Her Miracle

CHAPTER 24

I propped my right elbow, squinting as I welcomed the ray of sunshine that shone through my window. My quilt draped over my body keeping me warm this early morning. The digital clock on my nightstand showed 6:30 A.M., earlier than my usual wake up time.

“Today is going to be a good day,” I whisper to myself a mantra I felt like saying because of how good I felt. This is unusual. Uneasy-gripping vibe. 

"Today is going to be a good day, Andyyyy..." I groaned to myself repeatedly pressing my palms to my face rubbing my eyes to wake myself. 

Maybe one of the reasons my body told me to wake up was, it’s my second day of walking myself to school. Even if I was entirely drenched in the rain last night with Titus, it was a moment of exuberance. It was exhausting playing under the rain but it’s more exhausting listening to your mom’s arguments. Aiden did save me… for the first time. They were the ones that argued and as well as Zach.

By the thought of it, Aiden and Zach teaming up against mom meant that they were better now. They’re now friends. I don’t want to know the truth of Aiden's speculation behind our mom not being in the hospital after her hours. Most importantly, I don’t want to know what mom has to say. But there’s this tiny inch of curiosity inside me that wants to know since it’s my fault that mom is acting this way. The accident is my fault. 

I dragged myself towards my locked cabinet and retrieved the canned biscuit that has all my savings. Not that I only wanted all this money but I also learned how to be more responsible and how to handle things. Chester also imparted some wisdom down to me together with Titus. I might be alone in this journey in this life I chose, at least I did grow some courage. 

"Woahh... what the hell?" I sighed in disbelief of my own saved money. 

Two thousand bucks or two grand is not that bad. The crumpled bills I set aside that came from my pocket and the stacked ones that came from Eleanor’s. All these bills are the fruit of my hard work. 

I shove it back in after stacking them up neatly and placed the elastics to keep it arranged. Afterward, I went for a shower.

The crisp cold water made me jump in surprise as it collided with my skin. I turned the shower knob the wrong way, expecting it to be warm but it was the other way around. 

 I hissed at myself, “Oh, s**t! Cold! Cold! Cold!”

Taking a shower didn’t take long. I proceed to wear clothes I find and not bothering to match them up like how Izzy matches her clothes. ‘Plains and prints’ is her line. Always. She connects it about life too which does seem right and wrong at the same time. It feels ironic, yes. All she meant was balance. It’s just she places so many flowery words to it that makes it conflicting. 

I settled for a baseball tee, black jeans, and high-cut Chuck Taylor. To sort of complete the look, I wore the baseball cap I’ve received as a hand-me-down from my brothers before. It still looked good and wearable. The way the color has faded and worn out made it have this vintage vibe. ‘HS’ and ‘24’ embroidered on it all in dark blue. The cap was dark blue in color but the embroidery had this darker shade to it making it appear to pop out.

My assignments were wet but it’s fine. I can rewrite them tonight since my subjects alternate every day. It’s due tomorrow. I grab the extra Jansport backpack I’ve got which is, by the way, also a hand-me-down… and stuck in my binders, pens, and paper. 

Before I step out of my room, I take one last look at what I wore in the mirror. But instead, my eyes land on my face. My damp blonde hair is longer than how it’s supposed to be, both tucked behind my ears. I hate that I look like my mom and I can’t do anything about it. 

"Pshhh.... Crap..." I say to myself. I could loathe myself repeatedly and still feel the same way. The cycle is endless. I have no choice but to stuck up to all this because she's my mom. 

No negativities. No thinking of mom. Just positive energy. Let it all flow.

I rushed down the stairs, nobody seemed to be up yet and my mom doesn’t look like she’s here so I went straight to the kitchen to snuck some Strawberry-flavored pop tarts inside my bag. Only to see either Aiden or Zach shuffling things inside our refrigerator. 

I call dibs that it's Aiden. Who else? Zach doesn’t do kitchen stuff. And I was right. He closed the door and he glared at me. I nodded at him and went for the cupboard that held our snacks. 

I mutter, “Good morning, Aiden…” 

“Morning, Andy. I hope you have no colds after playing in the rain.”

“I’m fine. Thank you, by the way.” I reached for the pop tart packets and shoved them inside my bag. “About mom… last night. For sort of defending me. But I don’t want to know what her side-hustle is. Just don’t.”

A pleasant morning with no arguments. Life would’ve been prettier this way. If only, it could be like this. Life's better with no arguments. A bad day or your anger can simply just be affecting everyone so please be kind. I choose to be kind in my own little way even if the entire town sees the accident more than who I really am. It sucks but I can't do anything about it. I'm tired of completely doing something about it.

“You can ask for it any time when you’re ready to know what she revealed. And I think I needed to stand up for you. She’s really getting out of hand.” He scoffed. 

“Are you and Zach okay now?” I asked him patiently. 

“We are… on good terms now. Thankfully. I’m sorry really… I didn’t want you to know that way.” He explains. “I had plans but just not that... “ 

“Sometimes things just don’t end up the way we want them to.” I cleared my throat because my throat was itching. “Just to make things clear, I’m not mad at you for being gay or bisexual or I don’t know what you identify yourself. At the end of the day, you come home and you’re my brother. It’s just I felt betrayed… Kai wasn’t honest. You weren’t. So yeah…” 

My entire life, I think Aiden threw hints that he wasn’t straight. I never understood and let it be. Aiden was Willoughby’s eye candy, heartthrob, hot Lacrosse player, and whatsoever and beneath those labels is something I knew. I might be the town’s outcast but I knew him better. 

“You should talk to Kai. Stop letting him reach your voicemail.” He says to me like daggers. 

“I didn’t want to talk because I might say words I didn’t mean. I didn’t want to answer because I wanted to cool down first… to get my head straight and understand the situation. I’m also sorry that I called you out indirectly in front of Zach… but between Zach and me, he is your twin and he needs to know.” I responded raising both my hands up swearing in honesty of what I said. 

I never knew when I’ve gotten so much wisdom from but I feel a huge weight lifted off my chest this early morning. A real relief this time. The secret is off my brother’s chest and mine, I guess? It feels surreal but I want to live it as long as the moment is still there. It’s an opportunity for change. 

I continued, “The moment I saw you both together… I intentionally let your phone calls reach my voicemail. But days after, I just keep forgetting my phone. I was too busy with my own world. Engrossed with the little things in my own headspace. But I’ll talk to Kai soon…”

“Won’t you stay for breakfast?” He asked, leaning on the counter. 

“No, but thanks! I have to get to school early today…” I shrugged. I just feel good but I don't know. There's a lot to look forward to. 

“Why?” His brows wiggled at me teasingly.

“Well, I don’t know if Izzy and I are still friends. First, she bailed out on me during the carnival. I’ve called her a hundred times and she won’t pick up. When I went to school, her car wasn’t in her driveway anymore. I saw her and she didn’t bother apologizing…” I groaned. 

“That explains why you want to walk early. Exercise… I see. I see,” He nods at me crossing his arms together. 

“Okay, I’ve gotta go. Thanks, Aiden!” In a swift movement, I strode across the kitchen and led out to the front door. 

Only to see a weird surprise. 

A bike? From who? What? What's this? 

There was a post-it that stuck at the front with ‘For you, Andy.’ No signs of who gave it. It might be Titus… but I don’t know. Chester? Maybe… Kai? 

Seeing that I have a bike now won’t take minutes of walking. I called out to the kitchen. “I changed my mind!”

“What?” Aiden grinned.

“I can stay and have breakfast.” I’m still amused. I should figure out who gave this to me. I examined the yellow post-it. The handwriting was neat. Equal in all sides and used a gel ink that wasn’t pressed onto the paper. It was written down gently with the accuracy of not making the gel blot to the paper. Not to be judgemental but this writing is somewhat a girl’s. Too neat for a high school guy. 

He winked at me while he prepped the frying pan onto the stove. “Good! We’ll have hotdogs and eggs. There’s coffee if you like some.” 

Everything has its own time. You just have to wait for it. Feel it. Believe it. But most especially, trust the process.