Page 29 of To Love or to Lose
“Can we leave?” I ask. “Please?”
Eloise senses my panic, nodding, “let me drive.”
I hand over my keys easily, anything to get me out of here. “Let’s go.”
October
Chapter Eight
234 days until graduation
The end of September came and went, and homecoming is quickly approaching.
Logan, Jameson, and I picked the themeA Night in Paris, and have been busy getting all the final touches prepared.
“Have you found a dress yet?” Winnie asks me.
It’s lunchtime, and for the first time in almost two weeks, I don’t have a Class Officer’s meeting, and can sit with Winnie and Eloise.
“I haven’t even thought about it,” I groan, running my hands through my hair.
“You need to start,” Eloise tells me. “Almost everyone has theirs.”
“I’ll have to ask my mom to make it for me.”Perks of having a fashion designer as a mother.
“Well, you should probably do that soon, Evie,” Winnie says.
“I’ll talk to her tonight and figure it out, don’t worry.”
“You don’t even know if she’s going to be home tonight,” Eloise says, as if she’s reminding me of my mother’s whereabouts. “Why don’t you text her and ask?”
“Yeah, she’s in Paris right now. I’ll text her tonight.”
“Now,” they say in unison. Eloise grabs my phone off the table, attempting to shove it in my hand.
“It’s fine. I don’t want to bother her.” I take my phone out of her hand and place it back on the table.
Mom and I text periodically when she’s away for work, sometimes we even call or FaceTime while I’m doing my homework. She likes to hear about my day-to-day life, and I don’t mind telling her.
Dad is more distant, and I like to believe it’s not because he wants to be. It’s mainly because he’s busy with work and doesn’t really have time to give unless it’s urgent or of utmost importance.
The thing about having parents like mine is that they teach you to prioritize work like most would the people they love. They’ve never been ones to sacrifice time with their goals, therefore, he strictly allocates the time he spends with his family.
In turn, I have become the same way. School work always takes priority, and I can’t say whether I’m thankful for it or not.
My parents always managed to make it to the important stuff, though. Award shows, school dances— they were always there. In their minds, it probably makes up for the fact that they are missing a majority of the everyday moments with Gwen and I.
Their love has never been a question, but it’s hard when your parents don’t have the best work to family ratio, and spend your childhood passing the everyday parenting tasks onto nannies.
Winnie stays silent while Eloise grabs me by the shoulder and says, “She’s your mother, Evie. You’re not bothering her.”
I hate feeling reliant on other people, my parents included.
Even though I would love to have them around all the time, they would be miserable, and I’d rather let them I’ve their lives—running their businesses—without having to worry about me.
I haven’t gotten to the point in my life where I’ve been able to accept the fact that it’s a parent’s job to care for their children because my parents never traditionally did so. Eloise and Winnie know this all too well.
“Your parents love you, Evie,”Winnie says.
