Social Experiment

23 | No Reason

I smiled when I woke up to familiar banging of pots and pans because that meant my mom was finally home again. Even ten minutes before my alarm went off, I jumped out of bed and quickly got ready for school. Because the weather was supposed to be nicer than normal today, I chose a nice black sundress with spaghetti straps and an open back. It reached mid-thigh and I paired it nicely with heeled black booties with high white socks underneath.

My finger combing was the extent of my hairstyle, and I brushed the wand of my mascara through my lashes a few times before deeming myself ready. Happily, I skipped down the stairs and entered the kitchen with a smile on my face as the smell of eggs and bacon floated through the air. My mom was standing by the stove with her fuzzy red robe on, hair in a messy ponytail on her head. I grinned widely as she turned the heat off and began moving the bacon onto a plate.

"Smells amazing, mom." I pipe up and my smile widens when one appears on her face.

Abandoning her breakfast, my mom steps forward and wraps her arms around me. I reciprocate the action, nuzzling my cheek into her shoulder as I take a deep breath. My eyes shut and for the first time in days, possibly even a week, I feel at ease.

"It's so nice to be home, honey," My mom murmurs. "I missed you."

"I missed you too," I say and then pull away. I offer her another smile upon seeing she was looking at me as if I were a fragile doll. "Now how about some breakfast? The bacon smells amazing."

She nods and gestures to the counter. "Take a seat, I'll get you a plate."

I follow her orders and sink into a stool at the island while inhaling a deep breath of the delicious bacon aroma. As mom places a plate of beautiful scrambled eggs and bacon in front of me, heavy footsteps descend down the stairs, and a moment later Luke barrels into the kitchen. When he sees the stove, a huge grin stretches across his lips, and he throws his arms around my mom.

"Thanks for breakfast, mom," Luke mumbles tiredly as he hugs her. "It's good to have you back."

"I'm starting to think that you two only like having me around for the meals," My mom teases before waving Luke to the stool. "Take a seat, honey. I'll fix you a plate."

Luke slips into the seat beside me and my mom puts an equally as delicious looking plate in front of him, too. We both scarf down the meal- one of the first homemade meals we've had since she left- not so graciously. I talk to my mom in between bites, asking how her trip was, but she does most of the talking while we attack our meals.

"So," My mom leans against the counter by the stove after she told us all about the book signing and frowns at me. "Where's your car, Lauren?"

I frown at the reminder of my beloved car and tell her, "Betsy wouldn't turn on yesterday after school. I think the battery died or something. But my friend is going to fix her up this weekend, so no worries."

My mom raises an eyebrow skillfully. "Which friend of yours is a mechanic?"

I realize quickly that she's probably thinking about Bailey and Sasha considering I hadn't told her anything about my personal life recently. My mom was usually my biggest confidant besides Stephanie, but ever since the release of her last book, she's been so busy that I haven't had time to tell her about anything that's been going on recently.