Solitude

Forty-Three

It's a rare occurrence for her to look at me like that; like I am a disappointment. I don't know which is worse, the fact that she's displeased by my actions or the fact that I don't regret it.

Why should I regret it? I got to rub shoulders with some of the elite youths of my society and break bread with influential people which according to Cece is going great for my numbers on social media, which in turn would do numbers for my clientele which I really need as I haven't done any drawing for anyone in a while.

And I got a shit ton of gifts which have been shipped to Jonathan's place and I am more than eager to tear into them on Friday night. For now, all I have to do is live through mom's anger.

She's sitting on the couch, Molly in her arms and the visual of her stroking the dog reminds me of a godfather about to issue out a kill order on an opposing gang or something. I can swear I've seen something like that in a movie Cece forced me to watch.

"Hey, mama!" I try to soften the atmosphere with a grin, but she isn't impressed.

Well, fuck me!

"You skipped school. Both of you!" She stops stroking Molly so she can point to me and Cece. "And for what? So you can go dancing with a bunch of delinquents?"

"Well, they're not delinquents. They're literally the future of –" Cece starts, but I clear my throat loudly, silencing her. "I mean, bad us! Very, very bad!"

I have to resist the urge to smack my face with my palm at my best friend's ridiculousness so my mom doesn't think the gesture is directed towards her. The last thing I need is for her to be more disappointed with me.

I'm more than happy that I have changed out of the extravagant clothes I had to wear for the entirety of the party – which is still on going, by the way. Apparently, people don't need the celebrant to be around to enjoy a good time, which is just rude if you ask me, but who am I to stop people from having fun? Right now, I'm in the knee-length skirt and off-shoulder top I wore when I left home and more importantly, my flat sandals.

How I've missed being this close to the floor!

"Is your relationship posing as a distraction to your edu –"

"NO!" I scream out, "Lord no! I just –" I clear my throat as I attempt to gather my thoughts. "I just got carried away. It's not every day I turn seventeen, is it?" I grin widely at her, hoping my smile is enough to placate her.

It isn't!

"Honestly," she starts with a sigh as she lets go of Molly who jumps onto the couch and makes herself comfortable. "I don't know if I'm more disappointed because you skipped school for a party, or if it's because you didn't trust me enough to tell me. Since when do we keep things from each other?"

I blink back, honestly offended by her words. This would be a great time to bring up the fact that she kept so many things from me, including my previous relationship with Jonathan, my apparent loss of memory that led me to forget about said relationship, what deal she had to make with the devil – Vincent – to make him help her, who the hell was stalking her all the while, and why Jonathan seems to think Robert is dead but she claims she's been with him for a while.

However, before the words leave my mouth, I reason it would be distasteful to bring it up now as it'd lead to a fight which would just make dinner very awkward.

"You're right. I'm sorry. I should have told you," I force myself to apologize. I am indeed remorseful and I don't even know why I didn't tell her to begin with. She's never been strict with me and I really don't think she's going to start on my birthday. I guess it just slipped my mind.