An Unexpected Love

It has been exactly a year today since Mom and Dad got divorced. Mom is happier than ever and every morning I wake up to hear her singing in the shower. Matt is more relaxed and has been spending free time with Sadie and thinking about college (I can't believe he is going to graduate this year). As for me, I'm not sure how I'm doing. I have a terrific boyfriend and we each care for the other. And when I wake up in the morning and see my reflextion in the mirror, it isn't someone I would have reconized a year ago.

No, today I seem happier. I work harder at keeping my long, brown hair neat and curled slightly. I wake up earlier to apply eye shadow, masscara, and blush perfectly for school, and my eyes look more alive and dance happily. Sure, Istill miss Dad and think about him a lot but I'm starting to like the new, happier me.

Right now, I am walking to my house with Ty. He is coming over for dinner (something that he does at least twice a week) and then we are having a game night with Mom and George since it is a Friday night. This is another tradition that Mom started up after the divorce. Invite at least one person over for dinner and then play games on every Friday night. I loved it because it meant more time that I could be with Ty.

We walked into my kitchen talking about the crazy math test we had at school today. Iturn from facing Ty and see George and Mom chatting happily. Hmm, I didn't know he was coming tonight. I roll my eyes at Ty.

Ihad just recently told him that I was getting slightly annoyed with Mom for spending so much time with Mom. Of course he decided to point out that we had been spending just as much time together. When I asked if we should hang out less he quickly responded. Saying no and never mind.

"Hi honey. Glad that you are home because I really need to talk to you. Oh, hi Ty. You know that it is always great to see you but would you mind going home tonight?"Mom says when she sees us.

"Mom, but I invited him for dinner and games and you had said he could stay. That's rude to univite him. Can't we talk later?" I pleaded. She gives me a stern look that says 'Don't argue with me. I'm the boss."

"Don't worry about it. I better be going home anyway. I'll call you later," Ty says. I am about to protest but he takes my hand and Ifollow him to the door instead. He kisses me good-bye and tries to walk away but I keep a hold on his hand.

"Thanks for understanding. I promise you won't have to leave the next time I invite you." He laughs and then nods before walking out into the night.

I run and get Matt, telling him that Mom needs to speak to us. When I walk into the living room and see Mom standing there with George and smiling, Ijust get mad all over again. I don't understand why my friend had to leave but Mom's gets to stay. I guess it's another one of those unfair things about being the child.

"Okay kids, George and I have an announcement to make!" she exclaims as soon as we walk in. I look at her expectenly. "We're getting married!"

I feel my jaw drop. I couldn't have heard her right. Did she just say married? No way! Not my mom! She can't be!

"What?!?" Matt and I both scream simultaneously.

"Isn't this great?" she yells. A smile spreads across her face and George puts an arms around her shoulders. They are almost jumping out of their skin.

"No!!! This isn't great! How could you do this?" I scream and run to my room. I hate her right now. How could she decided to get married without even talking to me first?

"Kaitlin. Honey, come on. Can't we talk about this?" Mom calls after me. I can hear the sorrow entering her voice but I don't care. I continue to storm off to my room.

"I'll go talk to her," Matt offers and I hear him start to follow me. "Kaitlin, come here." Matt sits on the edge of my neatly made bed, wrinkling my plain blue comforter. He opens his arms wide and I climb into them.I lethim hold me like he used to when we were little kids. "Talk to me, Katie. I know you're upset because I am too, but we have to talk to Mom and explain how we feel to her."

"I don't want to talk to her ever again," I reply angrily. "How could she marry him without even asking us if it was okay first? And how could she possibly know him enough to marry him? She and Dad have only been divorced for about a year!" The words spill out of my mouth in a rush and tears stain my face.

"I know, I know. I agree that she should have talked to us first, but it isn't up to us what she does with her life and who she gets to spend the rest of her life with. Come on. Try to cheer up. It's not like everything is changing."

"That's just the thing! Dad isn't a part of our lives anymore. Mom is marrying one of her best friends. Also, you are going to be leaving for college next year. The only good thing about all of those is that you'll be going to Monterey Peninsula College which is only a few miles away," I sob.

"About that," he starts. Istare up at him, not sure that I want to hear what he is about to say. "I'm probably not going there anymore. I want to go to Harvard University, but you can't tell Mom. I don't want to tell her unless I know that got in." Coward, I want to scream when he doesn't look at me.

"How could you just leave us like that? You're just going to run off and forget about Mom and me, just like Dad did." I get up off the edge of my bed, leaving my comforter wrinkled. I point to the door. "Get out now," I say firmly.

"Kaitlin, please talk to-"

"No, get out!" I scream. He stands up quickly and looks back at me. "Oh yeah, I might just tell Mom now since you just decided to drop this one like a bomb on me and for taking her side." He looks at me with a hurt expression. He is about to protest but I slam the door in his face before he can. Good, maybe you will change your mind about ditching me.

I run to my bed and jump on it face down. I start balling for how long I don't know. I never want to talk to Mom, Matt, or George ever again. I'm still crying when my cell phone rings.

"Hello?" I answer.

"Hey Kaitlin."

"Oh hey Ty," I say as I wipe the tears out of my eyes.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asks. He must of heard my voice crack.

"No, not really. Can you please meet me at the park on Fifth Street? I really need to talk to you," I ask. He sounds concered when he says sure and good-bye. I grab my coat off my desk chair and ignore Mom and Matt when the try to talk to me as I walk out of the house. I start walking down the sidewalk to our neighboorhood park.

Shortly after I start walking it starts to rain. Usually, I love the rain but today it just makes the day seem more misserable.

I stare down at my tennisshoes as I walk, thinking about what has happened in this short amount of time that I've been home from school. I'm not looking where I'm going and fall onto my butt when I run into something. "Crap," I say once I see the mudd on my new white shorts.

"Hey, thanks for running into me," someone says sarcastically. I look up to see Ty towering above me. His smile disappears when he sees me tear stained face and he reaches a hand down and pulls me up to my feet. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to knock you down. I'll buy you new shorts if you want." He takes my hand and leads me to a bench at the park. It is the farthest from the kiddie playground and also the quietest spot in the park. I love it because it is sitting on grass and there are trees behind it so it is shaded during the hottest part of the day.

"Ty, I don't really care about the shorts."

"Then what's wrong?" he asks. He sits on the bench and motions for me to sit next to him. I sit next to him and turn so I am facing him. I tell him everything that happened since he left my house earlier to just before he called.

"Wow, that's a lot to take in for one day. Come here," he says. He pulls me into his lap and wraps his arms around me. Irest my head against his chest, letting him comfort me like my mother used to do when I was a kid.

Ty looks kind of nervous now that I have started to cry, but he sits there and lets me cry and unwind. I try to get myself together.

"I'm sorry Ty. It wasn't right for me to just dump this on you. I owe you big time," I say.

"No, you don't owe me. I wanted you to tell me and I want to help you. Are you feeling any better?" he asks. He pushes me back just enough so he can look into my face. I nod. He reaches up and dries the remaining tears that are running down my cheeks. He moves my wet hair out of my face and kisses me on my forehead before moving down to my lips. "Come on. I'll walk you home."

"Thanks, that would be great. You can stay the night tonight. I think Matt was planning to go over to a friend's house so you can stay in his room."

"Thanks, I'll call my dad and leave him a message," he replies.

"Sounds great. You can use my home phone when we get back to my house," I tell him as we start to walk back to my house. Now, it is time to see my mom and possibly talk to her. Time to face the music.