Why?

Chapter 9: Dinner (Part 1)

I arrived home at one o'clock in the morning. To my surprise, Leo was not there. He must be furious with me because he hasn't answered any of my phone calls or texts. I need to know what happened between us. I hate that I always black out when I'm angry and ready to fight.

I walked into my room, turned on Riverdale, my favorite show on Netflix. My stomach started to growl so I went into the kitchen and made myself some noodles until my phone started to ring. I ran to get it, hoping that it was Leo. To my disappointment, it was Alex facetiming me.

"Hey babe." She said.

"Hi" I said.

"That was so dry. What's wrong? Are you nervous about tomorrow?" She asked.

"Most definitely but I'm more worried about Leo. He didn't come home." I said while grabbing my bowl of noodles and heading to my room.

"Don't worry about him. I'm sure he's fine." She said.

I sat down on my bed and started watching my show while she was talking. I'm not sure what she was saying but she wouldn't stop talking.

"Are you even listening to me?" She yelled through the phone.

"Yeah." I said.

"Then what did I just say?" She asked me.

"You said that... mmmbbbbb" I said as I stuffed noodles into my mouth.

"You're so unbelievable sometimes." She said as she rolled her eyes.

"You're the one who wanted me back so you have to deal with me." I said as I stuck my tongue out and laughed.

We stayed on the phone for three hours until she fell asleep. I hung up on her because she started to snore and it irritated me.

I began to hear the front door open and close. Five minutes later, I could hear music coming from Leo's room. I looked at my phone to check the time and it's five-thirty in the morning. I know damn well he didn't just walk into this damn house and not say a word to me.

I hurriedly got out of bed and walked into his room.

"Where the hell have you been?" I yelled at him.

"Why do you care? Just leave me alone." He said so defeated.

I noticed that his eyes were swollen. It looked like he's been crying for hours.

He walked towards his speaker and turned the music up to the max. Then he bent down to grab something under his bed. I knew right then that it would be best if I left him alone.

Entering my room, I laid on my bed while looking up at the ceiling. My mind started to become overwhelmed with emotions that I couldn't understand. Perhaps it's because I have to get ready for a dinner with my mother in a few hours and I haven't even closed my eyes yet. Not being able to sit in the house anymore, I climbed out of bed and grabbed my keys then headed towards Alex's place.

When I arrived to her apartment, I let myself in with the key that was under the doormat. I walked into her room and climbed into her bed to cuddle her. I could feel her starting to shake. She jumped on top of me with a knife to my throat.

"JORDAN! WHAT THE FUC-" She yelled when I cut her off.

"Chill out. It's just me. You're okay." I said while trying to take the knife from her.

"I could've killed you. What are you doing here?" She questioned.

"I couldn't sleep." I said as she got off of me.

The sun started to shine in the room. I hid my face in Alex's neck as I wrapped my arms around her. All of a sudden, Alex hopped out of bed and walked out the room, leaving me cold.

"Come back." I said as I started to pout.

I wrapped myself up in her bed sheets and eventually my eyes felt heavy.

——

Waking up, I smelled something burning. I didn't panic because I was familiar with the smell of Alex attempting to cook.

I rolled out of bed and walked into the restroom to shower. I don't know why but every time I turn water on for a shower, I magically have to pee.

While I was having a concert in the shower, I heard the door open. I could smell her lavender scent with a hint of smoke.

"Babe, any requests?" I asked her.

"Our childhood song." She said as I knew what she was hinting at.

"I used to think that I wasn't fine enough and I used to think that I wasn't wild enough." I began to sing Love by Keshia Cole. We used to hang out and sing this song to the top of our lungs before we even knew what love actually was.

"Love, never knew what I was missing but I knew once we start kissing, I found, love. Never knew what I was missing but I knew once we start kissing, I found you." As I finished singing the song, I stepped out the shower and looked into Alex's eyes. She looked as if she was scared or nervous.

"Are you okay babe?" I asked as I kissed her forehead.

"Yeah." She said while handing me a towel.

She pulled out a cigarette and lit it.

"Alex! Cmon! I just took a shower. I don't need to smell like that when I see my mother." I yelled at her while snatching the cigarette out of her hand and tossing it in the toilet. It was weird saying mother out loud. I don't know how I feel about it yet.

"Why are you so tense?" I asked after calming down.

"There's something I need to tell you." She said in a almost whisper.

"You know you can tell me anything." I said while grabbing her hands to reassure her.

"It's about the dinner. I haven't been completely honest about how..." she was explaining but was interrupted when my phone started to ring.

I ran to my phone and saw that it was my mother. Nope, still not used to calling her that.

"Hello?" I said answering the phone.

"Hey, are you still coming to dinner? I've been trying to reach you but your phone has been going straight to voicemail." She said with a hint of concern.

"Yeah, I'm getting dressed now but I didn't get any notifications that you've called. I apologize." I said.

"It's fine but we've been waiting for hours. I wanted all of us to sit down and eat at the same time but I think Trey is sneaking food in his mouth." She said while laughing.

I wondered who Trey was. What if she has a whole new family? Then that means that I wasn't good enough for her to keep and love.

"Yeah. You cooked super early." I said trying to change the subject.

"I actually started late. You know it's six almost seven pm?" She asked.

I turned around to look at Alex. She tried to walk past me towards the door but I grabbed her wrist tightly.

I put the phone on mute. "You let me sleep this late knowing I had to be there at four." I yelled at Alex.

Alex tried to hug me and whisper sorry but I pushed her off of me.

I took my mother off mute. "I'll be there in fifteen minutes. Just send me your location." I said.

I quickly finished getting dressed and went outside to the car. I waited for Alex to join me. Why didn't she wake me up? Maybe she wanted to let me sleep because she knew I was tired. That would be sweet but it doesn't sound like her. I can't waste my energy being mad at her when I'm moments away from seeing my birth mother. I'm becoming so nervous.

"You ready?" Alex asked me as she stepped into the car.

I just nodded my head and began to drive. I almost forgot that she had something to tell me but I had a feeling that it wouldn't be a short conversation. I had no energy to argue or be upset by something that she has done so I'll just wait until later to bring it up.