Misalignment | ✔

dinner

My mother seems to
bring Stacey home
nearly every night now.
Her visits are normally
very similar to her first -
sans flaming ovens -
and make me
want to run
out of the house
screaming.
Needless to say,
I'm not the biggest fan
of my mother's new friend.

My mother herself
seems to be
oblivious as ever
to my intensifying
dislike
of her coworker,
which makes it
all the worse.
When I try to
ask her why
she's suddenly all
buddy-buddy with her,
she never gives me
a straight answer.

"We're just friends,"
she'll say -
or, worse yet:
"She needs friends,
so I'm trying to
be there for her.
She's going through
a lot of hardship
right now.
You understand,
right?"

My mother is honestly
too gullible
and too easy to guilt
into this type of thing.
How can she not see
the way Stacey
looks at her?
Whether it's just
my imagination
or not,
I can only hope that
my mother and I
are not being used
by this woman.

In the meantime,
Matty and I are
making good headway
in our quest to
annihilate
the upcoming exams.
She comes over
almost every afternoon
after school now
to compare notes
and study
and make plans
on how we will beat
our test-born anxiety.
That last bit is still a
major work in progress,
but she's confident
that we'll be
thoroughly prepared
by the end of December.
I can only hope that
she's right.

My mother and Stacey
are just arriving home
as Matty's leaving
one evening.
My mother waves
to Matty in passing
before hurrying off
with Stacey
in the direction of
the living room.
I hear 'take out'
somewhere in their conversation
and assume that she's
taking the night off
from cooking.

"Something
needs to be done
about her,"
I say of Stacey as
Matty and I linger
just inside the front door.
"It's going too far -
the next thing you know,
Stacey will be proposing!
I don't think
my mother could handle it,
not after the last time."

Matty,
who has already been informed
of the general misfortune
concerning my mother's
last marriage,
only shakes her head.
"I don't think
you'll have to
worry about that
for quite a while,"
she laughs.
"Anyway, you need
to stop worrying about it.
It's your mom's decision,
not yours."

"But it does
concern me
if it means I might
end up having to live
with that lunatic-"

"Shh,
keep your voice down."
She frowns for a moment
as if considering something.
"I think you need
some time away
from all this,"
she says at last.
"My aunt has wanted
to meet you, anyway.
This would be
the perfect opportunity."

"What?"
I ask -
but she's already
brushing past me
on her way towards
the living room.
There's no way
I could stoo her now,
even if I
had wanted to.

"Cam's coming over
for a little bit,"
I hear her
tell my mother.
"They'll be back soon."

My mother's
affirmative response
is lost in a peal of
Stacey's laughter
as Matty reappears.
"What's going on?"
I ask again,
completely clueless as to
Matty's intentions.

"They're watching
Wipeout."
Matty smiles sweetly
and takes my arm,
pulling me towards the door.
"You're coming over
for dinner,"
she adds,
"and to meet my aunt.
That's a lot better
than take out and Stacey,
don't you think?"

And somehow,
even as she drags me
out the door
and into the
chilly evening air,
I can't help but agree.

×

Yep, there's gonna be a new character next chapter - I'm really excited. Matty's aunt is a wonderful person, and I love her to death. Anyone have any speculations about her? She is definitely a very interesting character, in more ways than one. And I mean, she's Marianne's sister. That about guarantees it, lmao.

If you guys liked this chapter, I would love if you would vote and leave me some feedback! It would be very much appreciated c:

I'm not 100% sure yet how many more chapters there will be, but I'm thinking it'll end somewhere around 70. Again, I'm not completely sure, but it's drawing to a close soon, guys :c And then I'll start Unparalleled, and that's really not a bad thing, lol.