A flashlight in the shadows.

Chapter 25: Fake Moms.

Everything was warm. Warm and quiet. That is, until all the girls decided to wake me up in a cruel and an unusual way. Lucy and Kendra grabbed my legs while Dina and Hannah took my arms. They lifted me up gently and took me into the bathroom, where they dropped me in the bathtub that was filled with cold water. I came up gasping for breath and cursing while they all laughed and high fived. I pouted and crossed my arms.
"Your crazy if you think I'm making breakfast now!" They all stopped and looked at me.
"No!! You have to!!" Dina exclaimed. I shook my head and covered up in a towel.
"Nope, I sure don't."
"Please?! We're sorry!!!" Hannah cried. I giggled and rolled my eyes.
"Fine, leave so I can change." They all cheered and ran down the stairs. I sighed and put on some blue skinny jeans and a black long-sleeve sweater that hugged me in a flattering way. I dried my hair and sat on the bed, rubbing my eyes. I saw Bennett in his bedroom, laughing hysterically. I glared and typed on my computer,
'Whats so funny?'
'That was genius!' He typed. I rolled my eyes and went down stairs to the kitchen. Dina had already set out the waffle mix and the chocolate chips. I sighed and made waffles for everyone. As we all sat at the table eating, we talked about our plans for our Sundays.
"Mike and I are going to church together, dad wants him to sit by us," she rolled her eyes as she took another bite of the food. Kendra pointed and laughed.
"Ha! Kenny's taking me to see Jurassic park 3D!" She laughed some more. Lucy smiled.
"I'm just gonna do yoga for the whole day." She flipped some hair from her face and smiled. Dina shrugged,
"I'm not doing anything." I smirked and started singing,
"Today I don't feel like doing anything..." Everyone whistled accordingly. We all giggled and continued eating. Lucy turned to me and asked,
"What're you doing?" I sighed and looked down at my plate.
"Cassandra and I are spending the day together." Dina, Hannah, and Kendra all became silent. Lucy shrugged and frowned.
"Who's Cassandra?" Dina hit her shoulder and she rubbed it.
"Ouch! What was that for?!"
"She doesn't like talking about her mother!" Lucy looked at me and blushed.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize-"
"It's ok Lucy." I said, eating more food. My phone started playing all the single ladies, dad. I answered and said,
"Articulate." Kendra punched my arm and giggled. He sighed into the phone,
"Hey sweetie. We're on our way home now, your mother will be at the mall waiting for you."
"Did she show for jane?" I asked. There was a brief silence, then,
"Yes, she did."
"Oh." We were both silent for a few moments. Then he said,
"She's excited to see you."
"Whoopee." I stated in sarcasm. He sighed into the phone again.
"Sarah, please don't be difficult. Promise me." I huffed and mumbled,
"Fine, I promise."
"That's my girl. Love you."
"Love you too." I said before hanging up. Everyone stared at me for a moment before Lucy changed subjects,
"Are you going to prom with Isaac?" Everyone sat up with surprise and Kendra looked at me with enthusiasm. I smiled gently and shrugged.
"I don't think he wants to go with someone like me."
"What do you mean, 'someone like you,' he's crazy about you and you've only been out once!" She exclaimed, getting up and shaking me. I giggled and pushed her away.
"What I mean is, I don't know him well enough yet." She rolled her eyes and sat down.
"Ok, I'll tell you all you need to know. Hmm, let's see...he snores in his sleep, he plays GTA 5 in his spare time, he loves basketball, and he wants to go out with you again, is that enough to like him?" She asked, crossing her arms. I laughed and asked,
"He snores in his sleep?"
"Yeah, it sounds like a walrus mating call." We all laughed and giggled at the thought of this. We heard a car come up and honk. Hannah sighed.
"Well, that's dad, gotta go." We all waved goodbye and talked about random stuff. Dina and Kendra left shortly after Hannah, so it was just Lucy and I.
"Well, what now?" I asked. She smiled and asked,
"Can I do your hair?" I frowned but agreed. I sat still for ten minutes while she French braided my hair so it wrapped around my head and left most of it hanging. A knock came on the door and I answered.
"Hey Sarah." Isaac said in a cheery voice. His hair was a little messy today, but in a cute way. He wore a green T-shirt with skinny jeans and tennis shoes. I smiled back at him and said,
"Hey Isaac, how're you today?"
"Good. I wanted to know if you'd be up for a date on Saturday?"
"I'm sorry, Isaac, I promised cc I'd go to her dance recital." He frowned and shrugged.
"It's ok, who's cc?"
"Bennett's little sister." I explained. He bit his lip and nodded. He seemed a little tense when I mentioned Bennett, but I didn't notice that much of a change. I said goodbye to Lucy and Isaac and went back in, checking the time; 2:00. I sighed and decided to go see if Bennett would mind taking me to the mall to meet Cassandra. As I knocked on the door, I saw chestnut run across the lawn. He was chasing a squirrel of some sort. Bennett's mom answered.
"Hi Mrs. Webber." She looked around, nervous of something.
"Hi Sarah." She seemed on edge. It worried me.
"Are you ok?"
"Hmm? Oh, yeah, fine." She answered quickly. I stood there and pointed,
"Is Bennett home?" She nodded and smiled.
"I'll get him, wait here." She let me inside and I stood in the foyer. It was dark in the house, but it looked the same. Cc walked slowly around, like something was bothering her. Then she saw me and ran over.
"Sarah!" I giggled and hugged her. I looked at her and asked,
"Is everything ok?" She rubbed her arm with her other hand and shrugged.
"Yeah."
"Are you sure?"
"Cc!" I heard a voice call. I turned slightly to see Bennett's stepdad make his way over. He saw me and smiled.
"Hi."
"Hi."
"Your the neighbor girl, right?"
"Yep, that's me." I said, feeling akward. He nodded and clapped in front of him.
"Come here cc!" He called. She smiled and ran to him, he picked her up and spun her around. She squealed with laughter. It reminded me of what my dad used to do. Bennett appeared down the stairs with a black and white checkered sweatshirt and blue jeans. He had bags under his eyes, and he looked tired.
"Hey book theif, what's up?"
"I'm sorry to ask you, but I really need a ride to the mall." He barely nodded as he grabbed his keys and kissed his moms cheek.
"Love you."
"Love you too." She said. We walked out to the car and got in, buckling up. He started the car and pulled out of the driveway.
"So, why're we going to the mall?" He asked, yawning once. I giggled and said,
"I'm going to meet up with Cassandra."
"Who's-" he stopped, remembering, "oh yeah, that's right."
"Yeah..." I trailed off, feeling akward. We drove for about five minutes in utter silence. I noticed that he still had the facial stubble he had yesterday. Hmm...curious. Without thinking, I asked,
"You missed a few spots." He frowned and chuckled a little.
"What?"
"Last night, I saw you with a razor, but you missed kind of a lot when you were shaving." His eyes went blank and he looked away, a serious expression on his face.
"I wasn't shaving."
"Well what th-"
"Break check!" He shouted, and slammed down on the breaks, causing anything that was in the car to go flying forward. My seatbelt choked me as I flew forward to. I coughed and punched his arm.
"That wasn't funny!" He laughed and kept driving. We pulled up to the mall parking lot. Sunday is not always the best choice for shopping because, like today, it was completely packed with people. Luckily, we didn't need to park anywhere. He simply pulled up to the mall's front doors and let me out. I smiled as I unbuckled my seatbelt.
"Thank you Bennett."
"You're welcome book theif." I rolled my eyes and started inside. The mall seemed to be overflowing with people of all ethnicities, and several of them carried ten or more bags of random things. All the way from shoes to Indian food. I sighed and texted dad;
'Im at the mall, where is she?' He texted back ten minutes later, (because his fingers are too big for the buttons), and said;
'Food court, in front of Dairy Queen, be nice:)' I huffed to myself and started toward the food court. A group of about eight preschoolers and two adults ran past me, all the kids had a different assortment of toys in their hands. The adults looked tired and ready to drop. I smiled gently at them and continued on my way to Dairy Queen. I walked into the huge room equivalent to many mid evil ball rooms, except it was filled with fast food restaurants. I looked around for Cassandra, not that I expected her to actually be there. Even though I was taller than most people, it was quite the challenge looking over 6 million heads to try and find one I hadn't seen since the age of 2. I only remembered what she looked like because dad would pull out her picture on certain occasions and remind me that I looked like her. I finally decided to just stand on a chair and look around. I took one from the McDonald tables and stood on it. I looked around for one familiar aspect that would lead me to her, but nothing happened. My cell phone started ringing, so I answered while plugging my opposite ear to hear better.
"Hello?"
"Sarah, I'm at the furthest table to the left near Dairy Queen!"
"Oh, can you see me?"
"No, I can't. Why?"
"Never mind, I'll be there in a sec." I hung up and started making my way over. When I reached the table I thought was right, I saw her. She wore a blue sweater with a black over jacket and matching black skinny jeans. Her gold-colored hair was curled and set in a ponytail. Her skin was smooth and her eyes were a blue-silver color. She looked to be about 20, but I knew she was 39. She had on purple eyeshadow and light blush, but not overly done. She was sitting with her legs crossed and staring down at her phone screen, texting somebody. I stopped to breath for a moment. 'Don't let her effect you,' is all I could think. I walked towards the table with slow caution. I didn't want to seem eager, because I was anything but, and I didn't want to seem afraid, because I was. I wanted to come off as casual, and most of all, in control. I knew she would seem nice and caring, but in reality she was manipulative, and I didn't need that, no one does. As I approached she looked up slowly. Her ponytail fell back, revealing her face. When she did look at me, I felt like I was looking in a mirror. 'Wow,' I thought 'she does look like me.' She smiled at me with something that looked like happiness. It probably was, but in the wrong way. The selfish way. I stopped just short of the chair and stared at her. In my mind, I looked tough. But the reality was, I just looked nervous. Everyone else seemed to fade into the background as I stared at her. She stared at me for a second before saying,
"Wow, and I thought jane looked like me." She giggled a little. It wasn't high pitch, but it was pretty close. I wanted to slap her, but I refrained and simply sat without saying anything. She scooted slightly closer, to which I replied by sitting back a bit.
"It's so nice to see you, Sarah."
"I wish I could say the same, Cassandra." I said in a chokey voice. She sat back and sighed in slight annoyance.
"We're not going to have a great day with that attitude, young lady."
"Don't speak to me like you care." I retorted in a calmer voice. She sat back and frowned.
"This May surprise you, Sarah, but I do care."
"No, you don't. And the sooner you admit that the sooner we can at least tolerate each other." I replied. She stared at me for a moment, then smiled and huffed.
"Let's start over again, do you know why I wanted to meet here?"
"So you knew you'd be safe?" I asked, rolling my eyes. She shook her head and giggled a little.
"No, I wanted to know if you've found a prom dress?" I snapped my head at her and looked her dead in the eye.
"What makes you think I want to shop for that with you?"
"I'm your mother!"
"Biologically! You are not my mom!" I exclaimed. Some people turned to look at us. She sighed and said,
"Look, Sarah. I know I've been gone for a while...but I'm trying, here. Please, may I shop with you?" Her eyes pleaded. She looked tired. I glared one more time before I rolled my eyes and nodded.
"Fine. Let's go." She smiled and we got up, walking towards the dress stores. Her black heels clicked besides me as we walked down the big hallway. She looked at me and said,
"I'm happy you inherited your fathers height."
"I'm happy I inherited his personality, too." I said. She didn't reply, only shook her head. We walked inside, 'A Girls Dream,' one of the best dress stores in the town. She took me to the prom dresses and started looking through them. I sighed and decided to start conversation,
"So, Cassandra, what do you do?"
"For a job?" 'No, for a stupid dance move!' I thought.
"Yes."
"I design clothing for Gucci and shoes for converse." I turned my head to her. 'Thats awesome,' I thought.
"Really?" She turned to me and smiled.
"Yes, I do. I've been with them for nine years." I nodded and went back to looking at the dresses. She came up with three for me to try on and I came up with two. She ushered me to the changing rooms.
"Go on! I can't wait to see how you look!" I sighed and tried them on. The first two made me look fat, so I threw them away. I tried on an orange one, but it looked terrible on me. Then I tried on two that I really liked. One was form-fitting and dark green with white sparkles around the waist. It was sleeveless and showed cleavage, but not too much. I walked out and twirled for her.
"Well?" I asked. She smiled and covered her mouth with her manicured hands.
"Oh my gosh, Sarah!" I smiled and went back in to try the other one. The second I put the other one on, I knew it was a keeper. It was sleeveless and had a sweetheart neckline. It was dark blue and poofed out at the waist. It had sparkles all over the frill, and it looked awesome on my figure. I walked out and twirled.
"I like this one," I said. She stared at me for a moment, then wiped a tear away.
"You look...beautiful." I couldn't help but smile, but then I stopped right away. 'No, she won't effect you,' I told myself we bought the dress and headed toward the exits.
"Well, how's school been?"
"The same," I said.
"Are you in any talent shows?"
"This year I am," I said, then mentally kicked myself for saying it. She clapped and asked,
"May I come?" I shrugged.
"I'm not your keeper." She smiled and we kept walking. We were about to exit the mall when I bumped into someone and dropped my dress. He picked it up and smiled.
"Oh, hey Sarah."
"Hi Isaac, what're you doing here?" I smiled and swept some hair from my face. He smiled and handed me my dress.
"Lucy wanted some Panda Express, so I came and got some." I smiled and nodded.
"Ok, well, I gotta go. Bye."
"Bye," he said, smiling and walking away. Cassandra watched him leave, then turned to me and smiled.
"Is that your boyfriend?"
"We've only been out once." I said, standing up straight. She smiled as we walked outside.
"That's not what I asked."
"No, I don't think we're that serious yet."
"Well, is there anyone besides him?" She asked. My mind flashed briefly to Bennett, but I pushed that thought away. We can't date ever, simply because we're too different. I shook my head quickly and said,
"No." She stared for an extra moment, but didn't push anything. We pulled up to my house at 7:00. She smiled and sighed.
"Well, the talent show is on...Thursday?"
"Yes." I said, nodding. She smiled.
"Ok, I'll see you then." I nodded and got out without saying another word. I was almost inside when I heard a deep voice call,
"Hey!" I stopped and looked around.
"Hello?"
"Hey, could you please toss me that?" I looked over and saw Bennett's stepdad pointing to a gardening hoe. I pointed to it. He nodded. I grabbed it and handed it to him, smiling.
"There you go."
"Thank you, what's you're name again?"
"Sarah."
"Yes, Sarah. I'm Bennett's stepdad, as you might've guessed, but you can call my rick."
"Ok, I've gotta go." He smiled at me with straight white teeth.
"Am I scaring you?"
"No, but my dad's expecting me." I said, smiling. He nodded and waved.
"Goodbye, then."
"Yes, bye." I said, walking off. I opened the door and went upstairs to my bedroom. I took off my jacket and let down my hair, running a hand through it. I looked over to see Bennett standing at his easel, painting. He seemed in the zone. In a trance, almost. I smiled and typed,
'Hope you enjoy the talent show;)' he looked at his computer, then at me, and smiled.
'Oh, I will.;)' he typed back.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Hope you liked it, enjoy the next one, bye!!!;)