Jessica's Fate

Chapter 8

I texted him when I was home and we ended up texting for about an hour before I begged out of the conversation because last night was such a late night and if we were going to meet first thing in the morning, I needed a bit of sleep.

So... 6 am Saturday morning and I was downstairs with wet hair having been awake since 5 and found myself in need of a small something to tide me over before my run. I had showered and was searching for something to eat in my robe when Mom came in the back door.

"Morning, Jess." She said, taking in my wet hair. "You're up early for a Saturday." She said.

"Woke up early." I shrugged. "Showered and need a bit of something before my run." I said.

"And you don't want to just go over to the diner?"

"Not really. I've been working all week and I am meeting someone there to run with." I said. "You know I'd get pancakes and that's not the best idea before running for a while."

"True." She nodded, yawning before running her hand through her hair. "I'm beat." She admitted.

"You are getting home rather late."

"Someone called in, I ended up staying for a half shift."

"Well, the overtime should be nice." I said, lightly. Again... let's not forget I was used to being alone. She always worked the extra time instead of coming home. I was working on not being bitter. "And now you're off for a couple days, right?"

"Excellent reminder." She managed a smile. "What are you thinking of eating?"

"Yogurt, fruit and toast?" I suggested.

"Sounds good to me." She nodded, moving to make us both a couple slices of toast. "What else do you have planned today?"

"I'm not really sure." I admitted, pulling out the yogurt and a handful of strawberries. I rinsed them and cut them up before layering them into a tumbler with the yogurt. "Do you want granola in here?" She nodded so I added a handful of granola to the middle of the parfait and kept layering while she buttered the toast. "I met someone." I blurted as I brought the parfaits over and grabbed spoons and the raspberry jam before I sat down with my orange juice.

"You did?"

I nodded, reaching for a slice of toast and biting into it. Over toast and yogurt parfaits, I told her about meeting Zack at the diner and about our text sessions. I explained that he was possibly going to be meeting me for the run this morning.

"Hmm."

"What?" I felt a little defensive. "I can meet guys." I pointed out. "Let's not forget that I'd like a prom date in a little over 6 weeks."

"Oh, sweetie, I know. That's not what I meant. I was just talking to myself really. I think it's great that you've met someone and I'd like to meet him someday if you want to bring him by."

I blinked at her. "Really? Does he have to meet Kota too?" I asked before I could censor my mouth.

She laughed softly. "Not if you don't want him to. I mean, you said he was a regular at the diner for take-out orders for the past year which means that Luke and Uncle probably know him a bit as well as maybe even Sang. Have you asked her about him?"

I shook my head. "I think Luke does know him." I said. "He's the one sort of pushing me towards being bold enough to ask him to meet me."

She smiled. "Ah, that boy." She said with a shake of her head as I finished my second slice of toast and glanced at the clock. "You bring him around when you want. You tell your brother when you want or it sounds like you could just let Luke share your news with the boys and Sang. I'm sure they'll all be happy for you." She said, reaching over and squeezing my hand. "I mean that, sweetie. If you end up with something great and more than just a prom date out of this, we'll all be happy for you."