As Perceived by Crystellen 10

It was a couple weeks before I saw Losten again.  In the meantime, I kept my distance from Emerys.  For some reason she still seemed to be upset with me.  Didn’t she know that I was just trying to protect us?  She’d always been the one who tried to watch out for me, especially since Dad died, so I hoped she would have appreciated me doing the same.

The day after Losten left, Mom walked into my room and sat down on my bed.

“Young lady,” she said.  “We need to talk about what you did.”

Oh great, I thought.  This sounds like another lecture about how I’m supposed to behave. 

“Okay,” I replied, “let’s get on with this.”

Mom looked at me for an uncomfortably long time.  “You know what you did was wrong, I hope.”

I rolled my eyes.  “Can we please not start this again?  We both know you’re only saying this because my hunch proved wrong.  Had he been Manicotti, you guys would be all thanking me for what I did.”

Mom gave me an unpleasant look.  “I’m disagreeing with your methods, not your concern.”  She scooted closer to where I sat on the bed.  “You should have told me of your suspicions, then we could have discussed whether there was need to take action.”  She paused.  “Which there wasn’t.  I would have told you, had you spoken to me, that I’d already talked to Emerys about Losten and she assured me that he could be trusted.”

My mouth dropped open.  “And you believed her?  Have you seen the way she looks at him?  I think if he asked her to marry him tomorrow, she’d run off and leave us all."

Mom sighed.  “Crystellen Treasure, you’re exaggerating again.  Just because this is your sister’s first relationship doesn’t mean she’s going to lose her head.  Emerys is pretty level headed.  If he’s not a good man, I think she’ll let us know.”

I looked past Mom at the picture of Dad on my desk.  I wish you were here, I thought, because you would know what to do.  I glanced back at Mom.

“We don’t know anything about him.  Just because Losten’s not Manicotti doesn’t mean he’s the kind of guy we want dating my sister.  If Dad was here, he’d-”

“Unfortunately, he’s not,” my mother interrupted.  She leaned over and held my hand.  “Look, I miss him, too.  I really do.  But, it’s not your role to try to protect us all.  I know what it’s like to be your age, but you’ve got to trust that I know what I’m doing.”  She smiled.  “I haven’t been around as long as I have without learning a few things.”

I looked down at the quilt between us and then back at my mother.

“But, Mom, if Dad was here, he’d be just as concerned-”

“If your father was here, he would have discussed the matter with me.  He knew firsthand how horrible cassidium poisoning could be, and he would have never condoned what you did.”  She got off my bed and reached out a hand towards me.  “Now, why don’t you come help me fold laundry?  And promise me you won’t do anything else to Losten.”

             I didn’t reply and followed her out of the room.