"Mom, I'm home!" I yelled once I entered through the door.
"I'm in the kitchen!" she yelled back. I walked to the kitchen and found her making a pie. "Hey sweetie, how was school?"
"Better than usual," I told her and sat by bag on the table. "Are you working today?"
"No, I need to get the car back. And I have the weekend off, so I won't work until Monday," she explained.
"That's great. You've stressing out too much," I said and sat on the counter opposite from her. "Mikey and I are going to the movies tonight, is that okay?"
"Of course it is, sweetheart. Thank you for telling me," she said. I smiled at her. "How long has this been going on?"
"Well...three months," I said. She looked at me with wide eyes.
"Really? Do you like him?"
"Well, of course I do. I like him a lot. He's the only one who really understands me. Besides you, obviously." She smiled widely.
"I haven't seen you this happy in a long time," she pointed out. "I'm glad you made friends and now a boyfriend. I guess you're pleased that we moved from New York?"
"Yeah, I am. It's not as bad as I thought it would be. Even if I have a target painted on my back when I'm in school."
"I told you I could have you home-schooled."
"And I told you I don't want you to go through the trouble."
"Iris."
"Mother." We both started laughing. Tony entered the room and smiled at Mom.
"Ooh. Pie," he said. He glanced at me. "I saw something interesting in gym class today."
"What was that?" Mom asked. I smirked and went to the fridge to grab a pudding cup.
"Iris and Mikey kissing. I didn't know you had a little boyfriend, sissy."
"Isn't it great?" Mom told Tony with a bright smile. I held in my laughter as Tony looked confused.
"You knew?" he asked.
"Of course I did, I'm her mother. I know everything."
"It doesn't bother you?"
"No, why would it?" Tony looked confused for a moment and then shot me a glare.
"Never mind. I didn't think you knew," Tony said. "How come she gets a boyfriend and I can't get a girlfriend?"
"I never said you couldn't get a girlfriend," Mom told him. Tony groaned and decided to stop arguing. I kissed my mom on the cheek before heading to my room. "Iris! When are you going to the movies?"
"Around six!" I told her. I saw Pearl curled up by my door waiting for me. She slowly opened her eyes and looked at me. She stretched then jumped on my arms. "Hey, girl. Have you eaten your food today?" I glanced at her food tray by my door. It was mostly filled up. "You have to eat, please. I don't want you to get sick." I picked her food tray up and entered my room. I placed both of them down. "Come on girl, eat." She yawned and curled next to my feet and went to sleep. I scratched her head and sighed. I started doing my homework and studying for my finals next week.
Around 5:50, I started getting ready. I mean there wasn't much to change besides my makeup. I redid it and made sure my hair looked presentable. I should probably make more of an effort since it was a date but I don't want to. It's Mikey; he had seen me in pajamas when we were having a reading night. I heard knocking on the front door. I checked on Pearl before going and frowned. I patted her head softly and she opened her eyes. I grabbed one of her crackers and tried feeding it to her. She turned her head away and went back to sleep. I kissed the top of her head and grabbed my wallet and phone. I walked down the stairs into the living room to find my mom talking to Mikey.
