Chapter 1

POLLEN’S POV

As soon as my mother’s car parked directly in front of our small apartment and came to a halt, I did not spare the slightest chance to jump out of it. I began to walk into the house, ignoring her calls.

“Pollen, Hey! Get back here!”

I hastened my pace as I heard her alight from the car and slam the rickety car door.

Her voice drew closer to me.

“Are you crazy? Where do you think you’re going?” My mother’s voice hollered again as she tried to catch up with me.

In no time, I was in the house. And as I walked into the living room, my younger sister; Laura, was sprawled carelessly across one of the old cushions. She was eating from a bag of Doritos. She raised her gaze to me, a bland, nonchalant expression written all over her face.

I ignored her annoying ass and was about to make my way into the room, already mentally planning on shutting myself indoors for the rest of the day to save myself from mother’s troubles. But I was unlucky this time, my mother caught up with me in time. She placed herself in front of my way to stop me from trying to escape her any further.

“Mother!” I nagged at her, fed up with her petty troubles.

“Don’t you dare try to pull the pity card on me.”

She gave me a hard, stern look that warned me to keep shut if I knew what was good for me.

“What did you do that for?”

“Why did I do what?” I feigned ignorance.

Like it was not the same issue we were battling in the car, as we drove back from the sorority meeting I was forced to attend with her.

“Don’t give me that crap, Pollen!” My mother stomped her foot on the ground and gave me those laser eyes that could shoot a bullet right through your heart.

“How could you be so unreasonable and shameless enough to tell the women at the sorority that you are still single?” She fumed.

I refrained from rolling my eyes at her. I did not understand why my life was always her business. She had always been one to interfere in my private life, and it was beginning to suffocate me. I wished she could just give me a break.

“But I am single, aren’t I?” I replied instead, and it clearly angered her even more. Her face reddened with rage, and I feared she would explode any moment from now.

“You pathetic fool! How could you say that to my friends? Knowing that their daughters are in relationships? With prominent and successful men at that. The least you could do was lie. How could you be so dumb?”

“I don’t understand why you’re taking this too personal, mother. Being single is not a big deal. You’re just being paranoid. And besides, I am still young and ...”

“Oh, shut up! You!” She fired at me. “You are just like your father. You are both self-centered individuals who never considered the interest of others!”

This time, I felt a surge of anger wash through me at the comparison my mother had made between me and my father. It irked me that she could go as far as comparing me with someone as despicable as him—that heartless man. There was no way he and I can be a like.

“Don’t you ever say that to me again, mother.” My tone came off as a warning that caught her off guard. “Don’t you ever compare me to that man.”

But my mother only scoffed at me and began to pace around the room restlessly, her fingers diving a little too roughly into her hair in frustration.

“You want the members of the sorority to think we are miserable women, don’t you? You want them to think my daughters and I live a miserable life, don’t you?” She was yelling again.

Before I could open my mouth to say a word to her, Laura’s voice came in reply. “Mom’s right, you know. We really are living a miserable life. The least you could have done was to play mom’s script”.

My mother and I turned our attention to Laura’s awful talk.

“I mean, let’s be honest —we live in a horrible apartment. We can’t even afford most of the things other families have. Dad left Mom for a richer, younger woman. And you, Pollen, have never been in a relationship in your entire life. The one guy you managed to confess your love to rejected you in the most embarrassing manner” She chuckled and shoved another Doritos into her mouth, as if she was enjoying the pathetic situation we were in.

“Now, tell me a more miserable life and I will show you the place where the world ends.”

“Shut that stupid mouth of yours and stop saying crap...” I tried to scold her, but my mother jumped into her defense, like she always did, every single time the girl uttered her usual bullshit.

“Don’t you even try to attack her, Pollen.” My mother warned me. “You know she is right. All you have always done is be disappointment and make other people consider us to be miserable, pathetic people...”

“Maybe the both of you are pathetic. But count me out of it, mother. I am perfectly okay with my life.” I defended myself again, “also, if you had always thought I was a disappointment and Laura was the better one, why did you have to drag me along with you to the sorority? Why didn’t you take your perfect daughter?” I screamed back at her, feeling tired and frustrated already.

I had had enough of my mother, my sister and this life they had subjected me to.

Furthermore, I wished they could all just give me a breathing space, even for once, and stop nagging me for crimes I didn’t even commit.

“You know I would if she wasn’t busy with school work and her part-time job at the coffee shop.” My mother folded her arms across her bosom and eyed me terribly, “On your part, all you’ve ever done is get rejected by every publishing company you apply your works to. And you still think your life isn’t miserable?”

Shutting my eyes briefly and taking in a deep breath, I concluded that I was tired of having this everyday argument with my family. What I needed right now was a place to rest my head and forget about their madness for a moment.

“That’s enough, mother. I’m done having this conversation with you.” I brushed past her and headed for my bedroom, but her voice still thundered and came after me.

“You can’t escape this forever, Pollen. Unless you get yourself a goddamn boyfriend and stop embarrassing me in front of my friends. You know what I’m going to do? I am going to call your Aunt and get her to fix you a blind date, you strong headed girl.”

I scoffed at her ridiculous threat as I headed into my room and banged the door behind me. Mother was going to call Aunt Margaret and get her to arrange a blind date for me? How ridiculous. I knew my mother was one hell of a dramatic woman, but going as far as meeting with my matchmaker aunt and trying to set me up with a total stranger? Nah.

That would be insane and absurd. She wouldn’t dare do that.