The Darkest Parts of Me by Shandy Mandarino

Author:Shandy Mandarino [Mandarino, Shandy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Blonde Behind The Book
Published: 2024-06-14T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Maven

Itake a very long, very hot shower, taking my time to soak and breathe in the steam. Lying in bed for several days made me feel suffocated and gross; I needed the extra time just to feel alive again. I walk back to my room, a towel wrapped around myself with another one holding up my hair. I find my charger and plug my phone in. The cord is long enough for me to flop onto the bed while I wait for it to come to life. Once it does, I see I have three messages from Tasha and two missed calls from my mom. I message Tasha back first.

Tasha: Just checking in. Call me later.

Then there’s a message from a few hours later.

Tasha: So, did you get a visit from a certain someone last night???

Then another one this morning.

Tasha: Call me!!!

Maven: Hey!

Tash messages me back immediately.

Tasha: Mave! Finally! So…did Renn come by last night?

I roll my eyes, smiling as I type back.

Maven: He did.

Tasha: AND?

Maven: I’ll explain everything when I see you.

Tasha: You’re going to make me wait? Seriously?

Maven: This is definitely an in-person conversation.

Tasha: Fine. Mom and I are heading back tomorrow, so we should be home in a few days at most, maybe sooner.

She sends another message before I can reply.

Tasha: So, are you okay? You kind of scared all of us for a minute there.

Maven: I’m completely fine. More than fine. And I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that to you guys.

Tasha: GOOD! You know we love you, right? We want you to be happy.

Maven: Of course I do.

Tasha: Good! I’ll see you in a couple of days.

Maven: Be safe coming home. Love you!

Tasha: Love you too! And you better not leave out ANYTHING that happened with Renn.

Next, I call my mom.

“Thank goodness. I was getting so worried.” Her exasperated tone doesn’t go unnoticed.

“Hello to you too, Mom, and let me start by saying I am totally fine.”

“I got in touch with Tasha when you didn’t call me back,” she says, ignoring my response completely.

“And what did she say?”

“That she hadn’t talked to you and that she was sending Renn over to check up on you.”

I sigh heavily.

“So did he? Is everything okay?” she inquires.

I take a moment to think of how to approach this conversation. “Yes, everything is fine, Mom. It was just a hard couple of days.”

“I should have come up there to be with you. That was a mistake . . .”

“Mom, no. You can’t run up here every time things get hard. That defeats the purpose of why I’m here.”

She doesn’t say anything for several seconds, and I don’t know how to tell her what Renn did for me, or if she needs to know at all. I find it difficult to think of the right way to say it without making her worry or having her ask too many questions. But something I know without a doubt is that my time with Renn showed me that strength isn’t earned by doing things in solidarity, it’s about having the courage to face your challenges.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.