Program: Superhuman *ON HOLD*

Chapter 17: Busted

    When I saw Mom, I instantly felt the hate for Vale standing next to her. She dressed up in a formal, red dress, the end coming a little too high up her thighs for my liking. Black heels adorned her feet and a fake, pearl necklace wound round her neck; it matched the pearl earrings she wore. And finally, her brown hair was up in a fancy bun.

    Daren Vale, however, looked exactly the same with his black hair combed to perfection and his clean-cut suit, as always.

    Mom saw me at the end of the hall and grimaced, then glanced to Vale with a smile. Sammy padded up to them, tail wagging.

    “Thank you so much for the night out. It was wonderful,” Mom said.

    “My pleasure,” Vale responded, showing those perfectly white teeth in a smile. It made me sneer. “We should do this again some time. It was really fun.”

    He then took a step forward and planted a kiss on her cheek, just like he had done a few days ago. It made my anger grow. Then he gave a small pat on Sammy’s head and left. Mom closed the door behind him, then she then turned to me – and Arden, who stood next to me – with a sigh.

    “Don’t look at me like that.”

    “How do you want us to look at you?” I shot back.

    She froze on her way to the kitchen, then gently laid down her hand purse, turning to stare at me with her hands on her hips. I found the amount of makeup she wore unnerving.

    “I don’t think I like your tone, young lady.”

    “I don’t think I like your new boyfriend,” I snapped, walking back to my room. Arden grabbed my shirt, though, and dragged me back out. “Hey!”

    “Mom, I think we need to talk about your dating life,” he said, then looked to me with a pointed look. “Like mature adults.”

    “I think that’s a good idea,” she said, crossing her arms. “I would like to hear your thoughts, as long as you’re not spitting them out with hate.”

    She walked to the living room and I gave Arden a glare. He motioned towards my bedroom with an irked expression. I knew what he was saying. Gale hid in the basement, and we needed to distract Mom so she could get out. They informed me she had parked by the backside of the house just in case anything like this happened. Looks like it was a wise choice.

    Arden and I followed Mom into the living room with Sammy tailing, completely oblivious to the tension running in the air. The woman stood with crossed arms in front of the TV. That wasn’t good. From her position, she could see the front door, where Gale would make her exit. Seeing the problem, Arden quickly took a seat in the smaller couch, then motioned to the larger one.

    “Would you like to sit?” he asked hopefully.

    Mom eyed me wearily. “I think I want to stand for now.”

    I stared back at her evenly and plumped down on the couch, putting my feet up on the coffee table. Sammy jumped up next to me and lay down with his head on my lap. To be honest, I felt relieved Mom was alright – considering she went out with Mr. Vale –, but I was still a boiling pot of rage: I was mad because she went on that date, even when we told her what we thought of that Vale filth. Half of me yearned to tell Mom about my powers and how Junior visited me and our suspicions about Vale. I needed her advice… and I wanted revenge on her for not telling us for so long. The other half of me wanted to keep it bottled inside forever, never letting her know a single part of it. It wasn’t her right to keep this from Arden and me. What happened to “honesty is the best policy?” What happened to “don’t ever lie?” What happened to being a Christian?