Ain't No Mountain High Enough

"Say It Isn't So"

After dinner was done, we all started getting situated for bed. When they had been grocery shopping, Ms. Harlow, Veronica, and Keto had gotten a couple of those air beds and an air pump, so we blew up the beds and decided Keto, Veronica, and I would take them. The couch was actually the kind that pulled out into a bed, so Valerie and Ms. Harlow would take that. There was plenty of room for us all!

After we were all in our places and the lights were out, I couldn't really get to sleep. I kept thinking that Arjun might have been out trying to do something about Nathan, and we were thousands of miles away from him. If something happened, what could we do about it? What if Nathan found out that we left the state and took that as Arjun preparing to out them, and he decided to take it out on him? The thought of anything happening to Arjun made me sick, especially considering what it would do to Ms. Harlow. It almost made me call for everyone to get up and turn on the lights so I could explain everything. But then what would we do? Go back home? And do what?

Besides, Arjun was most likely in his bed asleep at this time of night. He was an adult, and he could take care of himself, I was sure. So I forced myself to think of something different.

The next morning, we deflated the air beds and put them back in the boxes. We got donuts, and then it was back to work with us. There were still a lot of boxes we couldn't unpack because they were things like clothes and stuff, so there wasn't really any place to put them yet. And that meant it was time to go furniture shopping.

"So where do you work?" Keto asked as we were riding the elevator down to the parking garage.

"At a dance studio," Valerie said flatly."

Veronica's eyes sparkled almost like a cartoon character's eyes might. "That's great! Why didn't you say something?!"

"Because I'm not doing anything that fantastic," Valerie said in a deflated way. "I'm just one of the instructor's assistants."

The sparkle in Veronica's eyes dimmed. "Well...that's still a good job! But couldn't you teach if you wanted to?"

"That's what I've been trying to do, but they said it may take a while to process my resume and everything...I think they just want to let me off easy instead of telling me no, though. They already have a lot of instructors, I guess."

"Don't give up," Keto said, smiling. "I'm sure you'll get it if you keep trying."

The elevator doors opened, and I got the shock of my life when I saw who was standing outside of them.

None other than my mother.

"Holy crap," I said, and I reflexively hit the button that closed the doors back before anyone could say anything about it.

"Wait, Randall!" my Mom cried, practically throwing herself at the doors. However, they closed before she could get to them, and the next thing I knew we were going up to the third floor. As soon as the doors were shut, everyone whirled at me with these horrified looks.

"Was that your mom?" Keto said, eyes wide.

"What the heck was she doing here of ALL places?" Veronica said. She leaned back against the elevator's wall. "Omygosh, how did she find us?"

I raked my hands through my hair as the elevator reached the third floor and the doors opened again. Everyone promptly got off. Ms. Harlow was staying surprisingly silent, but I could tell she was mad by the look in her eyes. Arjun got that same look, sometimes.

Valerie was chewing her bottom lip. "I can't believe she's here..."

I huffed in annoyance and rubbed my hands over my face. "You and me both. How would she even know to find me here? Or is this a coincidence?"

"That's a heck of a coincidence, if it is one," Keto said. His face was pale. "I could barely recognize her, though. She looks nothing like she used to!"

"Yeah," I said absently.

"Maybe you should talk to her," Veronica said, though she was wringing her hands like the idea made her nervous. "I mean, if you want to. Maybe she'll tell you what she's doing here?"

The more I thought about it, the more I knew it wasn't a coincidence. She had called me a few days ago, and now this? Was she chasing me now? I mean, I guess I could talk to her, but, man, the very idea of doing that made me feel sick. All at once, my anxiety was rising, making it hard to even breathe.

A hand on my shoulder made me look up, and Ms. Harlow was standing right beside me. "Randall, you don't have to talk to her if you don't want to. In fact, I can tell her to leave if you want."

"She might not even be here for me," I said, even though I knew that wasn't the truth.

Someone came down the hall and gave us all a look, and I realized we were completely blocking the elevator. We all stepped back to let the guy get on.

"I'll talk to her," I said as I watched the elevator doors close. "Besides...maybe she got the hint, and left, and she won't be there when we go back down?"

"Maybe," said Keto.

We stood there in an awkward silence for a moment, then I nodded and summoned the elevator with the button. "Let's just go," I said. My hands were shaking, and my mouth was dry, but I was going to do this, if she was still down there.

I was going to confront my mother...again.

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Thanks for reading!

Listen to "Say It Isn't So" by Hall and Oates!

Peace✌️~ A.J.