"Halley, could you please get off your damn phone and help with the groceries?" My mom muttered.
My fingers flew across the screen as I finished the last part of a text and I clicked the Off button and the screen faded to black.
"Sorry, Mom," I replied. But I wasn't just sorry for my phone...
For the past few months I've kept a secret from her and as much as I itched to tell her, I knew it'd destroy her and more importantly, me.
Standing in the middle of the kitchen, in complete silence, made me want to scream the words and just say, "Fuck it!" But I had to keep my mouth shut. I had to protect myself, Jackson, and Andi.
Putting away the vegetables, I had an idea...
"Hey, mom...?"
"Yeah?"
"So...would -um- would you be okay with me -hypothetically speaking- like if I ever kissed a girl....would you be okay with that?" I kept my eyes on the bell pepper in my hand, too scared to look up at her.
I heard her place the grocery bag down as she turned to look at me.
"Halley..."
I gained the courage to steal a glance at my mother. Her face was stern and there was no hint of humor in her face or tone.
"I mean just hypothetically speaking, mom...I'm still dating Jackson...and I plan to keep that..." I swallowed, "...a thing."
"Well, I wouldn't be over-the-moon happy," she said slowly.
I shrugged. "Would you...support me or the idea of it?"
"I'd still love you, Halley...if that's what you're asking."
It wasn't, really. But the thought of going into a deeper conversation about the topic scared me. I didn't want her to get suspicious.
"Okay. Thanks," I said as we continued to un-bag all of the food. I brushed off the hurt that fell over me at her I'd still love you comment.
***********************************
The next morning...
On the way to school, I felt numb. Just pure emptiness. Most of the drive there, I'm pretty sure I zoned out because I was in the parking lot faster than usual and I don't remember passing most of the towns shops.
I put the car in park and flipped the AC off. The one thing I despise most is the cold. It was close to 96°F outside and every inch of my skin was sweating. But sitting in the car with the doors locked, the heat stayed out and it became chilly.
Suddenly, a hand slapped the window. I screamed.
"Jackson!"
I heard his muffled laughter from behind the glass and proceeded to crank the window.
"Babe, it's okay! Chill."
I rolled my eyes and he walked around to the passenger side of my car, climbing in.
"Hey," he said quietly...and admittedly quite sexy.
"Hi," I replied in a whisper and he kissed my neck.
I turned to face him.
"Let's go out!"
He raised an eyebrow and a smirk creeped upon his face.
"The beach!" I clapped. Just the thought of it made me all giddy inside. He reached over to turn the air off.
"Really? The beach?" He made a face.
"Yes! But like, right before sunset! God, it'll be beautiful!"
"Just like you...but yeah, I guess we could go to the beach. But if you think I'm swimming, you thought wrong." He said.
I shrugged and after talking about the dates, we went inside.
