Leigh's Lifesaver

Chapter four

In the simplest way possible, parents can surprise you. In my case, I thought I was dreaming when my mom flicked the lights on in my room at five in the morning.

My mom tended to wake up at the most unpredictable times; she could wake up at the crack of dawn or sleep until noon. If you told her that she had to wake up at four A.M, she would do just that. And that's exactly what she did.

Mom wore a flannel and sweatpants as she stood at my door, glancing around my room like a chameleon in a pet store.

"Wake up, we're cooking!" She says in a loud whisper.

"What? Why? What are you doing?"

"Come on, Leigh, might as well do something fun today."

"But... It's four, and I have school," I say slowly. What exactly was she up to?

"I know, we're making breakfast for Luke and your dad, too, and then we're going to the park after school."

"You have work, though," I state, careful not to sound rude.

"That's why your father's taking over today."

"But-"

"Leigh, I'm sorry. I'm just trying to be a better mom, okay? What Luke said stuck to my mind, and so I'm trying. I'm really sorry," she says quietly.

I stay silent after that, and push my sheets away and step on the soft carpet. I follow her out of my room and to the kitchen, getting rid of knots in my hair with my fingers. I feel a twinge of guilt after that. Luke's words did make a point, but they had stung. My mom was trying hard, so I decided to just go with it.

"So I got this mix," she says, holding up a box of pancake mix, "and it looks pretty good. Let's make the batter."

I nod and take a bowl from the top cabinet. "I think you're okay, mom," I say. "It's okay, Luke was just being... weird. You're a good mom."

"Don't lie. I know we haven't been close, and I really want to fix that. I promise, we'll do anything to fix this."

"Thanks," I say. She sounded sincere, and I could tell her words weren't rehearsed.

"By the way," she says, taking a carton of eggs, "what did you and Luke do yesterday with his friends? Were they nice?"

"Yeah, we had fun. We went to Cassandra's Café and all that. They're extremely nice, actually."

"Oh, really? Isn't Collin your age?"

I nod.

"So you got a friend. Why haven't I seen any of your friends here?"

"Because I have none."

"Leigh, stop joking."

"It's true. Haven't you noticed Luke pestering me about it?"

My mom looks sheepishly at her toes and shakes her head.

"Oh. Well, there's the truth," I say nonchalantly and return to mixing the batter.

"But Leigh, how did this happen?"

"Can we talk about this later, with Luke?" I say, avoiding the question. I didn't want to answer it. I never did.

"Okay."

We continue cooking, and when I finish flipping the last pancake, Mom hands me a cup of coffee and allows me to drink it, which Luke always does when I make his.

"Nice job," she says, and even high-fives me as she looks at the perfectly cooked breakfast that we made. "Now go wake up Luke," she says with a laugh and I walk up to the stairs.