Music Of The Soul (Suselle)

Chapter 9 - Mother Fairest

The following few days after Susie and I began dating were golden. Going to QC's after school, sitting next to each other in the lunch room while holding hands secretly under the table, she even got to meet Dad, who instantly bonded with her. Things were coming up roses, yet they were also happening so quickly. My brain could barely comprehend it.

The talent show was on Saturday evening, so there was a window of opportunity where Susie could stay over at my house. It would be my dream for that to happen, and Susie was on board with the idea when I asked her. However, there was a small barrier that stood in the way of the sleepover being a possibility, and it would take a lot of convincing for it to become a possibility.

My mother is, to put it bluntly, a frosty woman (pun intended). After all, she is the mayor of Hometown, and being under the stress of running a town can do that to a person. Still, she wasn't the most sociable person to be around. Most of the time, she'd be busy doing work, whether she was at Town Hall or not, and she never liked to be bothered, so I'd just leave her alone. This kinda led to us not having that good of a relationship, but not a bad one, either.

I knew I'd have to ask her when she wasn't working, and thankfully, she wasn't at Town Hall that evening. She checked on me to make sure that I'd done my homework - which I had - before asking me to come to dinner. Dinner became quiet ever since Dad went to the hospital. Without him, there was nobody to crack jokes or ask about random things in his head. With Mom, she'd just ask me how my day at school was, and that was about it.

I shovelled another piece of mashed potato into my mouth. The meal was a little bland, but at least Mom made an effort to cook something. I couldn't hear anything except the clock ticking and cutlery scraping against the ceramic plates. The silence was loud. Mom and I didn't even look at each other; our eyes stayed fixated on our food. If I didn't ask her now, I'd never be able to. I placed down my fork at an angle on my plate (to show I wasn't done eating) and opened my mouth to speak.

"Mom, I was wondering if I could have a friend stay over tomorrow." I stated.
"Kris?" Mom asked, still not looking at me.
"No, actually. Susie, my partner for the talent show." I replied.
"Oh. That delinquent that started that fight with Berdly?" Mom retorted. She was looking at me now, but it was a kind of glare.
"You...know about that?" I stammered. Crap. This was gonna be harder than it looked.
"Oh, Noelle. The entire town knows about it." Mom scowled.

"She's not like that with me. She's kinder, she's more considerate, and we work really well together." I pleaded. "I just want this to be another opportunity for us to practice before the show. Please, Mom."
Mom looked back at her plate. She gently dropped her cutlery and sighed.
"I'm not gonna be home that night, but as long as you trust her not to mess everything up, I guess she can stay over." Mom declared. I didn't care that it was kinda condescending, I still got the approval.

"Thank you, Mom." I murmured with joy. I felt a spark start to fizz in my stomach.
"You know the rules, though." Mom reminded me, pointing her fork at me. "Don't stay up too late, don't eat too many snacks, and don't watch anything that'll scare you."
"I know." I replied, still smiling. I returned back to eating, and the room returned to silence. Although, the silence didn't seem as loud this time. In fact, it was a lot more pleasant now that I'd gotten it over and done with.