Brrrr… brrrr…
The phone on the table vibrated, making that annoying buzzing sound in the otherwise quiet room.
Susan was fast asleep, curled under her blanket. She groaned, shifting slightly, then yanked her pillow and slapped it over her head, refusing to acknowledge the phone.
Whoever it was could wait. She was definitely not ready to wake up.
Brrrr… brrrr…
The phone kept buzzing—persistently, challenging her patience. Whoever was calling clearly wasn't planning to give up until she picked up.
"Ughhh…" Susan let out a frustrated sigh.
She knew she had already lost this battle.
Reluctantly, she tossed the pillow aside and reached toward the table, blindly feeling around until her hand brushed against the cold metal of her phone.
"Yeah… hello?" she mumbled, eyes still tightly shut, refusing to fully wake up.
"Susan."
Her mom's voice.
Her eyes flew open as if she'd been electrocuted. She instantly sat up and, by pure reflex, began fixing her messy hair—acting like her mom was standing right in front of her instead of on the phone.
"Mom…" she said, suddenly wide awake.
"You just woke up? What time is it? You're not going clubbing with your friends, right?" Her mom fired questions one after another, her tone sharp and impatient—classic worried-mom energy.
"I was doing homework until 3 AM. And no, I'm not clubbing. You don't have to worry," Susan replied calmly. She knew her mom could be irritating sometimes, but it always came from worry. She could handle it.
Losing her father so young had forced her to grow up fast. On some days, she even felt like she was the mother, calming her mom's anxiety instead of the other way around.
"How are things there? Are you okay?" Susan asked while glancing at the clock—9:15 AM. No wonder her mom was fussing.
"Everything's fine here. Just… a little lonely without you," her mom said softly.
Silence.
Susan knew what that meant.
She had to avoid letting the conversation slip into self-pity territory. If it did, it would spiral straight into her mom's depression—and Susan couldn't handle that right now.
"Yeah, I know. I miss you too. Are you still doing yoga with Aunt Jane?" she asked gently, steering the topic away.
"Yes, we still go three times a week. Not today, though—tomorrow," her mom replied.
"Oh, I see. How's Jenny?" Susan asked, knowing this topic would immediately pull her mom out of her gloomy mood.
Jenny—her cousin. Aunt Jane's daughter. She had recently broken up with her fiancé after catching him cheating. The heartbreak had sent her into depression, and she had nearly overdosed on sleeping pills. Thankfully, Aunt Jane and her mom had come home early that day, found her unconscious, and rushed her to the hospital. Since then, Aunt Jane never left Jenny alone. She treated her like a newborn baby.
As expected, her mom's tone changed instantly—switching from sad to worried, this time about her sister. She talked nonstop about Jenny, Aunt Jane, and how furious she still was about the cheating ex-fiancé.
"And Jane asked me to go with her and Jenny on a short trip to Singapore. A week. She said she'll cover everything. I told her I'd think about it," her mom said.
"I think you should go. You haven't had a holiday in ages, and Aunt Jane might really need you there. You know how hard it is when Jenny gets her mood swings," Susan encouraged gently. A trip would do her mom good.
"By the way, why did you call? It's rare you call me this early. Did something happen?" Susan finally asked.
"No, nothing happened to me. It's just… Sanny called me before I called you. She said Bella is having a birthday party tonight. Did she tell you?"
Susan almost rolled her eyes.
Of course, Aunt Sanny didn't tell her.
Aunt Sanny—her uncle Andy's wife—hated them. Ever since her father passed away and their finances collapsed, Bella had made it painfully clear she didn't want to be involved with them. The fact that Uncle Andy agreed to fund Susan's education had driven Aunt Sanny crazy; she poured all her anger onto Susan in subtle, snide ways.
"No, she didn't. And she's definitely not expecting me to be there. If she told you anything, it's only because Uncle Andy forced her to. She'll do it for courtesy, nothing more," Susan replied. The last thing she wanted was to pretend to be happy in front of Aunt Sanny.
"Don't talk like that. They were kind enough to help us, especially in our situation," her mom reminded her.
"Yeah… I know. Sorry," Susan said helplessly.
"Just try your best. If you skip the party, she'll use it as a bullet to shoot you in front of Andy. Don't give her a reason to hurt you. Think of it as going for Andy, not for her," her mom advised.
They ended the call after Susan promised she'd try to attend—as long as she didn't get slammed with extra homework.
She tossed the phone back onto the table and collapsed onto her bed with a heavy sigh.
She really hated dealing with this kind of drama.
After a moment of staring at the ceiling, she glanced at the clock—and shot upright.
10:15 AM?!
She had class at 11.
"Shit!"
She grabbed her towel and bath kit, then sprinted out of her room toward the bathroom.