That Boy

Mars

I don't think anyone understood my love for this cringe-y movie. It was Saturday night and I spent it like I always did. Watching cliché romance movies.

But this Saturday was special. So this Saturday deserved Twilight.

I would be moving back home tomorrow and no longer would there be a Saturday night in my dorm room, with Nala roaming the city, and Michelle snoring across the room.

The impending sense of doom was causing turmoil throughout my body. Between that and tightness of this new bonnet I could barely focus on the movie.

Say it. Out Loud.

Say it.

"Vampire."

"I know you aren't watching that stupid ass movie. Makes me wanna peal my goddamn ears off." Nala shut the door behind her, waking Michelle in the process.

"So food anyone?"
...

Sitting on the old curb, I could feel the gravel poking into my backside. I should have expected this. This was how it was before boarding school and I was naïve to think it would change now. My mother was supposed to be here an hour ago. I could hear her apologizing in my head now. "I'm sorry Mars, I got caught up with work".

I watched all the girls getting out of the expensive cars to unload their stuff to bring on dorm. The only difference was, they were moving in and I was moving out. Returning students had to come back a week before the upcoming freshmen. So I was alone on the curb, with no familiar faces to keep me company while I waited. The boxes stacked behind me provided shade from the scorching August sun. Not that I need it as much, seeing that I'm the darkest person out here.

The BMW X5 pulled into the parking lot with its Princeton license plate frame surrounding the familiar numbers.

There no signs of movement. The shade was good and I wasn't going to move off my makeshift bed of my book bag and junior blazer. As the window rolled down to reveal her testing glare, I look up to meet the brown eyes with monolids, a Chinese woman that looked nothing like me.

"Hi Mom. What's up on the fine afternoon? Notice how I said afternoon seeing how it's after 12 o'clock." I mustered up the sweetest smile I could.

"Mars Zheng, if you don't get in this car right now! I have to get back to work and I don't have the time to deal with this."

"And I didn't have the time to wait, Mother, but here I was. On this very curb for two hours."

Those sweet brown eyes that often comforted me in my times of distress slowly squinted into a glare.

Not just any glare.

The glare. The look.

Fire must've sparked under my backside since I flew off the curb, packed all five boxes into the car, and got my ass buckled up into the front seat in record time. We sat in silence as I fiddled with radio, not really choosing anything. I knew it was coming before I heard it. Her sigh.

"Mar you know I didn't mean to leave you out there. I didn't forget you, I just had a lo-"

"It's okay. I was only kidding back there."

"Okay. Good."

Her smile surfaced as she ruffled my twist out. Playfully, I tugged her hand out of my hair before she laughed.

"I know. Not the hair," she said.