The Bucket List

a walk down memory lane: part 2

I wake up next to Kevin and sit up, the sun from the window shining in. I push my hair out of my face lazily and notice his shirt from last night on the floor. I slip it on and button in up, and slide on the spandex shorts that I wore under my dress yesterday.

I pull off the covers and quietly get out of bed, and walk into the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face.

I finish brushing my teeth and start to comb through my hair. I pull it all up and tie it into a bun, and I hear the doorknob turning.

It creaks open just as I'm about to turn towards it to leave. I'm expecting Kevin to come up and hug me from behind or something.

"Oh." I hear, and quickly look behind me to see the middle aged woman that is Mrs. McAllister. "Who are you?"

"Mrs. McAllister, it's me, Morgan."

"Morgan DeAngelis?" She says, and I nod. "What a pleasant surprise!"

"It's really good to see you! It's been a really long time."

"Yeah, it has." She says, taking a minute to look at me and what I'm wearing. "Is that... Kevin's shirt?" I look down at my outfit and back up to her.

"Yeah."

"What's going on?" Kevin asks, coming up behind his mother, wearing a pair of grey sweatpants and no shirt. "Oh."

"I'm a little confused." Mrs. McAllister says.

"Yeah, me too." I say, crossing my arms over my chest. Kevin scratches the back of his neck.

"Well, uh, you see..." Kevin reaches out for my hand and pulls me to him. "Morgan and I are together."

"Together?" Mrs. McAllister- I think her name is Lauren- says. Let's just call her Lauren. "I don't think I understand."

"Kevin, you never told her?" I say, looking up at him. "Mrs McAllister, I am so sorry."

"Call me Laura." She says. Hm, I guess it's Laura. "But no, Kevin didn't bother to tell me that this was going on."

"You were never home." I hear Kevin say, quietly, as if it was a sensitive subject for him. "I was going to tell you."

"And how long has it been?"

I think back to the day we made it official but before I can say anything, Kevin steps in. "Almost four months."

"Four months?" She says, crossing her arms over her chest. "I can't believe you never told me."

"Neither can I." I say. Laura steps out of the bathroom and motions for us to follow her down the stairs.

"I might be wrong, but I was certain that you two didn't get along before."

"We didn't."

"So what changed?"

"Mom, now really isn't the time-" Kevin says, not wanting to bring up how everything started.

"Come on, Kevin. You've been keeping this from me for four months, I want to know."

"But it's not exactly-"

"Kevin Alexander McAllister, I don't know if you realize how furious I am about this, so you better tell me what's going on right now, mister."

"Okay, okay! Fine! Yes, Morgan and I used to hate each other."

"But," I cut in, "I later learned that I hated Kevin, and he was actually madly in love with me." I tease him, elbowing him in the ribs. "I was diagnosed with a terminal illness in late January, and that's when Kevin decided to bury the hatchet and try to get along."