My Knights in Shining Armor

A Couple of Squashed Granola Bars

A/N It's short today, but I have basketball practice, so I have to get ready. Enjoy!

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*Cherry Hall*

I park my silver Lexus in the driveway of my house. It's old and huge, and I love it. Although at times, it's lonely.

My mom and I live together in the outskirts of Springfield, Oregon. It's a fairly small city, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

After opening the garage door and making sure my car is locked, I head inside to an empty house, which is typical. Dropping my backpack on the hard wooden floor, I kick off my shoes and head into the kitchen.

"We have no food in this house," I say aloud. The fridge is almost empty and the only thing in the pantry is some old cereal boxes and a couple of squashed granola bars. We really need to go shopping.

Luckily, it was Friday. Unluckily, our shopping day was always Monday. Since they always tend to suck, my mom and I like to brighten them up with a trip to Kroger. Luckily, last Monday we had gotten a lot of chocolate, a whole bushel of apples, microwave popcorn, and two gallons of ice cream (chocolate chip cookie dough and Moose Tracks). Unluckily, it was also shark week, and most of the snack food that was meant to last a week lasted until about Wednesday.

Life sucks sometimes.

I grab a granola bar and carefully peel away the wrapper so as to not get any chocolate on my fingers. If I did, then I would have to wash my hands, and the sink is so far away.

Instead, I wander over to the couch and plop down, grabbing the remote and turning on Netflix. I just started a show called Teen Wolf; my friends Tamara and Eve had recommended it to me last week. A few episodes in and I had been hooked.

I make it through most of my current episode before I hear a car pull into the garage. Mom.

Immediately smiling, I jump up after pausing the show, the screen frozen on Dylan O'Brien's sexy face.

"Mom!" I shout when the door opens.

"Hi, Cherry," she calls back enthusiastically. I rush up and give her a hug, smelling the light-scented perfume that she always wore. Her neat brown hair was cut into a bob, and she wore a smart blue blouse with black pants. I looked down at my hole-riddled jeans and teal crop top and sighed.

"Oh, Mom, always showing me up," I grin. She winks at me and laughs.

"You know it, babe." She then drops her briefcase on the floor next to my Jansport backpack and stretches her back. "Now, I don't know about you, but I'm starving. Where do you want to go for dinner?"

I step back, gaping. We haven't gone out to dinner in forever, mostly because my mom works late and I'm usually swamped with homework and cross country and track practices. However, as it's the very end of May, and I only have one week of school left in my sophomore year, there isn't much homework left for me to do. Track states were last weekend (I placed 9th in the long jump; a PR of 15' 11.5"), and cross country training doesn't start for another two weeks.

"Um," I think articulately. "How about Ranchito's? I know how much you love their rice."

"Ranchito's sounds great, honey," Mom replies, tying back her hair with a ponytail from her wrist. "Just let me get changed and we can go." She turns to walk up the staircase, pausing when she's halfway up. "Oh, and Cherry?" She says.

"You get to drive."

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:)

-articulate thinking