Illusory | ✓

i l l u s o r y : 21

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I L L U S O R Y : 21

Just like how I imagined him to be, Bridger waits on the front porch with his hands stuffed into his dark washed jeans. A black suit jacket has replaced the denim jacket he had on either this morning, and he's wearing a vertical striped navy blue and white dress shirt. A pair of nice black dress shoes cover his feet, a pair I've seen him wear to church before. Yet, tonight, instead of driving all the way to church we're just going to head across the street to his house and eat some of his mom's homemade pasta and Caesar salad.

"H-hey, Bridge," I greet him and he smiles his famous half smile before he studies me for a moment. "You look nice tonight. Going anywhere?" I ask him, which in return sends him chuckling a little before he cranes his head to the side.

"I think I'm just going to stay in and eat some homemade pasta and some Caesar salad. I thought I should come over here though because as I remember..." Bridger acts as though he's remembering something deeply before he flickers his silver eyes to me again, "I invited you over to have dinner with me. I would be awfully disappointed if you were dressed up for anyone else but me though...so would Mom. She wants your opinion on her pasta."

I can't help but smile back at him warmly before I step out of the open doorway, my eyes shyly meeting his as I go to close the front door. Sadly, before I have the chance to, Mom is walking by the doorway and she stops where she is when she sees the both of us in the doorway. The excited expression on her features is enough for me to be filled with dread.

"Ah! Bridger! It's nice to see you! I"-before she can even come over here, which she's starting to walk towards us, I shut the front door closed. "Jane Amethyst Peters! Did you just shut the front door on me?" Mom's loud voice can be heard on the other side of the door, and I look up at Bridger as though this was to be expected.

I groan underneath my breath and open the door again, seeing Mom give me a pointed look as though to show me that she's taught me better before she turns to Bridger. "Apparently I'm not wanted here....not that I mind, I'm just the woman who gave birth to your girlfriend. Anyway, I just wanted to say that I wanted you guys to have a wonderful date tonight and that I'm going out to lunch with Rosie tomorrow. Just thought I should tell you, Jane."

With a flustered face and my mouth hung open, I stare at Mom as though she had brought out my naked baby pictures and was wondering if Bridger and I were considering on adopting or having any children at all. "Good to know Mom," I tell her with a horrified face before I grab Bridger's arm and start pulling him towards the porch steps, "but as you know, Bridger and I are on a date and we would like to start that date now."

Mom nods her head, understanding, "I understand. I was young once too, you know." Mom turns to shut the front door before she looks at us again. "Oh and by the way, I do not want to be a grandmother just yet, so keep it PG at the most rated, okay?"

"Goodbye Mom!" I shout to her and she rolls her eyes at me before she turns and shuts the front door closed behind her. As soon as she's gone I let out a large sigh of relief, which immediately catches the attention of Bridger.

Turning to him I give him a sheepish smile as we walk through the front yard. Pushing pieces of my hair out of my face, I look at the empty street in front of us before looking up at Bridger again. "I'm sorry you had to deal with that. Mom doesn't have a filter, she just talks and talks about anything and everything that pops up in her mind."

The feeling of a hand wrapping around my left one makes me look down and see that Bridger has wrapped his hand in mine, and with a reassuring squeeze from him I look up at him gently. "Ah, don't worry about it, Jane Amethyst Peters. You think that my dad is quiet, well you should see him when it's just the three of us at home. He's practically ten times worse than your mom.  He just talks about embarrassing stories him and Mom did when they were in their twenties and some of them I still have nightmares hearing about."