Chapter 2

Seeing Mom get more and more out of line and Jared's expression growing darker by the second, Dad started to get worried.

"Jared, I think my wife hasn't been feeling too well today. Why don't you head home for now? We'll have you over again some other time. Dinner's on me."

After Jared left, I just couldn't hold back anymore.

"Mom, what exactly are you trying to do? You knew full well this was Jared's first time meeting you, so why would you say all that just to humiliate me? Have you even thought about how I'm supposed to explain any of this to him?"

Mom looked completely bewildered.

"What are you freaking out about? It's not like I made any of it up. Tell me, what did I say that wasn't true? Didn't you get HPV? Didn't you have a crush on that boy? You clearly did all that, so why can't I talk about it?"

There it was again—she was just telling the truth.

I'd lost count of how many times her total lack of filter had screwed me over.

When I was little, I finished my homework quickly because there just wasn't that much of it, and then Mom went and told everyone at the parent-teacher meeting that I was complaining about having too little homework. After that, all the kids started giving me the cold shoulder.

In high school, I got my period and stained my pants. I told the teacher I wasn't feeling well and asked to go home to change.

However, Mom took a photo of the bloodstained pants and posted it in the class group chat.

"Ms. Hodge, Tiffany isn't really sick. She just got her period and stained her pants. She even lied about why she needed to go home."

Afterward, she had the nerve to lecture me.

"Tiffany, we must never tell lies. You have to be an honest person."

I'd been burned too many times by her blurting out the truth with zero regard for when or where, which was exactly why I kept reminding her about it over and over.

But never in a million years did I imagine she'd pull the same thing on a day as important as Jared's first visit.

That night, Jared texted me asking about what happened back then.

I gave him a rough explanation of the whole story, and thankfully, he trusted me enough.

"Tiffany, I believe you. I know you're not the kind of person Mrs. Cochran made you out to be. But I just have to say—what kind of mother talks about her own daughter like that? Does she even love you?"

Did Mom love me? I'd like to know the answer to that too.

Time and time again, she ignored my perfectly reasonable requests and aired out my most humiliating moments under the guise of "just telling the truth".

Did a mother's love like that even exist?

During that time, I barely left the house and just drifted through the days feeling completely miserable.

When Mom saw me like that, she assumed Jared had broken up with me, which only made her angrier.

"Who do you think you're moping around for? Even if Jared did break up with you, that just means you picked the wrong guy in the first place! Don't blame me for your own bad judgment!

"You think it's been easy raising you all these years? You're going to hate me over a few honest words? I knew it—you really are an ungrateful brat!"

But weariness had already settled deep within me. I no longer wished to engage with her at all, nor did I have the energy to argue back.

Dad tried to lift my spirits and made a point of calling my good friend, Karla Sherman, over to keep me company.

We caught up on the latest gossip and vented about the people both of us couldn't stand. Right away, I felt so much better.

Just then, Mom suddenly pushed the door open. Seeing us chatting away, she plopped herself down right next to me without a second thought.

Every alarm in my head went off, so I warned her, "Mom, we're just talking. Could you maybe step out?"

But Mom acted like she hadn't heard a word.

She took Karla's hand and studied her face closely.

"Your cheekbones are so pronounced, and you've got no flesh on your cheeks. That's the face of someone with a short life. You really shouldn't come over so much anymore. I'm afraid you might bring bad luck to Tiffany."