"Mom, Anne invited us to dinner," I informed her.
"Really? At your parents' house, Anne?" she looked at her, finally ignoring Kayler and Kylie and coming towards us.
"No, at Thomas' house. Well, we're living there for now," Anne replied with her shyness. Anne will never lose her shyness; it's part of her to be so sweet when she speaks.
"Oh, perfect then, we'll see you there. Carolina, don't you have anything to tell me?" she looked at me.
"No," I admitted, getting up. "I'll go accompany Anne to her house," I let her know, taking Anne's hand and leaving together.
"Why did you take us out like that?" she wanted to know.
"Because I got tired of being in that situation. I'll drop you off; I suppose you need to prepare dinner."
"Yes, I still have no idea what to make. But hey, when will you tell your mother that you're...?" she pointed at my belly.
"I don't know, maybe another day. I don't want her sermons right now," I admitted.
"She'll support you as always," Anne and I got into the car.
"We'll see."
•
After dropping Anne off at her house, I returned to mine. Upon entering, I noticed that Mom was still talking to Kylie. They were in the living room, and she was showing her favorite stuffed bears while Mom told her they were very cute. I headed to my room because, honestly, I'm not in the mood to deal with Mom today. When I entered, I placed a hand on my chest because Kayler on my bed had startled me.
"What are you doing here?" I asked. Kayler was staring at the ceiling.
"Waiting for you. Besides, don't you remember I sleep here?" he reminded me, sitting up to look at me. "There's something that's been bothering me," he murmured. "My toothbrush and Kylie's are missing."
I cleared my throat, approaching the mirror.
"And what does that have to do with me? Ask your daughter, maybe she took them to play and lost them."
"I haven't been apart from Kylie since this morning, Carolina."
"What do you want to know?" I turned around, feeling angry. The pressures of the day were taking their toll on me; so much stress is not good. "Are you wondering if I took your things? Speak clearly."
"Calm down, it was just a question. You know you can trust me; there's no need to do things behind my back."
"Well, it's a shame I can't say the same about you," I snapped. "You haven't been very honest, to say the least. It's been like that from the beginning."
Kayler looked at me for a moment, his gaze dropped. It seems that it hurt him that I said those things. Maybe it was wrong to do it, but I couldn't contain myself. Kayler stood up and left my room, slamming the door. I felt empty at that moment; he left without saying anything else or defending himself. I wanted to keep saying things to him, but I also realized that it was wrong to do so. I regretted it right there and wanted to follow him to apologize, but my pride was bigger than me, as always, and I didn't do it. I stayed in the room for the rest of the afternoon.
•
It was nighttime, and I felt so depressed that I didn't want to get out of bed, not even to go to dinner with Anne. I just didn't feel like it. Mom entered the room without even knocking.
"Carolina! You're still not ready," she scolded. "It's already past six, this can't be."
I didn't respond.
"Carolina? What's wrong? I can see that you're sad," Mom sat beside me. "Is it because of Kylie? Mike told me everything. I'm sorry, I can imagine how difficult it must be for the person you love to have a child with another woman, and even more painful that they live here. I still don't understand why you're all here, Carolina. Tell me what's going on. We haven't had time to talk, but we need to."
"I don't want to talk about it, Mom," I closed my eyes. "I'm tired."
"I can see it in your eyes that you are. But Carolina Lane is not someone weak; you've always been strong, my daughter. Come on, get dressed and make yourself beautiful for the dinner."
"I don't want to go."
"But you made plans with Anne, and we can't leave her hanging, can we?"
I thought about Anne and how she probably went out of her way to prepare the perfect dinner. I couldn't let her down. I sighed deeply and nodded.
"I'll get dressed. I'll be down in a few minutes."
"That's the spirit. I'll be waiting downstairs," Mom stood up and left my room. I got out of bed feeling heavy. My body is tired, which means if my mind is tired, my body weakens. I went to the bathroom and splashed water on my face.
Kayler is angry with me.
Maybe that's why I feel this way.
I put on a short black dress and black high-heeled shoes. I tied my hair up in a high ponytail, applied some dark-style makeup, grabbed a clutch where I put my cellphone and some money, and headed downstairs. Everyone was waiting for me.
"I'm ready," I called their attention without looking at Kayler, but I noticed he looked at me. I walked past them and was the first to leave the house. "I'll go in my car. I'll meet you there," I let them know, walking towards my car.
"Alright, but be careful, dear. The road is lonely and dangerous," Mom said. When she said that, I got a bit scared. What if some wolves come out trying to harm me? At that moment, I didn't care much and didn't dwell on it. I got into the car and quickly drove away, leaving them behind. I drove on the lonely and dark road until entering the forest path. I'm far ahead because I don't see any car lights behind me. I accelerated even more because I don't like this dark road. Despite being a wolf, I'm also human, and my instincts and fears are still present. Perhaps I was halfway there when my car's tire exploded, forcing me to brake suddenly.
"This can't be happening. Something always happens to me," I exclaimed. Now I have to wait for Mom and Mike to come so I can ride with them. I grabbed my cellphone to call them, but there was no signal. I got out of the car and noticed a sharp branch stuck in the tire, causing it to explode.
Great.
The forest is so silent that it sends shivers down my spine. I hugged myself and turned to go back inside, but I bumped into someone, and when I tried to scream, they covered my mouth with their hand.
KAYLER
Carolina is the most stubborn person I've ever met in my life. I'm following behind Mike and Mrs. Lane in my car with Kylie. I wanted to follow Carolina when I found out she was going alone because I know it's not safe, but this time she would have to come and apologize to me—I wouldn't do it. Carolina has been behaving badly and rudely towards me when all I do is try to get closer to her, spoil her, and love her. Deep down, I need to arrive quickly to make sure she's okay, but Mike is slow at driving.
"Daddy, Carolina is very pretty," Kylie said to me while playing with her teddy bears. "Do you like her more than Mommy?"
Her question caught me off guard; I don't even know how to answer that.
"Your mommy and I are not a couple, Kylie. We never have been," I replied, as if a five-year-old could understand it.