warning me to keep you two apart?”
“Yeah.” I was hesitant; I didn’t like where this was going.
“Well, it used to be a half-hearted warning. Now, it feels almost… dangerous.” She looked away from me, the subject making her uncomfortable.
“Dangerous? Like ‘Keep her away from him or else’?”
“It’s more than that. Timothy made mention of your safety and how dangerous ovens are. I don’t know. It just made me uncomfortable.”
Edmund had said something similar in the hall a few days ago. It was such an odd thing for him to say that I had just dismissed it, but hearing it again from my mom was weird. Forget corporate drama, this bordered on super-villain.
“Anyway, I’ve started looking for a new job.”
“What?” Panic, sheer panic, gripped me. I felt my chest get tight and uncomfortable. Not only was change not good for me, she was ripping my best friend away from me. “Mom! You can’t.”
“I have to, Joclyn. I have to keep you safe. You are my number one priority.”
“Then, you have to let me go on Saturday, if you are going to take him away from me anyway,” I pleaded with her, trying to ignore the earth-shattering pain that centralized in my chest.
“I don’t know, Joclyn. A movie?”
“We’ve watched plenty of movies before.” I was begging; I had to go now.
“Yeah, but alone, in his room.”
“Done that, too.” We had even watched a movie with the lights off, but it still wasn’t as much of a scandal as my mom made it out to be.
“Yeah, but never with overactive, crazed, teenage hormones trying to stick you two together like magnets.”
I paused. She had a point.
“Don’t worry, Mom. Nothing will happen. I can’t let it. I just want to enjoy the last little bit of time I have left with my friend.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Okay, but just remember, if I can’t go to the movie, I am wearing the biggest hoodie I own. If you let me go, I will leave the hoodie at home, and I might even wear the skirt. Well, not the skirt; I’d look like a moron.”
Seven
I tiptoed through the house on Wednesday morning, trying not to wake my mom. Wednesdays were the only day in the week my mom got to sleep in, having to go in for dinner service and the late-night weekly board meeting that night. Of course, letting her sleep in meant that I had to leave for school about twenty minute before usual. That, coupled with the fact that I had slept in, meant that I was running far later than I was comfortable with. The problem with living in such a small apartment was that trying to be quiet was impossible when you were in a hurry.
I brushed my teeth in a rush, attempting to run a comb through my hair at the same time. The dark circles under my eyes had taken on a whole new shade of ugly, so I rubbed some of my seldom used concealer on them, vowing to eat a piece of fruit for breakfast. I brushed my hair, letting the sleek black strands hang low down my back.
I rushed out of the bathroom and into my small bedroom, throwing on one of my two, un-ripped, pair of jeans and a fluorescent green tank top. I looked at myself in the full-length mirror that hung behind my door. Everything fit my small frame snuggly, something that would be hidden when I put on my hoodie. Of course, if my mom agreed to my compromise, I would have to spend all day Saturday like this. Not that that would be a bad thing, my arms and face could do with a little sun. I sighed, trying to figure out if I was ready to throw the hoodie aside. Although I could feel myself changing, I didn’t think I was ready to change that much.
I grabbed a dark green hoodie as I walked out the door, locking it behind me. After my father had left, my mother had moved us as close to her new job as she could, which landed us in a tiny, overpriced apartment in a very upper-middle class neighborhood.
Most of our neighbors made six figures and tended to look down on those that lived in the complexes. Some of them were nice
“Yeah.” I was hesitant; I didn’t like where this was going.
“Well, it used to be a half-hearted warning. Now, it feels almost… dangerous.” She looked away from me, the subject making her uncomfortable.
“Dangerous? Like ‘Keep her away from him or else’?”
“It’s more than that. Timothy made mention of your safety and how dangerous ovens are. I don’t know. It just made me uncomfortable.”
Edmund had said something similar in the hall a few days ago. It was such an odd thing for him to say that I had just dismissed it, but hearing it again from my mom was weird. Forget corporate drama, this bordered on super-villain.
“Anyway, I’ve started looking for a new job.”
“What?” Panic, sheer panic, gripped me. I felt my chest get tight and uncomfortable. Not only was change not good for me, she was ripping my best friend away from me. “Mom! You can’t.”
“I have to, Joclyn. I have to keep you safe. You are my number one priority.”
“Then, you have to let me go on Saturday, if you are going to take him away from me anyway,” I pleaded with her, trying to ignore the earth-shattering pain that centralized in my chest.
“I don’t know, Joclyn. A movie?”
“We’ve watched plenty of movies before.” I was begging; I had to go now.
“Yeah, but alone, in his room.”
“Done that, too.” We had even watched a movie with the lights off, but it still wasn’t as much of a scandal as my mom made it out to be.
“Yeah, but never with overactive, crazed, teenage hormones trying to stick you two together like magnets.”
I paused. She had a point.
“Don’t worry, Mom. Nothing will happen. I can’t let it. I just want to enjoy the last little bit of time I have left with my friend.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Okay, but just remember, if I can’t go to the movie, I am wearing the biggest hoodie I own. If you let me go, I will leave the hoodie at home, and I might even wear the skirt. Well, not the skirt; I’d look like a moron.”
Seven
I tiptoed through the house on Wednesday morning, trying not to wake my mom. Wednesdays were the only day in the week my mom got to sleep in, having to go in for dinner service and the late-night weekly board meeting that night. Of course, letting her sleep in meant that I had to leave for school about twenty minute before usual. That, coupled with the fact that I had slept in, meant that I was running far later than I was comfortable with. The problem with living in such a small apartment was that trying to be quiet was impossible when you were in a hurry.
I brushed my teeth in a rush, attempting to run a comb through my hair at the same time. The dark circles under my eyes had taken on a whole new shade of ugly, so I rubbed some of my seldom used concealer on them, vowing to eat a piece of fruit for breakfast. I brushed my hair, letting the sleek black strands hang low down my back.
I rushed out of the bathroom and into my small bedroom, throwing on one of my two, un-ripped, pair of jeans and a fluorescent green tank top. I looked at myself in the full-length mirror that hung behind my door. Everything fit my small frame snuggly, something that would be hidden when I put on my hoodie. Of course, if my mom agreed to my compromise, I would have to spend all day Saturday like this. Not that that would be a bad thing, my arms and face could do with a little sun. I sighed, trying to figure out if I was ready to throw the hoodie aside. Although I could feel myself changing, I didn’t think I was ready to change that much.
I grabbed a dark green hoodie as I walked out the door, locking it behind me. After my father had left, my mother had moved us as close to her new job as she could, which landed us in a tiny, overpriced apartment in a very upper-middle class neighborhood.
Most of our neighbors made six figures and tended to look down on those that lived in the complexes. Some of them were nice
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