"Today, however can change things for better or worse. The outcome depends on you."
When a marriage fails the residue trickles down to everyone in the family. Sixteen-year-old Daya Nicole Johnston must fight to understand what is happening in her li...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
*Young Jay and Daya*
My eyes felt like they had been open for hours, but simultaneously it seemed like they had been opened for the first time.
A gasp escaped my throat as I fell off my daybed, and onto my fuzzy tan carpeting. My head popped up and I looked at the completely intact window. My hand landed onto my forehead and the blue glare coming through the window revealed that it must have been early morning or sometime late at night.
With laden breaths, I put my head onto the carpet and laid there so confused. My head was killing me as flashes ran through my mind of bloody hands, glass, and multiple versions of me.
Was I daydreaming? What in the world was that?
Then I started remembering what was happening before I was transported into my dream world. I lifted my head and brought my eyes to look at the door.
No way is he still here.
I turned my person around to face the door fully and wrapped my arms around my knees. I sat like that for almost ten minutes, my eyes only leaving the door to blink.
Taking a very deep breath, I put myself in the crawling position and started moving towards the door. When I reached it, I put my ear to the cold wood.
Nothing could be heard.
Haltingly, my hand wrapped itself around the doorknob and unlocked it. Then in one swift motion, I barely opened it. I put both my hands on the side of the door before peeking over and being greeted with the hallway carpeting.
I guess he didn't stay as long as it took. A breath I thought I let out long ago fell out of my lips.
Using the doorknob as leverage, I lifted myself up and open the door further. I walked down the hall and the stairs and into the kitchen. My eyes surveyed every centimeter that was visible to me, to be certain that he wasn't there, or that anyone was there for that matter. I opened the fridge and saw a plate wrapped in aluminum foil that was not there before.
When I reached for it, I saw that my name was written on it in black marker. I took off the foil to reveal ham, green beans, and hush puppies on the plate before me. I missed dinner, mom must have been so concerned.
Without haste, I heated up the food. Knowing my mom, she probably stayed up all night waiting for me to open the door. As soon as it dinged I got my food out of the microwave, grabbed a fork, and darted for my room.
When I reached the top of the stairs I heard a voice from down the hall say, "Oh my God, Daya."
I sighed and tilted my head back.
"Daya please, tell me you're okay," my mom said as she crossed the hall and wrapped her arms around me.
"Can we talk in my room?" She nodded and so that's what we did.
