Soulmate

Chapter 14: Oblivious Little Me

Alexander

    I was able to get Patrick to work a minute late, but it was better than nothing. Honestly, I figured that my car would break down on the way there just because my luck had been terrible all morning. I was sitting in the driveway of my house, my mother probably knew I was there, but I didn't want to go in. My shoes were missing and I looked disgusting. She was going to ask questions and I know she's seen the recent outbreaks of parties in our state. She's brought it up to me before to see if I'll reveal anything.

    "Oh, those poor kids and their poor parents! They raised such horrible kids! Why would they want to break the rules like that? Oh, I'm so blessed to have a son like you!" she exclaimed. She had been standing behind the couch, watching the T.V., a towel in her hand that she kept playing with. Then, she leaned down, kissed the top of my head, and went back to the kitchen. I knew she was trying to guilt trip me, that she wanted me to admit I had been to parties before, but I wasn't going to do that.

    Instead, I turned off the T.V., went down to the basement, and back to my room. At the time, I was still talking to Marcy, but we were just friends; it was before we tried dating. I told her about it, and told her to be careful because she wanted to go to a party, but I wasn't going to go with her. She was angry with me, she wouldn't reply to my texts all day, but I didn't try to make her feel any better because I didn't like her enough to try to woo her when she was upset. I let her stew in her anger until she came crawling back because she always did.

    I was an awful guy.

    Hopefully, I've gotten better, so my soulmate will be able to fall in love with me without any complications. I'd do everything right, and I wouldn't just do the things that made me fit in.
Patrick had convinced me it was fine to date, everyone was doing it lately, even he was, so I decided why not? It was still a long time until I'd meet my soulmate, and I knew I wouldn't do anything that I would regret with whatever girl I went out with.

    Marcy was in crisis mode; I don't know why she always had to party, or why she was so desperate to be with a guy. Especially a guy as distant as me. But it was easy to be with her, and I'm afraid to say I took advantage of her insecurities. We were friends, not good friends, but we had an art class together, and sometimes she talked to Patrick and I. She made me laugh, but I always saw her as a friend, even when we went to parties together and, I suppose, were technically dating. I should've asked her why she was in self-destruct mode, and why she couldn't just wait for her soulmate to come along. To be honest, I really didn't want to listen to her complain, but like I said, I was an awful guy. I only cared about myself.

    Thinking about her made me want to run from my past, run far far away from the ugly person I used to be. So that's what I did. I took the first steps to moving on, just moving. I got out of the car, carried my socks and keys in one hand, and noticed that my mom was by the window above our sink. Of course, she was washing dishes. I smiled a little at the routine of it all, the familiarity. Even though I wanted to get away from it, it was home.

    I walked into the house, and my mother was instantly hurrying out of the kitchen with a towel in her hand, fiddling with it. "Oh, you're home!" she exclaimed, pretending to be surprised even though I know she knew I was home at least five minutes ago. She mashed her lips into a thin line when she looked at my socks in my hand and my bare feet. "Do you want some breakfast?"

    It took every fiber of my being to hold back my smile. All of a sudden I was just glad that I had a Mom like her. Even though she drove me crazy with all of her questions and enthusiasm, I loved her all the same, and I kind of missed her. "No, but thank you," I answered, and I saw her eyes light up a little, probably because I was being polite for once. "Okay, I'm going to go take a shower." She was already heading to the kitchen, but she nodded her head, a small smile on her face. I was glad I could make her smile. I should probably be a little nicer to her considering I will only be living here for a few more months, hopefully.