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Chapter 9

The sun streaming in through my window wakes me up out of my deep, dreamless slumber. My red curtains blow into my room from the breeze that enters from my window. It seems too bright out to be six in the morning and there seems to be more birds awake.

I lean over to check my phone and it reads eleven thirty two.

"Shit!" I curse myself, throwing my covers off me and running across the hall to the bathroom. I quickly get to brushing my teeth and check out the window to see if my mom's car was still in the driveway, it was. "Mom!" I shout out the bathroom door, "Could you write me a note for school?" I rinse my mouth with Listerine and run back to my room, trying to find an outfit to wear. "Mom?" I yell again, no getting an answer before.

"Audrey, you're up." I look over and see my mother standing in my doorway.

"Yeah and I'm late! Could you please write me a note?" I throw on a black tank top and some shorts.

"I already called and told the school you wouldn't be coming in today." She says, walking into my room.

"What?" My head snaps to her direction. "Why?"

"Audrey, what you went through yesterday isn't something you can just walk off." She explains to me in her motherly voice.

"It's fine mom, really." I sit on my bed to put on my shoes.

"No it's not. You may think you're okay to go back but I know you better, you're not." She stands right in front of me now, hands on her hips. I can almost see her as a teen now. Her red hair pulled back, hands on her hips, pout on her face, and talking back to her parents. How did she ever transition from teen to mom?

"I'm gonna miss my presentation." I state, "Cole and I haven't even practiced yet."

"All the more reason to stay home. Cole can come over tonight and you can practice then and over the weekend."

I sigh, "Fine. You win, I'll stay home." I pull my shoes off my feet and throw them over to my closet.

"Good. Now did you want anything for lunch? I'm making Jocelyn some pasta, if you'd like some." My mom begins to leave my room.

"I'll have some, I guess." I say as she heads downstairs to make it for me.

I fall back on my bed. Well now what? I don't know. We've got the rest of the day to do something, anything. Sit on my bed and wait for Cole to come over? No.

I stand up and head downstairs and am greeted by Jocelyn's smiling face, sitting on the kitchen floor playing with some colored blocks.

"Hi sweetie!" I scoop her up into my arms and bounce her on my hip. "What's momma doing?" I ask her in my baby voice. She makes an attempt to say 'pasta' but it comes out as 'passa'. I laugh as I set her back down to play with her blocks. "Hey mom, I think I'll actually just have some coffee." I sit down at the counter, my mom's back turned away from me, towards the stove.

"No, you have to eat," She says a little too sternly.

I'm taken aback a little by her tone, "Alright then... I'll have some pasta." I answer.

My mom turns around and places a bowl right in front of me and then puts one next to me, where Jocelyn's sitting. She scoops some pasta into my bowl and then some into Jocelyn's. My mom goes to pour some sauce on my pasta but I stop her, "I'll just have some butter and parmesan."

"Okay!" She pours some on Jocelyn's.

She places the pot back on the stove and removes her oven mitts from her hands. She walks around the counter and retrieves Jocelyn from her spot on the floor and places her in the seat next to me. My mom sits on the other side of Jocelyn and takes a fork of pasta and goes to feed Jocelyn. "So, you got home alright, last night?" She asks.