Standing Alone

Ch. 5 - Texts

I open the front door to see my mom standing at the counter reading my note. She turns around. Her short dyed-blonde hair follows the path. She is still wearing her work clothes.

"Hi honey," she says with a smile. I notice groceries on the counter. I smile back.

"Hey." I say. She begins to load the groceries into the fridge and pantry. I walk over to help her.

"I think we should have enough food now to make a good homemade meal tonight." I can hear the smile in her voice. Since she's always busy at work, she's always happy when we get some time together. I'll admit, I like it too.

I observe what is in the bags. Pasta, bread, vegetables, eggs, milk, cheeses, a can of pasta sauce, some cereals, muffins, and a roll of cookie dough is what I see. Sounds all good to me.

I set some of the cereals above the fridge, the bread and pasta in the pantry, the cookie dough in the fridge, etc. Once we are done, she goes upstairs to her bedroom and changes out of her work clothes. I take a seat on the couch.

My phone is still in my pocket and I do an awkward back arch to grab it. There is one notification that reads:

Hey Brooklyn, it's Damon. Rachel gave me your number.

Crap. My stomach tightens a bit and I feel anxiety for a split second. Then I realize I feel excited. A hot guy. With my number. Who I kissed. My heart drops; and also who I made a complete fool of myself in front of. I quickly text back.

Hey! Just wanted to apologize for— I erase that. That's too straight forward, don't make any more of a fool of yourself than you did. I start over.

Hey! I'm glad we met at the party! Sorry about that whole mess I caused...

That's a bit better but I still cringe as I hit "send".

He replies a couple minutes later:

It's fine. Are you okay though, what happened?

Nothing really. I think it was a panic attack.

Lie.

Are you sure you're okay?

Yeah it was nothing really.

Lie.

Well anyways, how are you?

Pretty good, just sitting on the couch. Wbu?

Me too actually lol.  Watching some TV.

Hey so, I don't know that much about you... Could we maybe get to know each other?

That was a risky text but I send it anyways. He takes a bit longer than usual to respond.

Yeah of course. I'll start I guess. I'm 20 and I'm going to college at CU Boulder.

What should I say that won't make me sound like a loser? I decide to just type without thinking.

Well I'm 16 and a junior in high school. I love drawing but I'm no good. Tell
me something else.

Umm, well I used to play hockey as a kid. Not anymore. I'm not into sports. You?

Sports are not my forte... Something else about me is that I love music.

Really what kind?

I have a big range of music I like. It honestly goes from indie pop to metal. Lol.