Chapter 11: The Intervention

Rain

Video calling Noah became our small tradition. Every night we would lay on the phone together and talk until I fell asleep. Sometimes the conversations would veer into light flirting. I attempted and failed to hide my blushing face, but Noah always noticed it. Even though it was very embarrassing, I liked the smile it brought to his face. The video calls were so relaxing. I was worried that Noah didn't like the sudden kiss we shared, but he liked the way I kissed him, and I wanted a chance to do it again.

It had been two weeks since it happened. Noah worked longer hours because Maya was busy, and I have been a prisoner in this house because I went “missing,” according to Raven. Now more than ever, my siblings have been watching my every move. Robyn kept asking me where I was and what I was doing. It wasn’t like I could tell him that I went scuba diving—behind my father’s back—to look for a mythical sea creature that I saw the day of the boating accident. And that those mythical creatures were actually real, and the guy I kissed happened to be one.

Part of me wanted to tell Noah that I liked him, but would he feel the same way? I knew that he liked kissing me, but did he like me? The mornings after our video calls ended, I would think about all the other things I wanted to do with Noah. I wanted to know about his likes and dislikes. I wanted to know about his childhood, about being a siren. To hold his hand as well, but right now, I would settle for just being in the room with him.

The air was cold when I decided to relax outside. Fall was creeping in at Harmonia Cove. The trees started to change color and fall from the trees—small swirls of orange and red floating through the garden. I liked this time of year; the transition from summer to fall. Being outside was peaceful. This temperature and setting were the perfect combinations to organize my thoughts. The gazebo in my backyard had an old swing, and I wanted to sort out my thoughts about Noah in peace.

It had been a while since I had a crush on someone, and that was what I had on Noah: a crush. Every time I received a text from him, it made my mundane routine a bit more enjoyable. Noah sent me dumb pictures of him at work when he was bored. And I worked up the courage to send some pictures of myself being bored at home. The sun was starting to set when Robyn decided to join me. I knew my good mood was in danger.

“What are you daydreaming about out here?” He signed.

I didn't answer him. If they were going to treat me like a child, then I would act like one.

“Come on, Rain. You haven’t spoken to me since you came home. I just wanted to know what you been up to,” Robyn continued.

I pretended that I was doing something on my phone. Robyn glanced at my phone then back to me.

“I heard you talking on your phone kind of late one night in your room. Who were you talking to?”

“Did you tell me everyone you were talking to when you were 23?” I responded.

“If you were dating someone, you can tell me, you know? Not just about dating, but about… anything. I’m on your side.”

I knew I could have trusted Robyn with anything before the accident, but everything was different now. Our family wasn’t complete. And since our younger brother was gone, I was now the youngest, and they treated me as if I needed to be protected. Robyn worried too much about me. He barely let me have privacy. Robyn always asked questions, and he always checked to see where I was every 10 minutes. It was getting annoying.

I felt my phone vibrating in my hand. I wanted it to be a text or a call from Noah, but instead, I saw a message from my father:

Family meeting.

I looked at Robyn, but he didn't seem surprised by the message.

“What did you mean when you said you’re on my side?” I asked, getting suspicious.

Robyn wouldn’t look at me.

“We should go see what father wants,” Robyn signed, then walked past me back toward the house.

I was pulling at my hair ferociously when I stepped into my father’s study. Raven was sitting to his right—like always— and Robyn took the seat to his left. The only place left to sit was a loveseat where Romaris and I used to sit during family meetings, but now I sat there alone.

My father always wore the same stern facial expression since I was a kid. It was the expression that made me sweat just thinking about having to look into his dark eyes. It wasn’t like my father was mean to me growing up, but he was the kind of man that valued facts and logic over emotions. Emotions were a nuisance to him.

“Now that we’re all here, Raindriel, you can use this opportunity to tell the family where you were last week when you disappeared,” My father spoke to me like I was one of his business partners rather than his son. “We have given you two weeks to tell us yourself, but it does not seem as if that will happen.”

Was this an intervention? Were they going that far?

“Why is everyone so obsessed with where I was and what I did?” I said, letting my emotions get the best of me.

“Rain,” Robyn said, “we’re just worried.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Why? Rain, you were gone for a whole day and when you came home, you had cuts and scratches all over your arms!” Robyn yelled.

“I was with Noah, okay? Am I not allowed to make friends?” I yelled back.

Robyn and I stared at each other.

“I was just worried that you had…relapsed,” Robyn mumbled.

The anger in me was starting to overflow. “I already told you I didn’t need my medication anymore! I haven’t stepped foot into a pharmacy in months! I’ve been to rehab, and I’ve seen therapists. What more do you want me to do? I made one little mistake!”

“Little mistake?” Raven chimed into the conversation. “You abused your anxiety medication and overdosed, Rain. You almost died, and you probably would have if Robyn hadn’t found you.”

I quickly glanced at my older brother, and he looked back at me with wet eyes. I didn't know he was the one that found me. Most of the time after Romaris died was a blur. I went day to day, finding whatever I could to help me forget or to make it seem like it never happened. The dayI overdosed, I remembered one minute I was lying on the deck of my boat, and the next, I was in a hospital bed. “It was an accident. I wasn’t trying to kill myself…I was just...I was just trying to feel.”

“Feel what?” Raven and Robyn asked simultaneously.

“Nothing…anything,” I whispered. I didn't have the words to explain what I wanted.

The room was eerily quiet. My father was still sitting behind his desk, watching his children argue amongst themselves. When my eyes connected with my father’s I could feel his disappointment in me. I wanted to run far away from this conversation. I never enjoyed the way he looked at me. I hid from my father’s gaze. I wanted to—

“Noah? The same boy who joined us for dinner? The one you planned to scuba dive with?” My father asked, with a stare that was piercing. I could feel the water swelling in my eyes. After being alive for 23 years, I was still afraid to lie to my father. Afraid to disappoint him. No wonder they treated me like a child.

“And did you dive with him even though I asked you not to?” Continued my father.

“I’m not a child. I can do whatever I want with my free time,” I said, attempting to defend myself.

“That is correct. You are not a child, Raindriel, but you are not yet ready for the responsibilities of an adult. And it seems that Noah is a trigger for bad behavior. I cannot let you fall back into old patterns. So, you will be moving in with your mother, and you will no longer spend time with Noah.

“You can’t ask me to do that,” I pleaded.

“I just did,” My father said without a hint of emotion.

I blinked, and tears rolled down my face.

“Crying does not earn you sympathy, Randriel. I thought I taught you that.”

My thoughts were scattered. I looked to Raven for help but found none. She always agreed with whatever decisions my father made. Then I turned to Robyn, whose face was just as defeated as mine.

“Father, don't you think that’s unfair? When I agreed to this intervention, I thought we were going to send Rain back to therapy again, not send him away!” Robyn yelled.

“Rain isn’t going away. He will be with mom,” Raven said in a way that almost made me believe she cared.

“But—”

“But nothing, Robyn!” My father yelled. His face expressed a bit of emotion before he pulled himself back in control. “I will not lose another son.”

We all stared at my father. That was the most emotion I ever heard in his voice. I shut my eyes. All I could think about was Noah. The one person that hadn’t treated me like a child in months. The one person that was making me feel something other than the dark depths of my loneliness. That made me feel something other than regret and guilt from not saving Romaris. Noah.

My father cleared his throat, and I opened my eyes.

“You can’t ask me to stop talking to him,” I cried.

“I suggest you pack your things and give your mother a call,” said my father, ignoring my statement.

“You can’t…” I choked as my breath quickened. I felt cornered. Desk, chair, bookshelf, I repeated in my head. The room was spinning. My palms were sweaty. It was getting harder to breathe. The room was spinning, going faster than earlier. The voices of my family faded to a whisper. There was yelling, but I couldn’t concentrate on the words. I frantically looked around the room again, rug, pen, letter opener. I raked my hands through my hair, sweat making it slick to the touch.

Try touching something cold. That always helps me.

Hearing Noah's advice in my head, I ran to the kitchen and shoved my hands into the icebox. It was so cold it hurt. Fridge, counter, barstool. Someone grabbed my shoulder. I flinched at the sudden touch. “Don’t touch me!” I screamed.

I saw Robyn recoil away from me with both hands up in defense.

“I’m sorry Robyn...I’m…I needed…I need—” I said, clenching the ice in my fists, absorbing the burn of the ice numbing my skin.

“Tell me what you need, Rain,” Robyn said affectionately, getting as close as possible without touching me. I’m on your side.

“I need to get out of here,” I said as my breath evened out.

Robyn reached into his pocket and placed his car keys on the kitchen counter.

“Go somewhere safe. I promise you I’ll try my best to change fathers mind. I promise.”

I looked up at my older brother, and he had tears in his eyes. Was this what he looked like when he found me? I wanted to tell him I was sorry for putting him through that, but I couldn’t form the words.

I nodded then pulled Robyn in for a hug. The cold of my hands found warmth, spreading on his back. He hugged me like I would fall if he let go. Robyn broke away first and walked in the direction back to my father’s study.

I snatched the keys off the counter and studied them. Go somewhere safe. I quickly made a decision and sprinted out the front door.