Seraphina's Point Of View
"What?"
The word hit the room like a slap.
Not loud. Not screamed. Just sharp, stunned, and disbelieving.
My mom stared at me as if I'd just spoken in another language, her brows knitting together slowly, carefully, like her brain was rewinding the last ten seconds to make sure it hadn't malfunctioned.
"What," she repeated, blinking once, then twice. "What did you just say?"
The air felt thicker all of a sudden, like someone had turned the gravity up without warning. My chest tightened again, that familiar pressure blooming right behind my ribs, but this time I didn't look away.
I nodded.
Slowly.
Once.
"He cheated on me, Mom," I said.
The words tasted bitter on my tongue, sharp and acidic, like biting into something that looked sweet but wasn't. Saying it out loud felt different. Heavier. Realer. Like I was carving it into stone instead of just thinking it.
Her mouth parted slightly.
"And that's not even the worst part," I continued, my voice wobbling just a little despite my efforts to keep it steady. My fingers curled into the fabric of my shirt again, grounding myself. "Not even close."
Her eyes searched my face now, scanning for clues, bracing herself for impact. "Seraphina…" she murmured. "What do you mean?"
I swallowed.
"He cheated on me with Kara."
The name fell into the space between us and detonated.
"Kara?" my mom repeated slowly, like the syllables themselves offended her. "Which Kara?"
I let out a humorless breath, something between a laugh and a scoff. "My Kara," I said. "My best friend. Well…" I corrected myself immediately, bitterness slicing through my tone, "she was. Not anymore."
For a second, my mom didn't move.
Didn't speak.
Just stared.
Then something in her expression shifted… not into rage yet, but into something quieter, sadder. Her eyes softened, darkening with empathy, and before I could even brace myself, she stepped forward and pulled me into her arms.
The hug was firm. Enveloping. The kind that didn't ask permission.
Her arms wrapped around me tightly, one hand pressing against the back of my head, the other rubbing slow circles into my back like she was trying to smooth out something that had broken inside me.
"I'm so sorry, baby," she whispered into my hair. "I'm so, so sorry you had to go through all that."
And just like that, the dam cracked.
Not enough for tears… no, those were spent, but enough for my chest to ache in a deep, dull way. I inhaled her familiar scent, laundry detergent and warmth and home, and let myself lean into it for just a second longer than I probably should have.
She pulled back abruptly.
Too abruptly.
Her eyes were blazing now.
"That asshole," she snapped. "He should count himself lucky that I didn't get my hands on him."
She released me completely and started pacing, her movements sharp, restless, like a storm trapped in a human body.
"Because if I had," she continued, pointing an angry finger at the air as if Adrian were standing right there, "I would have chopped up his balls."
I blinked.
Once.
She wasn't done.
"And that girl… Kara," she went on, her lips curling in disgust. "She better not step her two left legs anywhere near this house or you."
She stopped pacing and turned to face me fully, eyes deadly serious.
"Else," she said calmly, terrifyingly calmly, "I'll dice her meat and feed our neighbors' dogs."
The silence that followed was… not solemn.
It was ridiculous.
So ridiculous that my brain short-circuited.
I stared at her.
Her face was stone-cold.
Dead serious.
And that's when I lost it.
A laugh burst out of me… loud, uncontrollable, sudden. It startled even me. My shoulders shook as the sound bubbled up from somewhere deep and hysterical, the kind of laughter that had no business existing but refused to be contained.
"Mom… please," I gasped between laughs, pressing a hand to my chest. "Oh my God."
She turned slowly.
Placed both hands on her hips.
"I am not playing here," she said firmly. "I will do it."
I laughed harder.
The image of my mother… my very real, very dramatic mother, threatening murder with the confidence of someone discussing a grocery list was just too much.
She watched me for a moment, then sighed sharply, some of the fire draining out of her posture.
Then her eyes dropped.
Slowly.
Deliberately.
From my face.
To my clothes.
Her gaze lingered.
Long enough to be suspicious.
Her head tilted slightly.
"…But," she said, her voice shifting… subtle but lethal, sharpened by sudden curiosity, "you still haven't explained where you got these clothes you're putting on."
My breath hitched.
Not dramatically. Not cutely.
It caught, like my lungs had slammed into an invisible wall.
The room seemed to shrink around me, the air suddenly too warm, too thin, pressing in on my skin. My brain… usually loud, overactive, always narrating, went horrifyingly blank.
Nothing.
No words. No lies. No excuses. Just static. Because there was absolutely… absolutely no universe in which I could tell my mother the truth.
There was no way I was going to say, 'Oh hey Mom, funny story, I spent the night with three men.'
Three men.
My stomach flipped violently.
Three hot… No. Stop.
Three gorgeous… No. No. Abort.
Three infuriating, annoying, dangerously attractive men who had looked at me like… Nope.
I shut that door in my head immediately, slammed it, bolted it, boarded it up.There was no way in hell my mother was going to find out that I had given my first time to three friends.
Friends.
The word alone nearly made me choke.
No. No. No.
She would actually kill me. Not metaphorically. Not emotionally. Physically. I could already picture it… her face frozen in shock, then fury, then the dramatic phone call to my ancestors asking for strength.
My mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
My mom tilted her head slightly, eyes narrowing, watching me struggle like a deer caught directly in headlights.
"Seraphina?" she prompted.
Panic surged.
Pure, unfiltered panic.
Then… salvation.
Her purse.
Sitting innocently on the table. The purse she had dropped earlier. I gasped like I'd just remembered something catastrophic.
"Oh my God," I blurted, way too loudly. "Mom!"
She blinked. "What?"
"You're going to be late," I said, words spilling fast now, tumbling over each other. "Oh my goodness, look at the time… Mom, you're late late."
"What?" She glanced at the clock automatically, confusion flashing across her face.
I lunged for the purse like it was a life raft.
"You dropped this earlier," I said, thrusting it into her hands before she could question it.
She took it slowly. Suspiciously.
"I did?" she murmured.
"Yes!" I nodded far too hard. "And traffic is terrible. Awful. Horrendous. People drive like they've never seen a road before."
Her brows furrowed. "Seraphina…"
I was already behind her.
Hands on her shoulders.
Pushing.
Gently at first.
Then more urgently.
"Mom, you need to go," I insisted, steering her toward the door like I was her personal bodyguard. "Hurry, hurry, hurry."
"Hey… wait… hang on!" she protested, stumbling slightly. "What's wrong with you? What are you doing?"
"Saving your job," I said breathlessly. "Because you're going to be late and your boss is scary."
"My boss is not scary," she said, trying to turn around. "And, you haven't answered me yet!" she added sharply.
I opened the door.
Cool air rushed in, a blessing.
I nudged her forward.
Just a little.
"Seraphina!" she snapped. "This is very suspicious behavior!"
I plastered the widest smile I could manage on my face, so wide my cheeks actually hurt. "Byeeee Mom," I sang, voice painfully cheerful. "I love youuu."
"Seraphina!"
I shut the door.
Firmly.
Decisively.
The lock clicked.
I leaned back against it instantly, my spine pressing into the wood as my lungs finally remembered how to work.
I inhaled.
Exhaled.
Again.
My heart was pounding so hard I could feel it in my ears, in my throat, everywhere.
"Oh my God," I whispered to the empty house.
I slid down the door until I was sitting on the floor, head tipping back, staring at the ceiling like it had personally betrayed me. "By the time she comes back," I muttered to myself, "I would have thought of what to say."
I paused.
Then added quietly, honestly.
"But now… she'll kill me if she ever finds out."
My stomach twisted again, tighter this time.
And like traitors, their faces flashed into my mind.
The way they all… No.
"Stop, Seraphina," I snapped under my breath, squeezing my eyes shut. "Just stop."
I pushed myself to my feet, shaking my head like I could physically dislodge the thoughts. "They're nothing but a bunch of assholes," I said firmly, pointing at absolutely nothing. "Annoying. Arrogant. Insufferable assholes."
I nodded once, convincing myself.
"And there's no way," I added, heart thudding a little too fast, "we would be meeting again."
I turned away from the door.
Trying very hard not to think about how easily lies slipped out of my mouth now. Or how some things, once done, could never be undone.