Page 73 of A Vicious Rumor

I leaned against one of the trunks, trying to feel the life within the oak. Trees were this amazing thing to me. They lived their entire lives in one place, yet that made them stronger. They weren't moving from place to place. They just stayed put and let the world give them what they needed to survive. And the world did.

I shook my head as I leaned against the old tree, the bark pressing into my back. I'd changed myself so much. Moved myself around both physically and emotionally for people.

And for what?

For money?

For popularity?

None of that was making me happy. My future was arguably more secure than it had ever been, and I'd never been more miserable.

I needed to find my footing again. Just like the tree I was leaning against, it burrowed its roots deep into the ground. Not even the strongest winds could knock it over now. I needed to find a way to do this, otherwise I would just continue to jump around, never able to grow into my full potential.

I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket.

"Hey, mom," I said when she picked up.

"Honey, what's the matter?" she asked. Mom could always tell when I was upset.

"Can you come get me? I'm at the King's?"

"Of course," she said, not even questioning it. "I'll be there in twenty minutes. Are you safe?"

"Yeah," I said. "I'm safe. I just want to come home. Don't pull up the driveway, okay? Just wait on the road."

"Okay," she said. "Be there in a jiffy."

I made the slow walk through the forest, touching each tree branch as I made my way through the underbrush, trying to draw whatever strength I could from each one and set an intention that would help guide any decisions I was about to make.

My mom managed to get there in record time, which meant she definitely broke a couple of speed limits, but I didn't care. I loved that she was there for me in this moment. When I wasn't finding my own strength, she was letting me pull from hers.

I climbed into the old Town Car and smiled. It felt so good to just be in a regular car again, and not in some fancy Bentley, Maserati, Porsche, or whatever Zachary wanted to drive to school that day.

"You just rest, sweetheart. Seems like you had a long day," she said.

I nodded my head and curled up in the passenger seat. She didn't ask me questions the entire drive. She just let me drift in and out of sleep, and before I knew it, we were pulling into the driveway of our house.

"You just want to go to bed honey?" she asked me, gently rousing me from my sleep.

"Is that okay?" I asked her, feeling bad that I hadn't given her any explanation for the sudden emergency rescue.

"Of course," she said. "We've got all weekend and then a lifetime after that to talk."

"Thanks, Mom," I said, giving her a big hug. We walked into the house together and I took a deep breath. It smelled like home. I couldn't put my finger on exactly what the scent was. Maybe a mix of cinnamon and love, but I didn't care. It was what I really needed right now.

I made my way up to my room. I glanced at the half empty bottle of gold paint I'd left on my dresser. I wanted to dump it in the trash, but I also knew that was just my emotions trying to make decisions for me. I didn't want to give them that power.

Tomorrow was another day.

I could sort it all out then.

I came downstairs in the morning to the smell of waffles, except for the fact that the perfectness of it all was ruined by my mother's hushed voice on the phone.

"I've told you before, I filed for protection under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. You are not supposed to be calling me!"

I paused at the bottom of the stairs, my heart rate increasing just a bit. It was all too much of a reminder that there was a reason that I took the deal Scissors cut me in the first place. All of this could go away if I could just come through with what he needed.

I heard my mom put her phone down and take a deep sigh. I made my way into the kitchen and caught the last bit of exhaustion on her face before it shifted into a warm smile just for me. "Hi honey," she said.

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