That Stupid Little L-Word:

Chapter Fifty Three:

We stumble through the front door of my house, clutching our stomachs and giggling like escaped mental patients. My mom looks up from her recliner as we enter, her eyebrow arched. "You three sound like you had fun tonight. Should I be concerned?"

"Of course," I chirp. 

Her eyebrow becomes one with her hair line. She silently stares and presses for us to elaborate. Amanda plops down on the couch, still snickering, and Kylie fiddles nervously with her hair. She stands in the center of the room, uncertain.

I waddle over to the couch and sit down beside Amanda. My mom places her book down, her dark brown leather chair rocking back and forth. "We got our revenge on Seth," I say simply. 

"Give me the dirty details."

I laugh at my mom. When it becomes apparent that my mother isn't going to spontaneously combust with anger at our somewhat immature actions, Kylie releases her hair and then hesitantly joins Amanda and I on the couch. Amanda pokes her arm in greeting. Kylie swats at her hand. My mother and I ignore them both, as I explain what we did to Seth's car. 

"There's no real serious damage though, right?" she asks, like the good mother she is. 

I shake my head. "A simple car wash will fix it up."

My mom nods with approval. "That's good then." She flashes a smile and picks up her book. "I'm glad that you got him back. That little twerp deserved it."

Amanda sinks deeper into the couch. "I love how chill you are with all this, Mommy-Number-Two," she croons. 

I roll my eyes. My mom laughs and stands, starting toward the kitchen. She pats Amanda's shoulder. "Do you girls want anything to eat?" she asks. 

"Pizza!" I shout after her. 

Amanda cheerfully seconds that. Kylie sighs at us, wearing a small smile, and shakes her head. "Thank you," she calls politely to my mom when my mother voices her approval. Then she gives us pointed looks. "You need to be more polite." 

"Do you need help getting that stick out of your ass?" Amanda rolls over toward Kylie and asks. 

Kylie scowls at her. I ignore the duo and waddle upstairs to grab my laptop. When I return to the den, Amanda is sitting, smirking smugly, on one side of the couch, and Kylie is pressed against the other, her cheeks bright red and a frustrated look on her face. "I don't even want to know," I remark as I plop back down and start to order the pizza. 

Once our pizza has been ordered, and my mom has returned to the den, we all settle in around the television, watching The Notebook. 

Not even thirty minutes later, the doorbell chimes. Amanda pauses the movie. I glance down at the pizza tracker displayed on my computer screen. "That's weird," I say. "It says that they're still prepping it. It must be delayed or something." 

My mom stands, a wad of cash in hand, and starts toward the door. "Oh," I hear her gasp when the door is opened. "You're not the pizza man." 

"No ma'am, I'm not," an unfamiliar voice says. "My name is Chris Wayne. I'm from the local county police station. May I come in?"

My mom steps aside. I perk up slightly in my seat. A tall man with dark hair steps inside my house. He wears the dark uniform of a police officer, and his badge glimmers on his breast pocket. "What's this about?" my mom asks, her arms crossing over her chest. 

"There's reason to believe that your daughter may have been involved in an act of vandalism earlier this evening," he explains calmly. "I just want to question her." 

Amanda sits up, her eyes wide. She, Kylie, and I share a look. The police officer glances at us and then returns his gaze to my mother. 

"What do you mean that there's reason to believe?" my mom snaps. "Is there any physical evidence?"

He sighs softly. "No ma'am," he says, "We have an eye witness who has placed her at the scene of the crime. This is just routine." 

"Then you won't mind if I ask that you not stress my daughter out. She's heavily pregnant."

The man looks at me again. I frown at him, my hand pressed against the rounded edge of my stomach. Then his gaze shifts toward Amanda and Kylie. "And her friends?" 

My mom puffs up like an angry mother bear. "I can assure you that all three of them were here tonight, helping me prepare for a baby shower." She glares at the officer. "The only time that they left the house was when I took them to Walmart for supplies. I even have a receipt if you would like to verify that." 

The officer nods slightly. My mom stalks into the kitchen and returns with a long piece of thin paper. She hands it over to the man and he skims over it. "Alright," he says, and smiles at my mom. "I apologize for disrupting your evening and thank you for your time." 

My mom ushers him toward the door. She pauses in the doorway and stares at him for a moment. "It's alright," I hear her say. "Good luck on your investigation." 

The second she returns to the den, the doorbell rings again. With an exasperated huff, my mother stalks back toward the front door and wrenches it open. The poor pizza guy looks startled. She shoves the money into his hands, grabs the pizza, and then shuts the door. 

Then she storms back into the den. 

"Is everything alright?" Kylie asks, concerned. 

I snicker. "She thought the officer was cute," I tease. 

My mother sets the pizza down on the coffee table and glares at me. "Shut up, I do not," she hisses. 

"Awe!" Amanda coos. "Go get 'em Mom!" 

My mother grumbles under her breath and disappears back into the kitchen. Amanda, Kylie, and I share another look and then bust out into a fit of laughter. 

So I just want to apologize for how stupid/unrealistic the whole cop scene is. I have never actually had any sort of brush with the law —not even a ticket or anything— so like I have zero experience to draw from when writing with cops.

It will have to do for now though. The important part is that it got the point across. I hope y'all enjoyed. :3