An Angel Wears Hightops [A Sequel to The Devil Wears Girl Jeans]

An Angel Wears Hightops (Chapter 3)

“Mom...?” I asked, pushing open our front door and shaking the loose flakes of snow out of my hair with a gloved hand. I'd been forced to walk all the way back from Mickey and Poe's, considering Mickey had just gotten up and left, and Poe had refused to give me a ride home on account of the fact that he would rather stab himself in the eye with a pencil than spend a five minute drive alone with me. I had to admit though, I couldn't help but admire the fact that he was honest enough to be very open about his hatred for me, even if I couldn't recall what I'd done to deserve it in the first place.

“I'm right here.” my mom called from the stairwell, dragging a large, colourful shape behind her. Tiny silver bells hung from her earlobes, creating a tinkling sound as she heaved the large mass of colour and Christmas lights on to the living room floor.

“Ohhh no,” I breathed, rubbing my eyes. It was that time of year again.

“It really does not feel like Christmas for me until I break out the animated chenille Stegosaurus.” my mom commented, flipping the giant mesh dinosaur upright so that it was facing me, practically staring straight in to my soul. It even had a little Santa hat perched on one of it's head spikes, how adorable.

“Yeah, it'd be a total shame if the neighbourhood didnt get to see this bad boy again,” I sighed, patting the giant, light up dinosaur on his head as I pushed past it towards the stairs. I raced up them at record speed, eager to get to my bed after such a long day, but came up short when I saw the suitcases strewn around the hallway. Clothes burst out of one of them, and a bag of cosmetics rested at my feet.

“Mom....?” I asked suspiciously, turning around to look at her, and she stared back at me guiltily.

“I got a phone call this morning from your uncle. Your aunt Molly passed away last night, and he wants me to fly out there to come help sort out all of her stuff...” she trailed off, looking down at the floor. My mom had never been very close with her sister, but never the less, losing someone you grew up with still had to be hard.

“You have to be kidding. There's only like, 3 days till Christmas, though,” I complained, hoping there would be a way to talk her out of this. She sighed and leaned against the railing, suddenly looking very tired.

“I am so, so sorry. I don't want to leave you here alone but things are really bad over there. Molly left a lot of ends untied, and there could be serious trouble if we dont get them fixed as soon as we can. I'll be back on the 26th though, and we can celebrate then, okay?” she asked, pleading with her eyes for me to forgive her.

“So, what? I'm just going to spend Christmas home alone? Do you have any idea how massively that is going to suck?”

“Hartley...” she sighed, shaking her head, “There's nothing I can do. I'm sure one of your friends will be happy to let you stay with them while I'm gone, though.”

“'One of ' my friends? That's implying that I have more than one friend, mom. I don't. All I have now is Mickey, unless you want me camping out in Dallas's hospital room for a week, hm? Maybe string some Christmas lights up on his ventillators? I. Have. No one.”

My mom's face crumpled in pain, and I immediately felt guilty. I wasn't going to apologize for saying it, because it was the truth. Still though, as tears sprang to her eyes, I felt like the biggest douchebucket ever.

“I am so, so sorry.” was all she said, before retreating into her room, presumably to continue packing. I stood in the hall for a few minutes, breathing deeply to calm myself, before finally I yanked out my phone and dialed Mickey.

“Ey girl,” he answered on the second ring, and I grunted a greeting back, not at all thrilled by what I was about to ask him.

“Listen, my mom's going out of town for a week, and I dont want to spend Christmas by myself. Can I come over tomorrow and like, crash at your place for a bit? Only a few days, I promise.”