Who She Is

~76~

^the outfits they changed into!

Alyx's POV

When the time starts getting closer to six, my mom strolls in with her phone in hand and a mischievous smile. I ignore her, and turn to Amaya to say, "I'm going upstairs to change."

"No, wait!" Mom yells, holding her hand up. "You know what we do every year. I'm not letting you get out of it!"

"No, please. We were getting ready to leave."

"It won't take long." I open my mouth but bite my tongue. "Maya. Would you mind taking a picture of us?" she asks, holding her phone out to her.

"Not at all," she says, taking it with a smile.

"Come here, Alyx." I groan but oblige. I stand by her and look at Amaya, holding the phone in front of her. My mom wraps her arms around my waist, squeezing me. Man, this is embarrassing in front of Amaya. Even so, I wrap my arm around my mom and drop my eyes to the camera lens.

"Smile, Alyx," Amaya says, smugness in her tone. I hesitate but cave, letting the corners of my lips turn up. "Okay, got it."

My mom runs up beside her, and looks at the photo, practically smushing her face against Amaya's. Geez, Mom. Give her some space. "Aww, it's such a good picture. Oh, god. My baby. He's so grown up now." She pouts her lip out.

"Mom," I groan.

"Sorry. Let me get one of you two now."

I widen my eyes at her request. "What? N-no, Mom. It's fine. We need to get going."

"Let's take one. I'm fine with it," Amaya says, stepping closer to me. She wants to take a picture together? Oh, my face is going to be so red in it.

"Okay," I mumble. She gets right beside me. Are we just going to do the awkward 'stand by each other' pose or something more intimate? She turns her body to face mine, and I feel her hand rest on the small of my back. She presses herself into my side, resting her other hand on my stomach. Oh, okay. Something more intimate. I see. I slowly wrap my arm around her, letting my hand rest on her waist. I let my other hand rest by my side and once again, smile at the camera lens.

It's probably one of my realest smiles, too. I mean, I'm so fucking happy right now. I'm holding Amaya against me, posing for a photo I'm definitely getting my mom to send to me later. I'll actually have a picture of us. How could I not be happy? Even if holding her like this in front of my mom is awkward.

"Alright. Hmm, you two look really good together," my mom notes, smirking in my direction. Amaya steps away, leaving my side feeling cold. And empty.

"I'm going to go get changed now," I say, trying to escape the awkwardness.

I shut myself inside my room and throw on another outfit. Something that is a lot closer to my normal attire. Just a white t-shirt, a black jacket, and some blue jeans. I decide to keep wearing the white shoes. I don't think it'll happen again tonight, but just in case, I grab a condom out of my nightstand and shove it in my pocket. I should probably put some in my car, too; I'll worry about that later.

I meet Amaya back in the living room. "Does this look okay?"

Her eyes travel down and back up. "Yeah, you look good. Are you ready?"

"Yeah. Let me tell my mom we're leaving." I find her in her room when I poke my head in. "Hey, we're leaving."

"Okay."

"Hey, uh, I want... um-"

"I'll send you the picture, Alyx."

I blush but smile at her for understanding. "Thanks."