He left me. He left me alone to try and find my way through this massive house. I have no clue where I am. I have no idea where I'm going. I'm at a crossroads. I'm standing in what looks like the back hall. The stairs we came down are behind me. There is a hall to my right. There's another one to my left. I'm assuming I need to head down the one with the light on.
I've passed two doors that look reasonably like each other on opposite sides of the hall. I'm walking through this massive curve when it suddenly opens into a massive indoor garden. Everywhere I turn there's plants and glass. It's a giant dome of beauty.
I walk around touching the precious leaves. They are damp like they've just been watered. I turn a corner and see a bench surrounded by pure white roses. I sit down and lean down to smell the roses. They smell magnificent. A sudden skid erupts from the silence. I jump up and turn quickly in the direction of the sound.
"I see you found the gardens." He says coming a little closer in my direction.
"They're beautiful. I'm assuming your mom likes to garden." I say walking towards him.
"It's the one thing she brought with her after she left England. She used to have a garden outside her parents' estate that was even bigger than this one. This is where she goes when she has writers block. Apparently, it helps." He says leading me out into the hallway.
"Why did she leave? If you don't mind my asking." I ask turning to walk with him. We turn a few times before he answers.
"As you already know, I moved here at the beginning of 2nd grade. Mum has never told me the full story or reason as to why we left, but it has to do with my father being an abusive prick who enjoyed beating his wife and son. Mum filed for divorce and brought me here. He just added to her many issues, making her more closed off and unpredictable. A bit of warning, she will ask you the most random questions. You don't have to answer if you don't want to." His eyes were distant, as if remembering some terrible memory.
"Well, asking questions that you don't want to answer is something both our mother's share. My mom has no boundaries. She will do as she pleases and Lord help whoever stands in her way." I say as we enter what I assume to be a family room. It shares its space with a dining room and a kitchen. The area so homey that it seems to be part of a different house.
"You're actually early. Who died?" I turn around to see a dark-haired woman with glasses and blue eyes looking at me. She's like me in height. She moves a little closer and hugs me before I have time to protest. Her voice rich in accent, "I'm Eva. Please come sit."
She waves me over to a seat across from Ascot. She sits at the head of the table to my left. The food is already on the table, salad, spaghetti, bread sticks. All I see is calories.
"So, do you do any extra curriculars at school?" She asks me as she grabs for the bowl of salad.
"No, I don't." I say as I take the salad from her hands as she passes it to me.
"Why don't you run track? You run every day." Ascot says as he shovels spaghetti onto his plate.
"I don't like having to abide by any rules or schedules. Besides, I run for fun." I say taking a small bite of the lettuce. It shouldn't do too much damage.
"You can't seriously like to run. It takes so much effort." Eva says as she hands me the spaghetti that I get a generous amount of but not enough to truly hurt.
"It makes me feel healthy. It's also a great time to think." I say with another small bite of my salad.
"That sounds depressing. When's your birthday?"
"Today." I say looking down a little.
"And you're here with us instead of being with your family?" She asks with an assertive look.
"My family is complicated." I say.
"Please, enlighten me." I look towards Ascot. He seems interested but has a look as if to say, "you don't have to answer."
"My biological mother put me on the doorstep of a fire station when I was a few days old. There are no hospital records of my birth. The doctors that checked me out assumed I was born sometime in April, so my adoptive parents chose April 13th for some person that lived a long time ago. I don't know why I was given up, so my birthday is a firm reminder that I wasn't wanted." I say and let out a breath.
"But your adoptive parents are good to you right?" Eva asks as if she might just kill them if they weren't.
"Most definitely. I always knew I was adopted but they were like my parents. I mean they have given me everything. I'm kind of like their daughter that they lost a few months before I was born."
"Well it sounds like that story has a happy ending." Eva said with a small smile.
I try to return the gesture and fail.
I don't say anything else for the rest of dinner.