Darren and Lori looked at each other—they knew this was coming and had been dreading this. Darren put his hands on his daughter’s shoulders and said, “Well, sweetie, for many years, we knew very little who your birth mother was or where she was living. It wasn’t until you and Isabelle began spending time together six months ago that your mother and I noticed the similarities and began putting the pieces together.”

  Lori said, “Sweetie, I know you want to decide now. But maybe you would like to hear Coach Santos’ story first.”

  Geneva agreed although she was completely stunned.

  Isabelle and Michelle both took their seats. Isabelle began telling her side of the story. Geneva found out how her life began. Isabelle was a college sophomore with Michelle and another friend Valentine Lu and how Isabelle had been in a relationship with a guy she had thought she would marry. However, a special night, that same guy turned around and rejected her and how Isabelle had her aunt caring for her. By the time Isabelle finished her story, she was crying. Reliving the part where she lost hope of ever finding Geneva.

  Following Isabelle finished her accounts of that night Geneva was stone cold. Everyone thought she was in deep thought. She wasn’t. Putting it all together led Geneva to one conclusion: her favorite staff member was her birth mother. Just like that, her world had changed. All this time, she had been forming a friendship with her biological mother, and she didn’t know it. She was hurt and angry. Even as mad as she was, she remembered how her parents had told her about her background. That, however, didn’t hold the same weight as the news she heard today. Geneva couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Geneva lost her cool. This time her anger overruled her sweet nature. Not caring where she was, she jumped out of her seat began crying as she yelled louder than a firecracker going off. “I don’t believe you!”

  People turned their heads to see what was going on. Darren tried to place his hand on his daughter’s hand, but Geneva would have none of it. “Why let it out now? And don’t tell me to calm down.”

  Lori added, “Sweetie, I know this is hard to take in all at once right now, but….”

  Geneva angrily added, “But what? What else are you not telling me? That you know who fathered me and won’t tell? You know what? I’m out here!”

  Before that, she turned to Isabelle and Michelle and uttered with extreme hurt, “You two are unbelievable keeping something like that from me.”

  With tears following steadily, she dashed out of the restaurant, not caring who she ran into. Right now, she just wanted to get out of there. Lori and Darren looked at each other. They both felt sorry for keeping this from her. Lori herself was now crying. She felt awful for Geneva. She knew the calm Geneva had known these past fifteen years was irrevocably broken. Darren wrapped his arms around his wife and held her close. Right, all they could do was let Geneva let out some steam. Yes, they are concerned she might do something terrible, or something might happen to her, but they are in a safe neighborhood.

  Meanwhile, Geneva ran out as fast as her legs could carry her. Her tears were free-flowing like Niagara Falls. The news she received would be life-changing for anyone. She thought, this really sucks! How could they not tell me? Have they really only known for six months? Who knows it could have been longerSeriously how can my parents, the two people who raised me, be honest and truthful, do this to me? So not fair! Then there is Coach Santos and Ms. Helms; how could they not tell me straight out?

  Geneva wandered with tears in her eyes, the wind sweeping her hair into a frazzled mess. Pretty soon, she ended up at a familiar house, Annalise’s. She went up to the gate and rang the bell. A female voice came through the doorbell speaker. “Who is it?”

  Taking a deep breath, Geneva replied, “It’s Geneva.”

  Mrs. Locke replied. “Oh, Geneva. You’re back. Justina is still here, and she and Annalise are chatting. Would you like to come in?”

  Geneva answered, “Yes, ma’am.”

  The gate buzzed open, and Geneva walked in and closed the gate. As Geneva walked up the driveway, Mrs. Locke saw from a distance that Geneva wasn’t her usual cheerful self. Instead, Geneva dragged her heels on the cobblestone of the driveway, her hair was a mess, and her posture was hunched over. When the teen reached the front door, Mrs. Locke came up. Noticing Geneva’s tear-stained face, she became more concerned. She placed a hand on Geneva’s shoulder and asked, “Sweetie, is everything okay?”

  Geneva replied in a typical teen fashion, “Yeah, it is.”

  Mrs. Locke wasn’t easily fooled, but she chose not to press. Instead, she said, “Okay, go and find Annalise and Justina.”

  Geneva nodded. She was relieved that Mrs. Locke hadn’t asked for details and that no one knew about Isabelle. She went up to Annalise’s room and knocked. Justina opened the door. Sensing something was wrong, she pulled Geneva in and closed the door. Turning around, Justina gave her best friend a hug. Annalise, picking up on Geneva’s mood, also joined in on the hug. After coming apart to lighten the mood, Justina and Annalise complained about school assignments. They chatted about how well the girl’s varsity basketball team was doing. The conversation came to a lull as Mrs. Locke came in with snacks. As they munched on delicious chocolate cake, Geneva asked, “Guys do you remember how I wanted to meet or at least know my biological mother?”

  That caught Annalise and Justina by surprise, and Justina asked, “Oh, did you find out who she is?”

  Geneva took a deep breath and answered, “My dance coach….”

  Annalise sat up. “You mean Coach Santos? No way!”

  Geneva told them what happened during the brunch. Annalise said thoughtfully, “You know now that you mention it; Justina said that the two of you look kind of similar.”

  Flabbergasted, Geneva asked, “Why didn’t you guys say anything?”

  Justina answered, “We weren’t sure and thought it was a coincidence.”

  Geneva was hurt now. Even her closest friends had concluded the possibility and kept it from her. Geneva was upset. Why were things going on like this? She couldn’t hold in her turmoil anymore. “How could you? I thought you were my friends! Keeping a secret like that! Some friends you are!!!”

  Not knowing what else to say, she bolted for the door, but Justina grabbed onto Geneva’s wrist. Geneva wiggled free and yelled, “Get away from me!”

  Before Annalise and Justina could try again, Geneva darted out of the room and ran. Mrs. Locke attempted to call out to her, but she ignored the older woman as she raced past her and slammed the door. Now even she was concerned.

  Meanwhile, Lori and Darren had arrived home with Geneva’s bag. It had been forty-five minutes since the incident, and there was no word from Geneva. They sighed. The reveal didn’t turn how they planned, but they knew plans usually don’t work out. Darren’s phone rang right then, pulling Lori and Darren out of their lull. Seeing who it was, he said, “Hi Kelsey.”

  Kelsey heard the sadness in her father’s voice and asked cautiously, “How did it go?”

  Darren put the call on speaker, and Lori answered, “Not good. Geneva yelled at us and ran off. I suspect that she’s with her friends.”

  Kelsey shook her head. She knew her baby sister would either take it well or not well; it looked like it was latter. She felt terrible for her parents and her sister. Hopefully, this will resolve itself. But, on the other hand, she would hate to split the family up. No sooner had they ended the conversation with Kelsey when the door opened. They looked, it was Geneva, but instead of words, she bypassed her parents and went up to her room. She shut the door to her room with so much force it felt like the whole house it shook.

  From that day forward, the situation would get worse. Each time one of her ‘friends’ called her, she refused to answer. When the try tried to get her attention at school, she ignored them as well. However, that deterred neither Justina nor Annalise. They decided they knew their only option was to go to the Aston residence. Justina knew confronting Geneva would be dangerous, but they had no choice.

  On a chilly January afternoon, Justina’s mom dropped them off at Geneva’s house, and they would head to Annalise’s place after. When they arrived, they went up and rang the door. They hoped it would be Geneva, but it wasn’t. It was Mrs. Aston. Annalise asked, “Good afternoon Mrs. Aston. Is Geneva home?”

  Lori sighed. In the past, Geneva would wait to be picked up. But now when Lori went to pick her up, she had already left. Her Geneva was out there somewhere walking home, and she was worried sick. Lori said, “She isn’t but would you like to come in and wait for her?”

  Justina politely shook her head and said, “No, thank you, Mrs. Aston. We’ll wait out here for her.”

  Lori could only nod. No sooner had the door closed than Justina and Annalise had sat down on the steps when they saw Geneva walk up. When she saw that Annalise and Justina were sitting there, she instantly knew what it was about. Her house. It wasn’t before the insults started right then and there on the Aston residence porch. Geneva wanted to avoid them. She tried to push them but couldn’t. Then, finally, Justina blocked her, and Annalise spoke up loud and clear, “Geneva, we need talk, we can’t go on….”

  That did it. Geneva yelled, “I hate you two. Why won’t you two won’t leave me alone?”

  Annalise tried to get in another word but wasn’t able to. Looking straight at her, Geneva continued, “You must be stupid. You two should have told me sooner. Now get out of my face.”

  Before Justina and Annalise could say anything else, Geneva pushed them aside and went inside her home, and slammed the door shut. Justin and Annalise were both baffled; their friend had changed; they only hoped this phase wouldn’t last long. Once in the house, Geneva turned around and came face to face with her mother. Lori had heard the commotion from the kitchen and wanted to see what was happening. Lori asked, “Is everything okay? I heard yelling and….”

  Geneva narrowed her eyes in anger and then screamed, “Don’t talk to me!”

  Taking the glass water bottle she had in her hand and threw with so much force that when it bounced off the living couch and hit the floor, it shattered into a million pieces. That reaction stunned Lori. Geneva ran up the stairs without a second look and slammed her bedroom door.

  Instead of starting her homework right away, she plopped on the bed and stared into space. As she lay on her bed, Geneva let out a sigh. All her plans were now screwed up. She had initially wanted to get a degree and start a career in dancing. However, since she discovered two weeks ago that her dance coach was her biological mother, she hadn’t been going to practice. Geneva felt betrayed by Coach Santos. She thought to herself, this blows! How could she do this to me, breaking my trust?

  Geneva decided that she was quitting dance. She wanted nothing to do with dancing. She got up and began gathering all the items. She threw the uniforms and other clothing into the box and then ripped the posters off her wall with such intensity that a few got ripped in half. Once she was done, she went to leave by the front door.

  As she walked down the stairs, she discovered Coach Santos wasn’t the only person she was mad at. She was also upset at Ms. Helms, her former English teacher. She felt more conflicted towards Ms. Helms, but that didn’t matter. Geneva decided she wouldn’t talk to Coach Santos or Ms. Helms for the time being.

  With dance no longer an option, what was she supposed to do? She figured she could explore other interests like veterinary medicine, architecture, or catering. Nevertheless, she didn’t even want to think about that or anything for that matter. Plus, her parents came to mind when she thought of the latter two options. This is so unfair!

  Lori decided to let a little time pass before checking in on her daughter. The reason was she thought that Geneva’s lousy attitude and temper flare would pass. It seemed like Geneva just changed overnight. Lori thought that maybe if she gave her daughter some space, she would return to be her sweet self.She didn’t have to wait much longer. Seeing her daughter come towards her, Lori asked gently, “Geneva, sweetie?”

  With force, Geneva replied, “What!?”

  Surprised, Lori thought, uh-oh, this isn’t good. She approached her daughter gently asked, “Are you okay, sweetheart? If you need to talk, dad, Kelsey, and I are here for you.”

  Getting irritated and responded loudly, “I. Am. Fine! Now leave me alone!”

  Then Lori noticed the box Geneva had been carrying with her. It was full of her dance items; she was shocked. Geneva was obsessed with everything dance; Lori didn’t understand why Geneva didn’t want to dance anymore. Lori softly asked, “Geneva, I know how much you loved to dance. Why you are quitting all of a sudden?”

  Geneva replied bluntly, “Because I want to, that’s why, and I don’t want to talk about it anymore. So please leave me alone.”

  Geneva walked to one side and went to leave the box by the front door. Lori decided to drop the topic for now. However, she was now determined to get to the bottom of this mess.

  The next day when school got out, she headed to rehearsing the team. When the team captain, Sasha, saw her, she said, “Geneva, welcome back and….”

  Geneva forcefully thrusted the box into Sasha’s arms and said, “Shove it. I quit. Goodbye.”

  Without another word, Geneva left, leaving Sasha flabbergasted. Sasha shook her head and wondered what was up with Geneva? First, missing practice, now quitting? Deciding not to think about it further, she made her way over to Coach Santos. “Here, Geneva came by with her stuff. She said she quit.”

  Isabelle’s heart sunk when they saw the box. Inside the box were items she had personally bought for Geneva. The outfit was tailor-made for her, too. Isabelle remembered the day when she gave it to Geneva.

  Sixteen months earlier, September 2008

  Geneva was fitting in nicely and was practicing the dance routine when she heard Coach Santos call to her, “Geneva, could I talk to you?”

  Wondering what was going on, Geneva walked over, and Coach Santos said, “Your jacket came today.”

  Geneva loved her jacket! Although the coat was in school colors, she saw her last name in stitched purple, one of her favorite colors!

  She put it on and hugged Coach Santos, and said, “Thank you, Coach! I love it!”

  Coach Santos smiled. She hoped one day she would tell Geneva she was her biological mother.

  Isabelle sighed. Maybe she should have kept her thoughts and feelings to herself, as Feliciano had suggested. But, so far, her selfish feelings had brought nothing but trouble and heartache. Geneva’s out-of-character behavior continued even in school. First, it had started with her getting to her classes late. Then, she didn’t just do it only did it for one class; she did for all her types. One time, about five minutes into history class, Geneva had waltzed in, and she walked in and asked flippantly, “Did I miss anything important?”

  Her history teacher was shocked. The Geneva she knew was acting out. Before the teacher could say something, Geneva dismissively commented, “Well, we don’t do anything in the first couple of minutes anyway.”

  Geneva had barely arrived in her chemistry class when she interrupted the teacher to raise her hand and asked, “May I please go to the restroom?”

  Her odd behavior continued, including her laying her head down on her desk, not turning in most assignments, and talking at other students when she shouldn’t be. Then there another time in math class, she had raised her hand. Once the teacher called on her, she talked about something entirely unrelated. Though she continued acting out, she didn’t get sent to the principal’s office. Her teachers were troubled. Geneva was letting her grades drop. The teacher who was the most alarmed was her sophomore English teacher. Geneva had done so well at the start of the year; she had heard how well the girl was doing in her class from her colleague, Michelle. Maybe Michelle would be able to help Geneva. One day at lunchtime, the teacher approached Michelle in the staff room and told her what was happening. Michelle sighed. She knew what was causing this, but she had to do some digging to be sure.

  Before she could head home for the day, Geneva herself had been called to a meeting with her guidance counselor regarding her grades. Geneva sat in front of her counselor, arms crossed and expressionless. The counselor began talking. “Ms. Aston, I remember the discussion we had at the end of your first year about what courses to take the next couple of years to even to be considered for admission at Middlebury.”

  Geneva stayed silent as the counselor continued her speech, “Ms. Aston, I suggest you clean up your act and your attitude and bring up your grades. But, unfortunately, you are on the path to NOT being able to take the courses.”

  The counselor then added, “Now, what’s going on with you outside of school you should consider talking with a therapists.

  Geneva remained stone-faced; the news hit a nerve. She planned to hurt Isabelle, but she hadn’t planned on taking it this far. During the meeting, Ms. Helms left her classroom to go and find Geneva. She didn’t, however, need to go far. After the meeting, Geneva walked out of the office when she heard, “Geneva?”

  Geneva turned around and saw not her only current English teacher but also her former English teacher, Ms. Helms.

  Geneva growled out, “What do you want, Ms. Helms.”

  Michelle thought, whoa, Geneva has changed and not for the better.

  Michelle continued, “I was wondering how you’re doing?”

  Geneva snorted, “Is that all? Then leave me alone.”

  The teacher there reprimanded Geneva, “Ms. Aston, that is no way to talk to Ms. Helms.”

  But Michelle holds her hand up. The teacher stood back a little. Turning to Geneva, Michelle added, “I have heard that you haven’t been doing well. So I was thinking, if you need help, I can help you.”

  When Geneva spat, Michelle wanted to say something else, “Why would you care about me now? You should have cared enough to tell me who my biological mother is, but you didn’t. You know what? Why don’t you just shove it? I don’t need your help.”

 

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