Wondering Minds

Chapter 16

I stood in front of the fridge thinking about what I was going to eat before my morning run.

I picked up a banana and started chowing down on it.

"Luna, what are you doing up at six in the morning?" Mom says rubbing her eyes.

"I'm going for a morning run."

She looked at me confused, "I've never seen you work out before..."

"Well...I'm a new person now." I take another bite of my banana.

Mom shook her head and then went back to bed. Ever since I kind of conquered my fear of grocery stores, I've been feeling like a brand new person.

I walked out the door with my water bottle in my backpack and earbuds in my ears. I started running down the street until I reached the park.

"This park looks familiar," I said to myself. I stopped my run to look deeper into the park. I walked to the lake with the ducks.

"What the... I remember this was in my dream..." All of a sudden I felt a rush of panic.

"I got to get out of here." I rushed back home almost in a full-blown panic.

I stood on my porch huffing and puffing with my hands on my knees.

After a few minutes, I managed to calm myself down. I closed my eyes and took in the air around me. "Okay."

I opened my eyes and looked towards the door which had a note on it. I walked up closer to the door and snatched it off the door.

In big red letters, it reads: "Eviction Notice! Thirty days to exit the premises."

"What the f**k!" I burst into the house, "Mom! Mom!"

I opened the door to her room. "What the heck is this Mom?!" I shoved the paper in her face.

Mom takes the paper and looks closely, "No! This can't be true!" She jumped out of bed.

"I thought you had this handled!"

Mom ignored me and quickly got dressed.

"Mom! Are you listening?!" I yelled.

Mom slipped on her shoes, "Luna! Don't worry about it, I'm about to talk to the landlord right now." She rushed to the bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face.

"Can I go with you?"

"No... I can take care of this. Go hang out with your friends or something." Mom says. I sighed and walked into the living room as I plopped down on the couch.

I watched as Mom ran out of her room and the door. I sat there in deep thought about how I was going to be homeless sleeping on the sidewalk.

I pulled out my phone to call Braden, "Hello? Braden?"

On the other end, I could hear Braden yawning. "What's up?"

"Braden, I got a serious problem..." I said about to cry.

"What is it?" Braden says tiredly.

"Me and my Mom is going to get evicted from our home..."

"What?! What happened?" Braden says. I sigh loudly, "I'm not for sure... All I know is that about a month ago, she said she was struggling to pay the bills. I offered to help pay the bills but she just told me to focus on my anxiety."

"Maybe I could help a little... I'll be over in a minute," Braden says while getting out of bed.

"Okay," I hung up the phone and lay down on the couch. I turned on the TV to get my mind off the eviction notice.

Ten minutes passed by and I started to sweat from the nervousness. I picked up my phone and called my Mom.

Several rings later and her phone goes straight to voicemail. "Ugh! Pick up." I said frustrated. I laid down on the couch and closed my eyes.

The knock on the door made my heart jump out of my chest. I ran to the door to see Braden standing there with money in his hand. He walked in the house and handed me the money, "Here you go, I know it's not much but it's two hundred dollars."

"Where did you get this from?" I unfolded the money to take a look at it.

"It was money I was saving up..."

I looked down at the money, "No... I can't take this." I tried to hand him back the money.

"No, the money wasn't for something good." He pushes my hand back. I shamelessly put the money in my pocket.

Braden walked over to the couch and sat down. I sat down next to him, "Why help me?"

He stared into my eyes, "You're my friend and friends help each other." He smiled as he placed his hand on top of mine.

I felt a rush of guilt as our feelings didn't match. "Thank you so much, I don't know what I'll do without you."

Braden's hand slowly moved to my thigh as we looked each other in the eyes.

Suddenly, there was another knock on the door, this time scaring us both. Braden quickly moved his hand and I got up to answer the door.

My Dad appeared in the doorway with Mom standing next to him. "Hi, baby girl."

"Uh, hi Dad... What are you doing here?" I said hesitantly. My Dad walked into the house and saw Braden sitting on the couch.

"Now, what is that Braden guy doing here?"

Mom rushes in, "Leave Braden alone, Darrell, he's a really sweet guy... Unlike you..." Mom walked over to Braden and gave him a hug.

I could see my Dad's irritability, "So, you're just going to let our daughter go down the wrong path."

"Why do you always think I'm leading our children down the wrong path!?" Mom says angrily and hurt.

"Uh oh... Here we go again." I thought to myself.

"Look where Lucas is at! He's sitting behind bars because you never disciplined him!" Dad yells.

Braden stares at me scared to move an inch.

"What?! I disciplined Lucas, but he never listened!

I stood in front of them, "Please stop..." I said, but they ignored me. "Maybe I should've had custody of the kids!" Dad says.

As they argued back in forth I started to have flashbacks to when I was a kid. When they used to argue every night, scared things would get violent.

I started to breathe frantically as I backed up against a wall. I slid down the wall with tears in my eyes as they continued to argue. Braden rushed to me, "Are you okay?"

I didn't respond as I sat there shaking and about to cry uncontrollably. Braden shook me to try to snap me out of it, "Luna... Luna..."

"You don't know what's right for our kids!" Mom yells.

Braden stood up and jumped in front of both my Mom and Dad. "Hey! Can y'all have a little respect for Luna... She's literally sitting in the corner traumatized because y'all can't set aside differences!"

My Mom ran to me and then wrapped her arms around me. "I'm so sorry, Luna..." I started to sob as my Dad kneeled, "I'm so sorry baby girl." I broke out my Mom's hug and then ran outside.

I kicked over the neighbor's trash bin when I walked by. Braden ran to catch up with me, "Luna! Wait!"

"Leave me alone!" I yelled walking down the street angrily. I kicked another trash bin filled with trash. Braden grabbed me by wrapping his arm around me tightly.

"Stop! Let me go!"

"Luna! Calm down!" Braden says still holding me tight. I started to sob uncontrollably as Braden sat us down on the edge of the sidewalk.

"It's okay... I got you..."

"My... life... Is falling... apart." I said through sobs.

"No, it's not." Braden rubs my back.

"Yes, it is... I lost my best friend, Emma, my brother is in jail, I keep getting suspended from school, and I have anxiety."

Braden brown eyes sparkled as we made eye contact. "Well, I don't think you're life is falling apart. He wiped my tears, "I promise I'll find a way to get some more money." Braden got up and helped me up.

"Do you want to hang out at my house till your parents figure stuff out?"

I nodded and we walked to his house.