I Will Love Myself Chapter 08
Mom and Dad stood beside the car together. Mom had my favorite snack in her hands.
She fixed her eyes on me while Dad rubbed his hands nervously.
Staring at them through the car window, I couldn’t believe my eyes.
We had only been separated for three years, but it felt like a lifetime.
Sitting in the driver’s seat, the older Noelle took a deep breath and said to me, “Go talk to them. I’ll be waiting.”
I just nodded without asking any questions. After unbuckling the seatbelt, I got out.
As I approached, Mom’s eyes teared up.
She reached out, as if to take my hand, but then, she paused and asked in a trembling voice, “Elle, where have you been these years?
“Do you have any idea how long your dad and I have been looking for you?
“We looked everywhere we could think of and asked all of your classmates and teachers, but there was no clue.”
She wept, wiping tears off with the back of her hand. “If Victoria hadn’t told me you were accepted to a top university, we wouldn’t even have known where to find you.
“Elle, how could you break our hearts like that?”
She was devastated. “Elle, how could you abandon your own parents? We were worried to death.
“We couldn’t sleep. Every time we closed our eyes, we thought of you.”
“All right,” Dad cut in. “Now that we’ve found Elle, don’t talk about unpleasant things.”
With a sigh, he pulled at Mom’s sleeve, gesturing for her to calm down.
Then, he turned to me and asked cautiously, “Elle, you don’t want to go home. Is it because we returned the recorder when you were ten?”
He paused, as if to observe my response. Seeing that I remained silent, he continued, “We can explain.
“At that time, Rach needed some important materials for a contest. We…We were short of cash. So, we came up with that idea.
“It’s true. We didn’t have a choice.”
The two of them stared at me, as if hoping to hear me say, “It’s forgiven and forgotten.”
Looking at Mom’s red eyes and Dad’s newly grown gray hair, I said slowly, “So, you returned my birthday present just because Rachel wanted something?
Then, you called me careless and told me I lost it?
And you yelled at me and beat me so I wouldn’t dare to ask for anything again.
You made me feel guilty and remorseful and think I didn’t deserve something nice.
Am I right?”
My voice was low and flat. It sounded like I was talking about something that had nothing to do with me.
But the blood drained from my parents’ faces as they listened.