Chapter 30: Chapter 30

I chose my room, as Axel had told me, among the three vacant ones. It wasn’t very difficult to decide; all I needed was the one farthest from Stacy, even though it had the least amount of light because it only had a small window facing the leafy branches of a tall tree growing on the side.

“Are you sure you want this one?” Axel asked when I pointed out my decision.

“It’s only for a few months, right?” I said. “I’ll turn eighteen soon, and then I can go wherever I want.”

Although my response wasn’t intended to annoy Axel but rather to silence any future complaints he might have about my decision, I couldn’t overlook the way he looked at me, both dissatisfied and undecided, as if he had something very important to tell me that could possibly ruin my plans to leave as soon as I reached legal age. That made me uneasy, but I didn’t say anything.

“Well, I understand the real reason why you choose this room,” Axel said, resignedly referring to the fact that it was the farthest from his other daughter’s room. “And I won’t pressure you to choose otherwise.”

I didn’t say anything because the truth was that I only expected to use that room to sleep in the next few days, before Friday, so I didn’t care that it only had a simple bed, an old dresser, and a wardrobe that seemed to have not been opened for a few years.

“Anyway, I’ll do my best to make it suitable for you, as if you were going to spend a long time with us.”

I shrugged and approached the door, letting Axel know that what I wanted most at that moment was to rest, not to think about how long I would stay there or whether I was more interested in pink curtains or purple ones. When Axel left, I closed the door right away. I heard him say that dinner would be ready soon and that he would call me.

I jumped on the bed to text Aly.

I also desperately needed the therapy that came with telling her how my life had been turned upside down in the last few hours.

21:02

»Hello. I’m already home and in my new room, which turned out to be just a bed and some old furniture.

21:03

»Do you mean you’re living with your father? If it’s him? Tell me everything.

I spent the next fifteen minutes, before Axel interrupted me by calling me to dinner, telling Aly about how the man whose house I now lived in had entered my life after seventeen years of absence.

21:09

»The best part of all this is my half-sister and her mother. I can already tell they don’t like me.

21:10

»It was to be expected, right? Put yourself in their shoes and imagine that you’re the one receiving a stranger in your house who turns out to be your father’s daughter. Give them time and try to be understanding with them.

I promised Aly that I would, but I only did it because she insisted and I didn’t feel capable of denying her anything after she had shown how special she was to me.

21:13

»When are we going shopping? Remember that plan was left unfinished.

I didn’t feel capable of reminding Aly why I had given up on that plan, and now I felt bad about the way I spoke to her that day, besides the fact that if I had accepted her gift, maybe I wouldn’t have an ankle injury at the moment. Either way, shopping wasn’t among my priorities. I made up any excuse to avoid committing myself.

21:14

»Let me organize my life a bit and then we can go.

21:14

»Well, you should prioritize shopping before stress takes over.

I sighed, and Gea didn’t take long to express her opinion on the matter.

“Your friend is right. You should listen to her and accept what she’s offering.”

“But you don’t even wear clothes. You’re just a disembodied entity living, for now, in my head.”

“Wow, you’re so rude. Still, I bet I have better style than you.”

“Do you really have to be this annoying? Why couldn’t I have a voice that I liked, that at least understood me and was kind to me?”

“If I’m tough on you, it’s because I care about you, Sussan.”

Just what I needed in my life. Someone else who cared about me, as if I needed it. But thinking about it, Gea had a point. I needed to relax, have a plan that didn’t involve work or school, or a sudden move to a new house where the residents hated me just for being myself, as if it were my fault for being born. Shopping was a good option, if only it wasn’t because I was going to leave everything behind, including the bed I was currently lying on, which made noise with every movement.

Axel returned and knocked on my door.

Dinner was already served, and I was starving.