Longing for the Impossible
Page 16
“You have to understand, Serena.” She tried to place a hand on my shoulder, but I moved away. “You need to forgive me. I did everything out of love. That was my biggest mistake, Serena, and I wanted to make sure you didn’t end up like me. You have to forgive your mother.”
“I don’t know if I can.” I had no energy left. I needed to sleep and forget she ever came here.
“Good daughters forgive, Serena. Useful daughters move on.”
She was going to call me worthless again, but this time I knew it wasn’t true. This time I knew I wasn’t worthless. I knew I didn’t have to be perfect, and I didn’t need her approval to survive. I was okay, and I was wonderful on my own.
“Can you leave?”
“What?”
“Leave.” I stood and motioned towards the exit. “Do us both a favor and leave. Don’t say anything else. I don’t want to hear it. Just leave, please.”
She scoffed and shook her head at me. Her lips turned down as she jumped from her seat. “You could’ve done so much better. I’m letting myself out.” She grabbed her purse and walked towards the door. She stopped and looked at me. “There’s no way I can be proud of you.”
I opened the door, shining my best smile as I watched her leave. I leaned against the door and felt my legs shake. Somehow I managed to push my fear away long enough to talk to her. I had finally stood up to her, but why did it feel like she took so much away from me? It seemed like she’d taken all of my strength with her.
She could come back. She could hurt me, but I didn’t have to open the door. I forced my legs to move towards my bedroom. Sleep was all I could do for now. I had fought for myself, and that was more than I had done for myself in a long time. I could finally live on my own. I could grow without her and choose to stay away for as long as I needed to. The feeling was scary but it was wonderful.
Epilogue
Serena
It had been a year since I stood up to my mom. I checked on her every now and then to see if she was okay. She would always seem civil at first, but the crazy couldn't hide for long. Trinity and I were sitting on the couch studying for midterms when the doorbell rang.
“I'll get it.” Trinity hopped from her seat. “I'm probably going to fail anyway, so I might as well take a break.”
“You're the last one who needs to take breaks. You've taken five breaks in the past twenty minutes!”
“Some of us, don't have academic confidence, Ree.” She folded her arms and jutted her hip. I laughed. Apparently saying academic confidence was supposed to make up for skipping class.
“You'll be fine.” I waved my hand at her in assurance. Trinity was smart. She just needed to believe it.
“I better be. I don't want to go into tutoring if I fuck up again.”
“If you have to, it won't be a bad thing. Now get the door. They've been knocking forever.” I motioned towards the door, and she ran to get it.
“My relative is here to see you!”
I jumped up and ran towards the door. I slammed into Brandon almost knocking him back. He laughed and clutched me tightly in his arms.
“I know you weren't supposed to see me until Thanksgiving, but it's really weird not living with Keith anymore.” He said and cupped my chin in his hand. Keith and Keirsten had decided to move in together. They wanted to see if they could stay together after trying to live with each other. So far I hadn't heard any complaints. Brandon tipped his face closer to mine. “Besides, I wanted to see my beautiful girlfriend anyway.”
He winked and heat rushed from my toes to my cheeks. His lips covered mine. I stepped aside to let him and Trinity jabbed in the shoulder. God it felt good to be with someone who cared about you. It felt even better to have best friends who loved you no matter what. I didn't want to waste my time with people who only cared about themselves. I was finally happy. Happier than I had been in a long time ago, and that was enough for me.
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Acknowledgments
So I'm not very good at these things, but I really want to thank everyone that supported me on this journey. I really appreciate the push I received from my Book Babes and the words of advice they had given me. I thank my friends that I've made here in Korea and many others close to me that supported and helped me fight with myself to complete the process.
I'd like to thank my editor for helping me with my words. My personal assistant, for kicking me into gear during the month of my release.
Ultimately, I'd like to thank the readers for enjoying my debut novel.
I really appreciate all of you and I can't wait to share more work with you.
Love,
Tiara (is this supposed to sound like a letter?)
About the Author
Bio: Tiara is a writer. A writer of FICTICIOUS LOVE. She’s a romance writer currently residing in Daejeon, South Korea. She was born in Detroit, Michigan but spent most of her life in the sweet tea loving state of Mississippi.
She holds a Broadcast Communication degree from Mississippi State University (Hail State!), but currently teaches English as a Foreign Language for the EPIK program, because why not? She loves K-Pop, Delta Xi Phi (her sorority), and cheese.
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