She asked brightly, turning her attention to him.

My head hung as I focused on my plate, trying not to cry. Mom never cared about me. She was only concerned about Kaleb and Kamden.

I always tried to sit between Kamden and Dad so I wouldn’t have to be near Kaleb. Kamden nudged me and leaned in closer, giving me a beaming grin. “Proud of you,sorella.Great job.”

A small smile tugged at my lips.

At least someone cares.

Kamden asked me more questions about my day, and I ignored Kaleb and Mom for the rest of dinner.

Maybe she never loved me—she never seemed to care.I sighed and focused back on my phone, dispelling the memory of my mom to type my reply.

Me: Idk maybe

My head hurt thinking about the whole situation. I put my phone down on my desk and pinched the bridge of my nose.

Who would want to do this to me?

I thought about my mom again. We’d never been close, but I was still her daughter. Plus, she didn’t have my number, and I knew Kam wouldn’t give it to her, so it wasn’t likely that it was her.

But then who could it be?

I had a presentation to finish for a new client that afternoon, so I blocked out everything else to focus on it. I had way too much to do that day to spend time worrying about something I had no control over.

Ryker will know what to do… I hope.

Therapy with Kam was not what I wanted to do after the day I’d had. My head had been throbbing since the morning, and it was hard to concentrate on anything other than that stupid text message.

We had just sat down on the couch in Dr. Lowell’s office when she opened with her usual question. “How have you been feeling?”

Kamden sighed and rubbed his hands together. “This week’s been hard.”

“And why is that?” she asked.

He didn’t answer for several seconds. “My mom’s been calling and leaving me harassing messages.”

My head jerked toward him. “What?” I questioned angrily, my voice shrill. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t want you to worry. You worry about me enough as it is.”

My head throbbed more from what Kamden had just told me.

Maybe my mom is sending those texts—trying to harass both of us for what happened with Kaleb.

Dr. Lowell interrupted my thoughts when she asked Kamden, “How do you feel about that?”

Kamden balled his fists. “Upset. Angry. Guilty.”

“Don’t listen to Mom’s bullshit, Kam. She doesn’t know what the fuck she’s talking about. You have no reason to feel guilty.” I blurted out, pissed off about the whole situation.

I am so done with this day.

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