Paper Hearts

01

The chaos began when my mother called.

I hadn't heard from her in years―it had always been me and Dad, living our lives, keeping to ourselves. Mom was only a memory, a whisper of something from the past, someone who didn't really exist to us. We never brought her up in conversation; she was hardly a topic of banter.

It was like my mother was in her own little world, and we were in ours, and that was exactly the way we liked it.

So you can imagine my surprise when I picked up the phone on a Thursday afternoon and heard a strangely familiar voice squealing at me from the other end.

"Tori!" She said, her voice airy and high-pitched with what I guessed was excitement. "Honey, how are you?"

"Mom." I replied, and the word came out flat, a statement. "Uh...hi."

Glancing down the hallway, silently praying for my father to show up somewhere, I was disappointed to remember that I was home alone, that Dad wasn't there to save me from this unexpected (and completely unwanted) phone call.

"I have some good news," Mom said, the last two words coming out in a sing-song voice. "Guess what?"

"What?" I replied, attempting to inject as much enthusiasm into my tone as I could.

"Guess!" She said, with a burst of childish laughter. "Guess, hon, or else it's not any fun!"

"Uh..." My voice trailed off, and I felt like an i***t as I played along with her little game. "You...got a dog?"

I already knew it was the wrong answer―after all, Mom was allergic to dogs―but she giggled anyways, as if I were making a joke.

"No, honey," she said, emphasizing the pet name as if this wasn't the first time we'd talked in three years, "I'm getting married!"

And there was the bomb. Mom never called without a reason. It was never a hey-how's-it-going, or you-should-come-visit-sometime. She only ever called us if she was either in desperate need of money, or if something like this happened.

"Oh." I said, and I could hear the surprise in my tone. Trying my best to cover it up, I stammered, "Wow. Mom, that's―that's great."

"Yeah, it is!" She enthused. "Daniel asked me last night."

Daniel. The name itself made me shudder. Daniel, the man my mother left Dad for, the man who caused her to suddenly leave. Daniel was the one who she was getting married to. Not Dad. Not anyone else. Daniel.

Before the pause between us could grow too long, I forced myself to utter a few words.

"That's...exciting." I said.

"Isn't it though?" Mom drawled, and then added, "Of course, you're gonna be a bridesmaid."

Oh. Of course.

Three years without exchanging a word with my mother, and now, I was suddenly her bridesmaid. It was funny how she worked. Only interested in my life when she was a part of it, when she was the one in need of something. I knew that I should have been pissed off, but I wasn't. I was used to this by now.

"You bet I am," I said, trying to add a cheery note to voice. "When's the wedding?"

"Four weeks from today."

Wait, what?

"Mom," I breathed, unable to believe what I was hearing. "Four―four weeks?"

"Is that a problem, hon?" She asked, all sweet and innocent.

I nearly choked on my own words.

"I―no, but―"

"I just wanna get it done fast, you know?" She said, and I could imagine the cheeky, white-toothed smile spreading across her spray-tanned face. "I mean, I can hardly wait! Getting hitched isn't what's really important―it's the fact that Danny and I love each other, and the whole planning thing isn't really our style, y'know?"

Waiting to get married wasn't her style. Of course it wasn't. Nothing ever was.

Being a stay-at-home mom isn't really my style. Taking Tori to school every day isn't really my style. Making dinner and washing dishes isn't really my style.

All of these things had been said in the months prior to her departure, prior to Daniel, so I knew the phrase fairly well. Nothing was ever my mother's style, not unless something was in it for her.

And, in this case, something was. She was getting married. In four weeks.

It was insane. Impossible.

Of course it was. It was my mother.

"Tori?" Her voice burst from the receiver, snapping me back into reality, and my released my white-knuckle grip on the phone. "Tori, are you still there?"

"Yeah," I said quickly, with a breathy laugh. "Yeah, I'm here."

"Good to hear," she said, giggling. "Okay, so the wedding's on October fourth. We're having it on the beach, at Daniel's parents' place. Got that?"

"Got it." I echoed flatly, without even bothering to jot down the details. I was still trying to wrap my head around this entire ordeal. "Mom, are you sure―"

"Oh, honey, don't ruin this for me! It was trouble enough to call you, not to mention the fact that your father doesn't know yet, and I've just been so happy, so please don't ruin it!"

I don't know how she did it, but my mother was always able to make me feel like I was the one in the wrong. Like I was the one causing her inconvience, like I was the one who was getting married in four short weeks.

"Oh," I said, kicking myself for sounding so taken aback. "Sorry, Mom, I just―"

"It's okay!" She said, the jubilant tone returning to her voice. "It's totally fine."

A pause. Awkward silence.

"Okay." I said finally, unsure of what to do. "Congratulations. I'm...I'm gonna hang up now..."

"Oh, no, Tori, don't go!" She said, and the urgency in her voice was reason enough for me to hesitate. "Silly me, I nearly forgot―you'll have to invite that boyfriend of yours along, too. Everybody needs an escort. Tanner, was it? He sounds so nice, and it would be so perfect if he would be able to come―"

Oh, God, I thought, fighting the urge to slam the phone down and end the call. Tanner.

Tanner Hutchinson had been my boyfriend as of last year, and of course, my mother didn't know that we'd broken up. The last time we talked, Tanner and I were happy and in a relationship that neither of us thought would end.

Until, of course, it did.

I opened my mouth to break the news, but Mom would not shut up.

"The pictures you showed me of you two together we're so cute―I'm sure he looks even better now. And, imagine, he can escort you down the aisle like everyone else, and I've already got Daniel to agree to invite him to his bachelor party, and―"

"Mom?" I interjected, as soon as I possibly could.

She paused, her tone slightly sharp as she replied, "Yeah?"

"Um...Tanner―he isn't―we aren't―"

"What?" She asked, and the incredulous tone in her voice was too much to bear. "Tori, hon, what are you trying to say?"

"Uh," I said impressively, and I could practically feel my mother's wrath radiating through the phone.

"You didn't break up with him, did you?!" She asked. "Tori, how are you supposed to get married and have babies if you aren't in a relationship at seventeen? It's ridiculous; I won't allow it. I swear to God, if you come to this wedding alone―"

"Mom, I won't," I said, my voice rushed and sounding all too desperate for my liking. "I won't; I―I'll figure something out―"

"Figure something out?" She asked, sounding furious. "Honey, this is the most important day of my life, and you―you're ruining it!"

"No, Mom, hear me out," I said then, pressing a hand to my temple. "Really, it's not like that―"

"I can't believe this," she said, talking over me. "How can you do this, huh? How do you expect my friends to react when I tell them that my seventeen-year-old-daughter is single and probably going to be alone for the rest of her life?"

Ouch.

That was Mom. Making insults like nobody's business. Blowing up at the odd chance that something didn't go her way.

I'd forgotten how much I hated her for that.

But, being the pushover that I was, of course I had to fix the problem. After all, I couldn't ruin her it's-only-four-weeks-away wedding.

"I have a boyfriend!" I burst out, and the other end of the line went silent. Sucking in a deep breath, I said, "I have a boyfriend; it's just not Tanner."

The lie came out instinctively, impulsively, and I regretted it instantly. But there was nothing I could do to back out now.

"Really?" Came my mother's voice, once again perky and interested and sounding as if she hadn't just screamed into my ear for two minutes straight. "Oh, Tori, how wonderful! What's his name?"

Uh...

"Sorry, Mom, I got to go." I said then, as if I didn't hear the question. "It was really nice talking to you. Congratulations. Um, say hi to Daniel for me. I'll talk to Dad about this, and I'll see if we can get there in time―"

"Well, of course you're going to be here!" She said brightly. "I wouldn't have the wedding without you!"

"Uh, yeah, great." I said then, with a half-hearted smile.

"Invite your boyfriend along, too, sweetie," she said, as if this same statement hadn't just caused her to blow up in my face just a few moments before. "I can't wait to meet him!"

Me, either.

Finally, we both said our goodbyes, and I hung up, shutting my eyes tight.

And, just like that, I had four weeks to fall in love.

How the hell was I supposed to do that?