Finding Claire

Chapter 23

The day of my 18 birthday came and went and I was so glad for it. My mom invited the Williams family over, again, and I didn't know of her plans until I got home a few hours after school. Nathan "distracted" me and once we got to my house -since I thought I was doing nothing so I invited him over for pizza and movies- I was scared with the booming voices of "Surprise!" from everyone.

After cleaning the cake from my face thanks to my dad, opening up all my presents and dying of embarrassment from one of them, the Williams family left with smiles on their faces. The days flew by with ease, and everything and everyone worked with the regular pattern of their schedule. Nothing seemed to change.... well except my relationship with Nathan.

On Valentine's Day, he sweetly surprised me with some flowers, a bear and some chocolate and blushed the entire time he spoke. "Will.... y-you b-b-beeee my g-g-girlfriend?"

The smile that seemed to be plastered on my face the entire time I saw him stuttering over the words gave him the wrong impression and he looked away, his expression dropping. I managed to grip everything into one arm and with the other one, I cupped his face and made him look at me.

"Yes," I breathed as I looked into his eyes and he immediately smiled. He grabbed the hand that was on his cheek, kissed it and then crushed me into a hug.

"Are you serious? Are you sure?" he breathed and I laughed.

"Yeah. It's about time I guess. Our mothers already predicted it before we did, so it was a matter of time to make it true."

He frowned slightly as he looked at me and he whispered, "So you only said yes because our mothers said so."

"No!" I shrieked immediately and crushed myself to him again. The next words made me blush and I could barely whisper them out. "I do like you Nathan. I would be stupid to not like you. Just because our mothers said so doesn't mean they make our choices. This is my choice and I say yes because I want to."

He smiled so big, he cupped my face and kissed my forehead. I would be lying if I said I was happy he didn't kiss my lips. Part of me wanted him to kiss me, but the other part told me it was WAAAAY to early and fast and I had to agree with that.

"What do you think our mothers will say?" he laughed as we made our way to class holding hands. I heard the whispers around us, but I ignored them and focused on my boyfriend. Woah... That word felt strange.....

I rolled my eyes and laughed with him. "Probably have a heart attack."

When April finally arrived, my mom was finally coming with me to the mall and together, we found my dress and mask. I found out the theme was going to be a mixture of Masquerade and Winter. She was more excited than I was, and I couldn't help and laugh as she jumped from rack to rack trying to find the perfect dress for me.

"I still can't believe you two are going out. I mean I called it a long time ago, but now that it's actually true...." she squealed as we sat in the food court and drowned our faces with rice and chicken.

"Mom. You have had two months to get over it. Dad has already gotten over it and-"

"Yeah. Because he threatened him with chopping off his manhood and taping it to his forehead so he would actually be a dickhead...." I frowned as she cut me off and she smiled. "Hey. His words. Not mine."

"Ignoring that.... But seriously, relax mom. You're acting like a child," I laughed and she frowned at me now.

"Well excuse me for being happy for my ONLY child. It's not like she comes home every day saying she has a boyfriend," she huffed and stopped talking to me. I smiled and laughed softly as I remembered the day we -yes, we went together- told her the news. She passed out and when she came back around, she squealed and hugged him. She threatened him -but not as much as dad- and then practically pushed us out the door so we could spend some time together.

"Have you two kissed?" She asked out of nowhere and I choked on my rice.

"Mom!? Why would you ask that??"

She shrugged. "Hey. We are both girls. We can talk about guys and not judge. I'll even tell you myself that I kissed your dad this morning.... Well we did more than kiss but that's not the whole point....." she trailed off and I stopped eating. I looked down at my plate, suddenly seeing it unappetizing and pushed it away as I tried to hold back the bile that was rising up my throat.

"Thanks mom. I didn't need to know that about you and dad."

She winked. "Hey. How do you think you got into this world."

"Ugh! Just.... STOP. Please, just stop!" I begged and she laughed.

"No but seriously. Have you?"

"Mom. It's been two months...... what do you think?" I said after a few moments of silence. She smiled widely and wiggled her eyebrows.

"Was it nice? When did he kiss you? Was it romantic? Did it involve tongue? Did you-"

"MOM!" I shrieked loud enough for the food court to go quiet. My face was tomato red and I so badly wanted the floor to crumble underneath me and swallow me up. Could my mom be even more embarrassing???

"What? Can't I know these things about my daughter!?"

"No! That's my private life," I hissed and she pouted in sadness. We were quiet for a couple of moments and then her eyes twinkled as the words she was thinking seemed to float out of her head and soak into mine. "And before you ask.... no. We haven't said that to each other yet."

She frowned. "Why not?"

I rolled my eyes. "Mom. It's been TWO MONTHS," I over exaggerated those words since this was the millionth time I had said it that hour. "I'm not like other girls who say "I love you" to the guy they barely know. We actually want to know each other for a while before saying those words. They have a big meaning, you know?"

"I guess you're right. Oh! Look at the time! We better get home and cook for your father before he has a panic attack. He must be there by now," she quickly gasped and I nodded. We got our stuff, threw away our trash and raced to the car, my blood racing through my veins as my thoughts went to the day we first kissed. Let's just say it didn't go as we expected it.....