I'm Fine

Chapter Fourteen - Nico

February

"Oh my God, Mom, I already told you she'd be here at seven," I whined as I continued to search for my missing makeup brush.

"I swear if this cat ate another one of my makeup brushes, I'm going to..."

"What? You're going to do what to the cat?" Mom squawked from the bathroom.

"Ugh, nothing." I groaned as I continued my search.

"And how would Aurora eat a whole make up brush?" Mom continued to defend her precious, lazy cat from the bathroom.

"Mom, we've been over this, she chews the bristles until there are no more." I sighed in frustration as I continued to look around the living room. After a few more seconds of searching, I found the brush under Aurora's bed, thankfully still intact.

"Ha! Almost got another one, but you were too slow." I mocked the cat as it stalked past me. As if she sensed my attitude, the furball let out a low growl.

"Oh, you are a feisty little beast, aren't you? Yeah, I'm not going to miss you when I move out." I continued to mock Aurora as she wandered to her bed to take her twentieth nap of the day.

"Hun, you know I don't like that you are talking about moving out, it's just too soon." Mom commented as she made her way through the living room. Her hair was wet and stringy, and she was still in her matching pajama set.

"Mom, are you kidding me with this?" I whined.

"What?" She mocked as she walked over to pour herself a bowl of cereal for dinner.

"You're embarrassing me, please at least hide while she's here." I continued as I moved closer to her. She set the empty bowl back on the counter as she reached down and grabbed both of my hands.

"Nico honey, does this girl know you like her?" She asked bluntly.

"I never said I liked her," I demanded. She gave me the I-don't-believe-you smile.

"You know being a therapist has its pros, and one of them is to sense when someone is lying." She jeered.

"Okay, fine, yes, I have a crush on her, but she doesn't like me." I caved.

"How do you know?" She continued to pry.

"Mom, come on, look at me!" I whined as I pulled my hands from hers.

"Doesn't she know who you are?" She questioned as she pulled a box of cereal from the pantry, still avoiding my plea for her to change her clothes or at least brush her damp hair.

"Well yeah, I'm not afraid to hide it, but that doesn't mean people accept it." I replied as I walked back to the hallway bathroom to finish my makeup.

"Well, she's coming over here, isn't she?" She hollers from the kitchen.

"She's only coming over because we have this stupid project that Ava Grace is making us do so we can bond as a club." I dramatically balk as I look at the person in the mirror, hoping that someone could love somebody like me.

"Just do me a favor and let me know when she gets here," I stated as I quickly peeked my head around the door frame and back towards the kitchen. Mom replied with a nod.

"And then hide, please." I finished as she let out a chuckle.

"Okay, honey, good luck on your date." She yelled before grabbing her bowl of cereal and heading back to her room.

"IT'S NOT A DATE!" I yelled back at her from down the hall. As I closed the bathroom door, I could still hear her chuckling.

Yes, I was terrified. I had never had someone from school over to my house, especially having my crush over. It wasn't hard to have crushes; I like guys and girls, which opened up a more extensive range of possibilities.