Love and Hate...

Aurora's POV

We had just written our final exams. The students scurried off in excitement in groups of two, three, or four.

I walked down sluggishly towards Mama's car. I had a long day at school, and I couldn't wait to go back home and lie on my bed. I secretly hoped that Sara and Aunt Jema wouldn't be around, though.

The exam we had today wasn't bad at all, in fact I was sure of 90/100 at least.

"What's up, darl?" Mama called as she walked up to me halfway from the car.

I managed a fake smile, "Hello, Mama," I gave her a quick kiss on her left cheeks.

"Did you have some sort of fight with anyone? You're wearing a long face, and you look ugly when you do that."

I gave in to a broad smile. Mama sure knows how to get me.

"Hi, Aurora," Jake called out few meters from where we stood. Beside him was Pinky, who's his girlfriend. Pinky gave him a light pull, signalling that he shouldn't talk to me. He mouthed something, and I nodded, blowing him a kiss and waving after him.

Jake was one of my close friends, who had a big crush on me once upon a time. He's the only blond in our school, and even though he claimed to have no feelings for me any more, I knew very well that he was still very much into me.

He asked me out last summer and I turned him down. Our friendship was never the same after that. It seemed as though we drifted apart in a way, but, our friendship was still strong.

"What's on your mind, Aurora?" Mama gave my shoulders a light squeeze, and I jolted back to reality.

"Oh! Nothing..."

"I didn't see you with Dan, today... Everything alright?"

My heart sank into my stomach at the mention of his name. Dan's my boyfriend, well, ex-boyfriend at the moment. We had a huge fight yesterday and he broke up with me. We haven't spoken since then.

"Dan--Dan's fine!" I lied, and averted my gaze from my Mama's quickly. Luckily, she dropped it there.

We drove in silence. The noise from the engine of the old Toyata was a sad song to our ears. The car moved slowly, as it swayed from side to side. I never felt safe in this car, and I had always felt this looming death around whenever my Mama drove this old Toyata.

I was sure that if we had taken a Taxi, instead, we would have reached earlier. Mama drops me off at Aunt Jema's, blows me a kiss, did a U-Turn, and drives back in the opposite direction.

Ever since my Papa lost his job, things turned bad for my family. I was the only child of my parents, and I had no sibling(s). My Papa, despite losing his job, was a chronic drunkard, and a gambler. He spent every little penny on drinks and women.

It was the root of their misunderstandings, but my Papa wasn't ready to change. Instead, he got worse as the passed by.

Not long after, they separated, but didn't officially divorce. They just lived separately in different apartments and I took turns visiting either of them.

I never stopped wondering what made my Mama marry a man like my father.

Bag in hand, I made my way to the doorstep and rang the bell twice.

I looked through the transparent glass and I can see Sara making her way towards the door, where I stood.

Chubby, with a shoulder length black hair, quite tall for a twenty-one year old, Sara's my older cousin. She opened the door and gave me a kiss on the cheek, but, I wasn't in the mood to talk to her or anyone.

Dragging my feet noisily, I went straight to my room, but as I was about to close the door behind me, I felt some resistance. I looked back and found my cousin beaming at me.

It was strange the way she always smiled; and her smiles have never felt genuine. Sometimes, I felt as though she had to smile at me, even though she didn't want to. It always looked and felt fake.

One look at her and I knew she had something to say to me.

"What's up?" I asked, not bothering to look up at her. I undid my bun, and let my blond hair fall on my shoulders. I have really long hair. My hair was beyond bottom length, and I knew it was one of the reasons the girls in my class dislike me.

"I've got news, Ro." She took a seat in front of the mirror, just few meters away from where I'm stood, and began to play with her hair.

I never liked the nickname 'Ro.' My name isn't hard to pronounce, so I never understood the story behind the nick name.

"Can you at least close the door after you?" I rolled my eyes at her, and proceeded to throw myself on my bed.

That wasn't necessary, and I shouldn't have used such tone at her. I watched as her face squeeze into an ugly frown. She stood up, closed the door, and returned to her previous position.

"Did my mum tell you anything?" Sara asked in a whisper. Her dark pupils, which was an absolute contrast to my blue ones, shone brightly, and her face lit up in excitement. I knew instantly that she had hot gist for me.

"My ex-boyfriend, Mr. Edward visited earlier today."

"Edward? Oh!"

Edward was Sara's ex-boyfriend who was a multimillionaire. They dated and we're together for three months and had just recently broken up, two months ago.

Even though Sara never told me the reason behind the break up, rumour has it that Edward caught her making out with his stepbrother in his house.

It seemed as though she was trying to be courteous with her words, so she said, " It wasn't because he wanted me back or anything like that. According to him, he was just passing by and wanted to say hello.”

"Ok? I have a feeling that there's more,” I said as I leaned closer.

Sara yawns lazily, and I could see tear drops at the corners of her eyes, "I am not sure. He and my mum talked in low tones, after which he left without saying a word to me."

She folded her arms carefully, seeming somewhat displeased that the young billionaire hadn't looked at her at all, or said a word to her.

"What has this information got to do with me, though?"

“Because…” She stopped herself from completing that sentence. Instead, she asked, “have you ever met my ex-boyfriend, Mr. Edward, before?”

I wondered why she was being formal and calling him ‘Mr.Edward’ now. She used to call him Eddie when they were still together two months ago.

I never actually got to see who this man, or even say a word to him, but I sure did hear different rumours about him.

“I think you know the answer to that question,” I retorted.

"Well, isn't it funny how he suddenly mentioned that he wants to make you his wife?”

“You joke a lot, Sara,” I laughed, “how can a man, who I've never set my eyes on, want to marry me? I don't even know what he looks like.”

Little did I know how much if a reality this conversation with Sara, my cousin, later became.

********

I had recently moved to this town two months ago, and had just recently started living with my Aunt and cousin.

I had too much to worry about, so I never bothered to find out about the young billionaire. I had someone my heart already belonged to, and I intended for it to remain that way.

My phone rang and interrupted our conversation.

"Are you Hilda's daughter, Aurora?" The strange masculine voice on the other end asks.

"Yes..."

"You're needed at Sibean Hospital. Your mother had an accident a few minutes ago and has been admitted."