Summer Romance

Summer Romance: Chapter 10

"Mom?"

I ask sitting down next to her.

"Yeah, Kelly?"

 She responds brushing her hair out of her eyes as she pulls out a weed in the garden outside.

"Can Austin come over?"

"I guess... Why what's going on?"

Concern rings in her voice, probably wondering why I’m asking if he can come over seeing as I never asked before.

"We need to talk,"

I put my fingers up and make quotation marks.

"Talk?"

My mother raises her eyebrows and stares at me, her eyes darting to my flat stomach.

"Is there something you haven't told me Kelly?"

 I blink repeatedly for a few seconds trying to comprehend what my mom just said.

 As soon as I understand what she was implying I began shaking my head.

"No, not at all! Get your mind out of the gutter,"

For a long moment my mom watches me. She then shakes her head and continues working. I move my eyes away and pick at the grass, wishing that somehow that hadn't just happened.

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Austin reluctantly agreed to come over to my house, pain still colored his voice when I called and asked. 30 minutes later he car was in my drive way at my house. We walked over to the front porch and sat down. Austin and I sit side by side, completely avoiding each other’s gazes. Eventually he coughs trying to clear the tension, but neither of us do anything.

Finally after our awkward silence he says,

” What the heck was that about Kelly?"

Trying to avoid answering his question I say,

“What was what about?"

"You know what,"

 I sigh and rearrange my seating arrangement, making myself more comfortable.

"It was nothing,"

 I lie to him assuredly.

The nails in the bench under my legs leaving small indentations on my skin. I play with my hair nervously waiting for his reply.

"Really?"

 He raises his eyebrow and stares at me for a moment before letting it slide.

 Again we sit in silence waiting for the other to speak.

This time it's me, who breaks the silence,

 “So what are we going to do for our anniversary?"

An odd look passes across his face before he responds. He probably came over here thinking it’d be the last time.

"Well… uh ….it's my Grandmother's seventy-second birthday and uh..."

He stutters and tries to come up with another excuse.

"It was your Grandmother's seventy-first birthday on our anniversary last year,"

I tell him blatantly and maybe a little too harshly.

"Well actually it was the day after but uh this year we're having a big family reunion and um well you see…"

 He starches his head and puckers his face trying to make a believable excuse.