The Confidence of a Nerd

Chapter 9 (EDITED)

Ever since Aiden opened the door to his mansion, my heart has been beating so hard I'm sure he can hear it. He's been so sweet to me the whole way here, and yet, I've barely even been able to say a word the whole time. My nerves are definitely getting the worst of me but I don't know how to get myself to relax especially when it's very clear that I'm walking inside of a mansion right now.

His thumb rubs circles onto my palm as he guides me past a very expensive looking kitchen. I try not to look around too much but... walking around in here feels like I'm on a movie set or something. The glass like walls, the stainless steel refrigerators (why is there even a need for more than one) I've never been inside of a place like this before.

Everything about the place just looks so beautiful and neat that I can't calm down. My place can't compare in the slightest. I'm glad I didn't let him inside of my house because it's so embarrassing. There's beer bottles everywhere, we have a plastic fridge, the house itself is tiny and made of ugly bricks. It's cold, desolate, and there's no love there. No picture frames hanging on the walls encapsulating a picture of a happy family, no nothing. His mansion has frames of Aiden playing with his little brother and pictures of his dad and his mom holding them while they were just little kids. In a way, I guess what I'm feeling is jealousy...

In the hallway not far from the kitchen, there's a black door with a little sign hanging on it. Aiden looks down at me and he smiles before knocking on the door with a serious expression on his face. My heart starts beating even harder, panic setting in. If he's nervous too then there's no way that I'm going to be okay. He slowly opens the door and then a warm smile appears on his face. I sigh in relief, he grips my hand and I end up feeling comforted by his warm presence.

"Hey mom, this is my date, Lia," he says as he opens the door. "We're not together yet or anything so don't get too excited, ma." He laughs, it's gentle and awkward but it's enough to make me feel safe. I thought that he would introduce me as his girlfriend and that's one of the reasons I felt so uncomfortable and scared. I don't like lying to anyone and if I'm introduced as if I'm something more to him, I wouldn't know how to act.

I walk through the door and the first thing that I notice is a pale woman with short blonde hair and bright blue eyes laying down on the bed. She has bags under her eyes and her body seems so frail, she tries to get up and Aiden lets go of my hand to rush to her side and help her. I look at my now cold hand in wonder, he's no longer holding my hand so why is my hand still tingling? I shake my head at my own stupid thoughts and I look towards his mother. What happened to her? Is she sick? I look around the room once more and I see an IV machine and a couple other medical things that I don't know the names of. The room also has a flat screen TV, a desk with a very expensive looking laptop on it, and a cute looking red sofa. She's being taken care of very well it seems but it also looks a bit suffocating.

"Hi, Mrs. Hendrikson, it's nice to meet you."

"Oh please, just call me Ms. Allia!"

With a polite smile, I walk towards the sofa and sit myself down. Aiden looks in my direction and he smiles softly as he helps his mom sit up on the bed.