Exposure

Chapter 10

I now know how my sister felt when I was in highschool. I always brought my boyfriend home, and unfortunatly, Danny would always walk in on our makeout sessions. Now, staring at Ken sucking my mom's face off, I get it.

Since the session, I've been keeping a close eye on Danny...and Ken. And if I was some stranger walking down the street, I wouldn't think that Danny might be in trouble. But I know her, and she will keep anything from me to save her own ass.

"Ready to go, Danny?" Ken lightly touches her shoulder, but Danny doesn't even notice. She stares at her ipod, and pops her bubble gum nonchalantly. She's so rude, but in this case, being rude is okay with me.

Ken smells of a sharp cologne. Something that usually turns me on, is making me want to vomit where I stand. He's wearing a plain grey t-shirt, jeans and running sneakers. He's so normal. Too normal, and something is definitely off.

"Yeah, I guess. Where are we gonna go?" Danny finally says. The look on Ken's face isn't matching up. If I was him, I would have slapped Danny across the face. But he seems so happy and eager to be with her today.

"It's a surprise," he says, almost excitedly. As they walk out the door, Danny glances at me. And it definetly wasn't a cry for help. It was a this is payback, bitch. And I'm loving it, kind of look. I haven't really talked to Danny since that fight we had, and I guess she's still mad at me.

"So where do you want to go sweetie?" If I could really tell her, I would say nowhere. I just shrug my shoulders.
"I know you hate me right now, Ivy. But can you please give me a chance? I want to have a nice day with my daughter." She grabs my shoulders with a pleading look in her bright eyes.

"Yeah, okay. But you choose," I say. She's right. I guess I can pretend for a day, that I want this too.

"How about the festival? I've been wanting to go with Ken..." She trails off and grabs the car keys off the dining room table. "You want to drive?" Why not? Maybe I'll be able to zone off into my own world, and forget who's next to me.

The ride to the festival is surprisingly awkward. I can't remember the last time mom and I have been in the same car together, let alone spending the day with eachother.

"Got a boyfriend yet?" Her knees rest on the dashboard, and she leans back and smiles at me.

"Nope. Single and loving it," I say, concentrating on the road. She laughs.

"That's a lie Ivy." Okay, so what? Who likes being single anyways?

"Alright, how about you?" She sits up.

"What do you mean?" Nice try mom, but you know exactly who and what I'm talking about. We stay silent for the rest of the ride.

As we pull into the parking lot, I can already smell the different foods. The scent of spicy salsa drifts through the car window. My favorite part of the festival is the historical tent. I don't know why, but being around old antiques really lifts my spirits. Mom used to collect them, but stopped ever since the divorce.

I make a left turn and I'm greeted by a man waving a bright yellow cone. His face is bright red and beaded with sweat. He must have been here early in the morning, when the festival opened. He waves his cone to the left, and lucky for me, there is actually a spot open.

My car lets out an ear piercing screech, and when I look back to my right, the man with the cone is giving me a startled look. I don't blame him. I'm surprised this piece of crap Honda has made it through three years of high school.

I see mom as soon as I'm through the maze of cars to get to the front gates. It's a fairly nice day out. The sky is a light blue, and although it's sunny, a slight breeze swifts through every once in awhile. The last time I was here, the pathway was gravel, now it's paved, and it actually looks pretty nice.

"I haven't been here in awhile," mom says as she hands me my ticket.

"Doesn't look any different," I say. I pull my sunglasses over my eyes.

The first thing mom wants to do is take a look at the antique area. I can already see the metal necklaces reflecting the sunlight off of them. There aren't many people here as we get closer. I smile slightly. I don't do well around big crowds anyways.

The lady running it greets us, and tells us a fact about each antique. The one that catches my eye is the ring with a small pink stone in it. The stone is being held in by green vines that connect to the actual ring itself. It's absolutely beautiful.

"That's pretty, isn't it?" mom asks me. I shake my head and try to contain my excitement. "Why don't you get us something to eat, and I'll buy this for you." I'm not gonna say anything, but mom is obviously trying to buy my forgiveness. And to be honest, it's working.

"What do you want?" I ask. She picks up the ring and stares at it.

"How about one of those maple donuts?" Before leaving, I manage a "thank you", out of my mouth.

"What can I get you today?" the woman behind the metal stand asks me. I tell her a maple donut, but I also add in a cider for mom too. "Just stand to the side please, and I will get that right to ya, sweetheart." There are only a few people behind me. One lady is carrying a baby in her arms, and is rocking her slightly.

"So who are you here with?" The hairs on my neck instantly stand up. The raspy voice, and cold breath is instantly recognizable. He grabs my waist and turns me around. I want to gasp, but nothing comes out.

"Get off me Adrien," I say. he chuckles and reaches behind me. He holds the cider and bag up in the air and places it
on the ground. He then grabs money out of his pocket and smashes it on the tin counter.

"I know you took my stuff." I turn away from him, but he takes my wrists firmly and leads me behind the stand. There is nowhere to go, because the stand is almost against a wood wall, and the pathway is in the front. Nobody can see me. "Where is it?" he continues.

"I used it," I say trying to pry his hands off me. He bursts out in a deep cackle of laughter.

"That doesn't sound like the Ivy I know."

"You don't know me. Now get the hell off me!" I feel hands slip into my left butt pocket. I stiffen, but I want to scream.

"Just in case you wanted to return for seconds." He stares me down for a few moments. "Now you don't have too."

I find myself asking, "How much?"

"Fifty by the end of the week." He sighs. "You wouldn't have let me put it in your pocket if you didn't want it." He's right, and I want to kill myself for it. As he leaves, I feel the world around me grow dark, and then a tingling sensation spreads from my feet to my chest.

"Ivy?" I hear mom calling from the front. When I get there, my heart drops. Peter is with her. I quickly try to collect myself, but I can tell they already know something is up.

"You didn't tell me there was a new boy in town." She smiles brightly, trying to play the 'innocent mother' look. We all stare awkwardly at eachother.

"Do you want to go somewhere? Is that okay Ms. Maed?" Peter asks. Mom shakes her head yes. I silently thank Peter. He cut this mother-daughter day way short. Besides, I already saw what I wanted to see.

"Thanks for the donut, Ivy!" mom yells as we walk away. I turn around. The donut and cider that were on the ground are gone. Adrien must have taken them after he left. That little shit!

"So where are we going?" I ask Peter. He smirks at me, and his eyes light up.

"Shopping," he says. "Cause we're going out tonight."

Sorry for the short chapter, but I was trying to get a valuable point across. Message me or comment if you might know what that point is. COMMENTS are really appreciated guys! Thanks!