Program: Superhuman *ON HOLD*

Chapter 6: Macy's Blog

"We are so dead," I sighed, staring at our house. Sammy was gone from the yard, and Mom's car stood parked in front. The rain had gone down to just a small drizzle now, and we were still damp from our last shower, so needless to say, we were wet. And unhappy with our situation. The only good thing, probably, was that my shin had stopped hurting in the bus ride and now just kind of felt numb.

All Arden could answer with was a groan. We slowly walked up and nearly ran back when the door opened by itself. Mom gazed at Arden for a second, but then her eyes landed on me and they widened.

"Willow!" she gasped, running over and squeezing me in a hug. "What happened?" she pulled back and looked down at all the mud I had transferred onto her clothes. "Ugh. Lovely. Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine, Mom," I responded. Then I looked down to my shin. "I just scraped myself a little."

"Oh my goodness," she muttered, leaning down to gaze at it. "We have to get you a bandage."

"I'm fine. Really, it doesn't hurt."

She eyed me for a second, then slowly stood up and put her hand on her hip. "Then what the heck were you two doing? I was worried sick! You didn't call, you didn't leave a note, and now you show up completely soaked with mud all over you and ripped clothes!"

Sammy trotted up to the door, his tail wagging - oblivious to the tension in the air. I was actually surprised to see his fur dry, but then reasoned Mom probably gave him a bath and dried him off afterwards - the rain would've made him muddy.

"Hi... Mom," Arden said nervously, faking a smile.

She wasn't buying it. "Arden?"

"Weeeeeell..." he said, obviously trying to think of something other than "we were at your brother's bookstore!"

"And don't even think of lying," Mom said, eyes flashing. "You know that's a sin."

A sin. Right. Bring the Bible in this.

I sighed; stuffed my cold, stiff fingers in my wet, sweater pockets; walked inside (with a limp); slipped off my shoes; and said, "We were at a bookstore."

"A bookstore?" Mom asked in surprise. "And you had to go in this weather?"

"It wasn't raining when we left."

Arden followed me inside after giving Sammy a few strokes down his back.

After Mom shut the door, she asked, "Who told you about the bookstore? We haven't even been here a week."

Arden looked to me for a clue of what to say, but I just shrugged coolly as I continued walking to my room, "A friend."

"Willow, I'm not done talking with you two."

With that, I halted and twirled around and gazed at her. My brother got down on one knee to pet Sammy and Mom sighed, going to the kitchen to wash her hands from the mud. Then she continued chopping vegetables of tonight's dinner.

"Look, I'm happy that you kids are making friends and could get out and see the city, but you need to ask permission if you want to do any of that. And I still don't know why Willow's completely drenched in mud."

"I slipped," I responded. Hey, it was the truth! If I hadn't slipped, I wouldn't be covered in dirt.

She sighed, stopping in her cutting. When she resumed, she said, "I have to go to the café. One of the waitresses said she couldn't make her shift, so we switched places. I won't be here for dinner."

Beside from being a newscaster's assistant, Mom had also taken a job at Short and Sweet, a café near the countryside. Her shift was usually in the late evening, the one right before the place closed.