Youth Group Popularity

Chapter 15 - A Mother's Love

I stood in complete and utter fear as my Mother gave me her signature 'You're in so much trouble even though you're an adult' look. My breath was caught in my lungs and I couldn't exhale. My mother's gaze (Isn't it funny how I refer to her as Mother only when I'm in trouble?) finally broke away from me and now onto the boy standing behind me, I looked up at him just in time to see him swallow a fearful gulp.

"Danny, I want you to go outside. But don't leave. I want to talk to you after I deal with her," She spoke calmly, yet sternly.

He nodded and obeyed her. He gave me and her a small, awkward smile and then stepped outside. I looked down to the floor, avoiding my mother's acrid gaze. Ugh... I'm in so much trouble.

"I trusted you. Why did you disobey me? You knew how I would have felt about this so why would you stay out so late with him?"

"I didn't plan to stay out so late. We fell asleep," I told her, which didn't win her over. Yeah, that sounded better in my head.

"After doing what, exactly?" She sternly raised an eyebrow at the question.

"We were lying in his truck bed and talking. That's it. That's all we did and then we fell asleep," I answered honestly.

"I believe you. I really do. But you still disobeyed me after I told you you weren't supposed to be with him without someone else with you."

"No, you said he couldn't be in the house without you watching us."

"You're right. I did say that. But you should know me well enough to know that I wouldn't allow it."

"How can I? You never spend any time with me or Brian. If you did, you would understand why Danny comes over, why he cares so much about Brian and I, and how much he has respect for both of us. He actually makes time for us, talks to us, he loves us. He does pretty much everything you never did," I told her and she tried to butt in, but I wasn't finished. "And I'll have you know that Danny and I respect every rule and boundary we've set in our lives. We're not stupid. Maybe you would know that if you actually got to know him. He actually loves talking to us, spending time with us, just being with us! But you wouldn't know because you don't care! And Danny is more of a man than any other guy you can bring into this house, simply because you are careless," I finished my rant with a relieving sigh that came out shaky. Literally the world was lifted off of my chest after I finished saying all of that.

I cringed at the thought of my Mother blowing up at me or becoming so angry at what I just said. But she didn't, she was calm and emotionless in her face. I played with the hem of my shirt as I waited for a response. I looked up at the stairs that were directly behind my mom. Brian was standing there, holding onto the railing. He frowned slightly and then I looked away from him, trying to make it look like I was just casually looking around.

Then, she did the unexpected. She went outside. I became panicky because I had just served her a heaping plate of my ranting and now she's going outside where the boy who had me out until 2am was sitting. I went up to the door windows and looked through them, not being able to see anything. I sighed and then went upstairs to my bedroom.

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Danny's POV

I was frozen in the presence of Elaine's mom. She had an unreadable expression and it may have been the most terrifying thing on the planet. I was afraid my nerves would get the better of me so I leaned myself against the truck. She didn't say anything for a while, but when she finally did, I became highly alert.

"Umm... Elaine told me something that really sparked my interest," he began and then took a moment to clear her throat. "I believe she's telling me the absolute truth. But I also want to hear it from you."