MONEY TREES, gossip girl [DISCONTINUED]

02

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CHAPTER TWO
WORLDS COLLIDE
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"THIS is kind of an invasion of privacy, you know." CJ tells his mother, hesitantly meeting her unwavering scowl.

"Would you rather me bring Ed in here?" She retorts, her tone cold and glowering. They both know that she has won the argument. CJ would rather die than have his step-father be privy to this.

"Okay," He mutters, looking down to the plastic cup in his hand, "Can you at least turn around?"

With a soft sigh, Farah turns her back to her son. And with a sigh of his own, one that's more of reluctance than annoyance, he begins to do his part. Even though his mother can't see him, he still feels extraordinarily humiliated.

"This is embarrassing." He whispers, meaning for the words to be for his ears only, but Farah somehow picks up on it.

"You think I want to be doing this right now, Cristian?" She says, "I really wanted things to be different this time. I hoped you would be."

"I am, mom." CJ knows, as he always has, that words are futile and can't change the past.

"You stayed out late and ignored my messages. I had no idea where you were or what you were doing, if you were safe or doing god knows what. None of that is different from before— none of it."

"I just—" The words get stuck in his throat, suffocating him. He pushes it down and pretends they never existed.

CJ pulls his pants back up and sets the plastic cup on the counter. Farah turns around as he washes his hand, and he can see the tears gathering in her eyes. CJ acts as if he doesn't see it.

His mother puts the drug test in the cup and waits. They both stand in silence as the labels fill up and, slowly but surely, reveals that it detected nothing in his system. The drug test is clean.

"I'm meeting up with a friend before school," CJ starts after a moment of silence, still gauging his mother's reaction, "Is that okay?"

Farah wipes away a stray tear, "Yeah, just answer my texts and come straight home after school, or I won't let you next time."

"That's fair," CJ concedes with a slight nod. He looks at his hands as bus next words spill, "I'm sorry about last night. I want you to know that."

"Breakfast is in half an hour," She sends him a small, forced smile, "You should get ready. Giada put your uniform in your closet."