Lied my whole life

Sara is a 16 year old girl who lives with her father, George in east Los Angeles. George was a single father for about 15 years. They were inseparable, they were best friends. Sara’s mother passed away when Sara was about 1 year old. When asked about how she passed away, George would just say she was in a car accident. Truth was, Sara’s mother commited suicide. Sara never knew the truth. All their family knew the truth but they decided to keep it a secret from Sara. They thought it was best for not to know the truth because it would be the best for her. 

As Sara grew up, she left like there was a secret their family was hiding. She tried to talk to her family about mom, but they would just break down into tears about it. She thought that they wouldn’t be as saddened by the fact that she died from something they couldn't predict. Her grandparents would cry saying that it was their fault that she passed away. She always felt like they didn't tell her the truth when it came to her mom. 

Sara’s first day of high school as a junior was just like any other year. She loved the first day of school because she was able to meet new people and see the new teachers she was going to have. For her 5th period she had Chemistry, she entered class and saw someone who looked familiar but couldn’t pinpoint from where.  It was like she knew her but couldn’t see from where. The teacher, Mrs. Contreas looked at Sara with complete shock in her face. Like if she had seen someone she knew for her whole like. After class, Mrs. Contreas asked Sara to stay after class. She told her that she was Sara’s mother's best friend. She was there for everything from her birth and taking care of her. She was apologizing for her mother’s death and told Sara that she had nothing to do with her death. Sara was confused about why it could be her fault. Mrs. Contreas said, “you don't know?”. Sara said, “Know what?”. Before Mrs. Contreas could say anything the bell rang and Sara had to head to her next class. Sara bolted to her next class. For the rest of the day, she couldn’t get out what Mrs. Contreas told her. She decided to ask her dad about it, “Hey dad, do you remember someone names Mrs. Contreas.” Her dad replied with, “yeah, I remember her why?” Sara explained everything that Mrs. Contreas told her. George was furious with what she had been told by Mrs. Contreas. 

The next morning when Sara went to school. George decided to talk to Mrs. Contreas. George said, “Hey Mrs. Contreras, Can we talk?” Mrs. Contreas said, “well hello George how are you holding u-.” George interrupted, “I would like it if you didn’t tell Sara about her mother. You're her teacher, teach her. Don’t tell her anything about her mother. She doesn’t need to know. It's better for her to know that her mother died unexpectedly, not that she wanted to die. How do you think she’s going to react to the idea that her mother didn’t want to be in her life anymore?” Mrs. Contreas started crying and apologizing if she caused Sara any pain. Mrs. Contreas also revealed that Sara’s mother left a letter for her and for Sara. Mrs. Contreas, “She wrote me a letter telling me to take care of her daughter. She wants me to take care of her. I will do my absolute best to give her the best support possible.” George sobbed in tears. George said, “Why didn’t she write me a letter? She was my wife. Did she not love me? She left me unexpectedly, how am I supposed to cope with that?” Mrs. Contreas said, “check the closet.” George hurried home. He destroyed the closet looking for a letter from Sara’s mother. He found something in a box of her favorite shoes. It was a handwritten letter to him from his wife. She wrote about how she was addicted to drugs and she felt that it was the right place for Sara and him. George weirdly felt peace with it. He always thought that it was his fault, now he can see that she was dealing with bigger issues. 

George sat all day in the closet with the letter close to his heart. Sara came home from school, she was looking for her dad everywhere. She came up to his room and saw the complete mess. She thought there was a burglary, until she found him in the closet. “Dad what are you doing? What's this mess?” Sara asked. Sara saw the tears in his eyes. George tried to cover the fact that he was crying. Sara sat down with her dad and hugged him. He instantly started to bawl. She saw the letter and asked if she could read it. He pulled the letter away and said “let’s go meet Mrs. Contreas.” He thought that it would be best for her to read her own letter. 

They meet up with Mrs. Contreas. She handed Sara the letter. Sara was confused on why they had to meet up. Until she read the letter. Tears fell down her cheeks. Small tears then lead to hysterical sobbing. “Baby, you didn’t have anything to do with it. She loved you very much. She didn’t want you to see what was happening to her.” George said. Mrs. Contreas said, “Your mom loved you so much. She wanted the best for you. She didn’t think she was the best for you.” Sara asked her dad, “Why didn’t you tell me about this before?” George responded with, “I'm so sorry baby but you know I didn’t tell you because I wanted to give you the best life. I didn’t want you to think it was your fault. I thought telling you that you're mother died in a car crash will give all of us closure. Im sorry.” Sara said, “it’s okay dad, I knew that you did it for the best. It just sucks that this is how she wanted to deal with it. But at least she's resting in peace.