Halfway There | COMPLETE ✔ + Sequel

Chapter 01 - First Look

If there is one thing you could always count on my mother to do, it's to worry.

"Dani, are you sure you don't want me to stay and help you unpack?" I might have been able to feed a small country if I had received a nickel for every time she had asked me that question today. I rolled my eyes as we carried in the last bits of luggage into my new, but small, dorm room.

I had obviously missed the memo that beds were on a first come first serve basis. We set the suitcases down beside the only empty bed in the room which happened to be by the window. I guess it could be worse.

"Mom," I sighed, finally turning to face her, "I'm fine. I promise." I gave her the same response that I had given her for the past two months.

When I had first told her that I was moving away for college she nearly lost her mind. For the last couple of years she had become somewhat of an expert for coming up with the worst possible outcomes for every situation and this was no exception. She had thought of every single excuse to keep me safe at home with her.

"College is so expensive. Community college is so much cheaper. Aren't you scared of college debt?" "You and I both know dad left me enough money for this specific reason."

"What if you run out of laundry detergent?" "I buy more?"

"What if you get invited to a frat party and someone slips a roofie in your drink-" "Mom!"

When nothing scared me enough to convince me to stay home she had resorted to crying. Unintentionally, but also completely intentionally, hoping to somehow guilt me into staying with her.

Her eyes welled with tears as she desperately tried her last attempt to change my mind. She took a step closer to cup my cheek with the palm of her hand and I watched as her lips formed the smallest pout. She was a wonderful crier and even though I knew her tears were only an act to make me feel some kind of guilt, my chest still tightened. I had seen her shed enough tears to last me a lifetime, real and fake. I gave her a small smile and she gave my cheek a soft tap, sniffing her nose.

"It's not too late to change your mind." She offered again.

She already knew my answer, there wasn't any point to wasting oxygen in saying it again. "I'll call and text as often as I can." I knew better than to follow that up with a promise.

Instantly, I could see that she finally admitted defeat. She gave me a tight hug at the door and I waved goodbye until she was all the way down the hall and disappeared around the corner.

If it weren't for the fact that I genuinely felt guilty for feeling actual happiness from finally being away from my mother, I might have danced.

It wasn't that I didn't love my mom, of course I love her, it's just that I needed time to be away from her and the agoraphobia that stole the better part of my teenage years. The same agoraphobia that caused her to be worried more about what could happen to her daughter rather than her actual daughter.

After closing the door, I took a quick sigh of relief. She hadn't always been like that. In fact, this is her on a really good day. Sure, she always tended to lean more on the cautious side but it wasn't until a little after my dad died that I noticed that there was something different about the way she was acting.

It was little things at first, things that were almost barely noticeable. We couldn't go to the grocery store at certain times or on certain days because it was too crowded, driving with her anywhere took longer than necessary because she drove as if she was 95 years old and anything that could even potentially start a fire was dangerous to her. And it only got worse with time.