My Good Boy

Chapter Twelve

"Trouble? Trouble! Andrea!" My mom exclaimed as she walked in my room, wincing at the sight of used tissues and the complete disarray of my normally clean room.

"Oh, dear. What happened?" I tried to explain but my anxiety woudn't let me, deciding to block my throat with sobs for the time being.

I continued to blindly motion with one hand as I used the other to grip my childhood teddy bear. He used to be the cure for anxiety attacks, but unfortunately it didn't seem to work anymore.

"Oh, honey. It's an attack isn't it?"

I nodded as she wrapped her arms around me, trying to calm me down. My sobs slowly receded, causing me to gasp for air as my mom slowly loosened her hold on me before I was able to sit up on my own, an occasional hiccup stumbling out of my mouth.

"Do you know what brought it on? Was it you and Tori?" My mom slowly questioned, not wanting to push me.

"I'm not sure," I paused, slowly testing my voice. "I thought it finally went away, you know? I'm not sure if it was Red or my dad or if it was anyone at all. I just-I'm not sure what to do" I ran my hands down my face, as if hoping to wipe away all my worries.

"Do you want to take off school today?" She quietly asked, to which I responded with a slight nod, exhausted from my attack.

"Do you want me to take off work?" She asked, slipping a piece of blue-and-brown hair back behind my ear from where it had fallen out of my messy bun.

"I don't want you to get in trouble." I mumbled, burying my face in her shoulder.

"One day won't hurt. How about this, we both stay home today and have a mommy-daughter day, we haven't had one of those in a while." She smiled down at me as I slowly lifted my head, a light lipped smile replacing the frown from moments earlier.

"If you're sure..." I trailed off as she stood up, offering me her hand as she pulled me downstairs and into the living room.

"Mom, I don't care what you say. Michael is way more attractive than Tatum." I continued our silly argument as I rinsed out ice cream bowls in the sink.

"Think what you will," She responded, a grin overtaking her face.

"Why are you so smiley?"

"It's nice to hang out with you today, just the two of us. With my job and school for you we barely have enough time for a decent conversation. I wish it had occured under better situations," she paused as I winced at her subtle mention of my anxiety. "But, nonetheless, I'll take it."

"I love you, Mommy." I whispered as I wrapped my arms around her, content with the familiar family feeling.

"I love you too, sweetie. Now go answer your phone, that marimba tone is damn annoying." I laughed as she swore before going over to my phone, finding Luke's contact on the screen.

"Hello?" I call into the phone, hearing a jumble of noise until it's shut off with the slam of something; a door, maybe.

"Andy Pandy? Where are you?" Luke's concerned voice flooded through the phone, making me smile.

:I'm at home. I-um, I had a little incident this morning." I cautiously stated, implying I didn't want to talk about it right now.

"Okay, but you're fine now, right?"

"I am, I promise. My mom's taking good care of me and just relaxing for the time being."

"Can I come over later? I just need to see you myself, make sure everything's alright, you know?" Luke quickly spoke into the phone, almost as if he was afraid her was going to be rejected.