Heartstrings

Chapter 15: She's feisty.

I pull up in my drive way, nervously looking at the house. Miles drove me to pick up my car at Jason's house where I had left it last night and lucky for me, Jason wasn't home, I might have escaped him but there's no way of escaping my mom.

I breathe in deeply before creeking the front door open, peeking through before letting myself inside.

"Nickolas, is that you?" My Mom asks from the living room.

Screw my life.

"Y-eah" I stutter, slowly closing the door behind me.

She comes into the hallway and starts walking towards me like she's about to smack the shit out of me but she surprisingly doesn't, she gives me a tight hug that almost suffocates me.

"I thought something bad happened to you." She says through our hug.

"I'm okay, Mom." I reassure her.

Maybe I might have misjudged this whole thing.

"Good, now I can do this." She pulls away and slaps the life out of me, "Where in God's name were you?" She drags me by the ear into the living room like I'm ten all over again.

I spoke too soon.

"Ouch, that hurts." I whine, rubbing my ear and cheek.

"Tell me where you disappeared to last night." She demands, crossing her hands over her chest and waiting for me to explain myself.

"I crashed at my friend Jason's last night and I went to school this morning then came home from there." I lie.

"Nickolas Benny Adams." She calls my full name.

You know shit is about to go down when your mom calls you by your full name.

"I'm telling the truth Ma, I swear to-"

"Don't you dare swear, Nick, I called your school this morning and they said you weren't in school." She growls.

Fuck, I should have thought about that.

She's already disappointed in me for doing a lot of shit and now I'm lying to her.

"Okay fine, I'll tell you the truth." I let out a sigh of defeat as I sit on the couch and mom sits beside me.

Not how I pictured my death but here it is.

I rest my elbows on my knees, looking down at the coffee table, "I went to a club with my friends and we got way too wasted, that's why I wasn't at school today." I don't look at her once.

"A club? Seriously? What are you doing with your life, Nick?" She asks.

"It was just for fun, mom." My tone comes out as a whisper.

"And that's the problem, don't you see? You're having too much fun, going out to parties every Friday night, you drink almost every day and you're hanging out with the wrong crowd." She scolds. I huff.

"I'm eighteen, mom, what did you do when you were eighteen?" I ask her, already feeling irritated but not quite showing it.

"I didn't treat my mother like shit and I studied my ass off." She gives me the perfect answer.

I feel like she has answers to every question, it's almost unbelievable.

"Good for you, mom." Feeling like I'm done with this conversation, I stand up to head over to my room.

"Is this about Kayla again?" Her question numbs my legs and I freeze.

"Excuse me?" I turn to look at her again.