Who She Is

~6~

Alyx's POV

After the bell rings, I grab my notebook and the new textbook that got passed out by Mr. Todd before heading to the door. He seems like a decently nice teacher. He didn't lay too much on us for the first day in his class. I look back at Amaya, and she is slowly closing her binder while on her phone. I walk out into the hall, and Wes is there, waiting for me. He roughly grabs my arm and drags me to his locker.

"What the hell happened? I got up to go after you, and Amaya told me to 'stay'. Like a dog. And for some reason, I did. She's actually pretty scary, dude. So, tell me what happened!" he says, shaking me by my shoulders. "Did you two talk?"

"I know right. And quit shaking me. I went to the bathroom, and she came in. We did... talk. Well, she did most of the talking," I tell him.

"Yeah, I kind of figured that," he says, rolling his eyes. "And she really went in there? To that stinking hell hole? Damn. What did she say?"

"She told me not to say anything about what we heard. I told her you would keep your mouth shut about it, too, so you can't say anything. Please," I beg him. I promised her and told her Wes wouldn't say anything. I don't want to break that promise. "I really need you to do this for me. I don't want her to hate me and never talk to me again."

Wes looks at me like I'm stupid and replies, "Really? Who else do I really talk to, Alyx?"

"Well... still. I promised her."

"Yeah, yeah. I wouldn't want to do anything to make you break your precious promise to her. C'mon, let's go," he jokes, and we walk together to our next class.

~

"Fuck you, bastard! Alyx, he made me lose my killstreak!" Wes complains about another player killing him on Call of Duty.

After school, I rode with Wes again because he wanted to hang out at my house for a while. Mainly because he wanted to hear more about my awkward first encounter with Amaya. I told him there wasn't much to tell, but he still wanted to hear it. After telling him, we hopped on my PlayStation 5.

"Sorry, dude," I say, laughing. We play for a few hours until Wes has to leave.

My mom texts me, saying it would be late when she gets in. I wish she had a set schedule. It's always random. She works overtime and holidays, too. She's their go-to woman. I swear they call her in even when she's not actually needed. I know it's important being an officer, but I think her son's a little important, too.

I go downstairs and grab some chips and a water. I sit on the couch in the living room and turn on the tv. I munch pretty much the whole bag since I ran out on lunch today. I grab my phone when it makes a sound to see Wes saying he left his charger and for me to bring it tomorrow.

I go to my contacts and see Amaya's name. I wish I had the balls to call her. I would love to hear her voice again. I wonder how it sounds over the phone.

A Facebook notification pops up, and I click it, assuming Wes tagged me in something. My heart almost stops when I see it's a friend request from Amaya. I've never accepted one so fast. I can't believe she sent me one! I've wanted to send her one years ago, but I always figured she'd decline it since she didn't know who I was. I spend nearly half an hour scrolling through her photos before I close my eyes and fall asleep thinking about her.

~

I wake up when I hear the door shut. I quickly sit up and rub my eyes. I look at my phone to see it's eleven. Mom comes around the corner, looking worn out.

"Hey, honey. Sorry I wasn't home earlier. There was another anonymous tip about some drugs around town. I brought a pizza home, though. I hope that will make up for my lateness," she says and lays the pizza on the counter. I get up and eat half of it in five minutes. "Did you not eat anything when you got home?" she asks, noticing me scarfing it down.

"I ate some chips before I fell asleep." I don't want to tell her what happened at lunch today. She doesn't even know I like someone. Moms just make it so much more embarrassing, asking a thousand questions.

"I need to talk to you about something," she states.

"What about?" I ask. I hate hearing that sentence. I haven't done anything, but doesn't everyone hate hearing that?

"You aren't doing anything you're not supposed to, right? Like something bad for you?" she questions.

"No. I don't think so anyway. What's this about?" I'm the biggest loser. What do I do that could be considered bad?

"So... you're not doing any drinking or illegal substances?" she asks.

"What?" I furrow my brows. "No, Mom! Why would you even ask that? I don't even know how one gets in contact with that. Unless Wes knows a hook up," I say, cracking up.

"This isn't funny! I was just making sure my boy wasn't getting into any bad stuff kids get into! I remember how high school was." She exhales like she's relieved. "That's good, though. I'm glad. I'd hate to be arrested after I killed you."

"Haha," I say, playfully rolling my eyes.

"So, how was school today? New classes started, right?" she asks.

"It was good. I still have Calculus with Wes. And I got into U.S. History this nine weeks," I tell her, sitting back on the couch after washing the pizza grease off my hands. She lays down on the couch with me and turns her show on. She props her feet on my legs and lays her head back on the armrest.

"That's good, honey. I hope you like your classes. My day was so long. My feet are killing me," she says so dramatically, I roll my eyes. This is her way of wanting her feet rubbed. She'll plop them on me, sigh, and complain. I know it's true, though. They must hurt. I begin rubbing them, and she thanks me. She's asleep two minutes in. I stop and get up to wash my hands again.

When I come back to her, I look down at her sleeping face. My mom's a pretty woman. She had me when she was nineteen, so she's still pretty young. She's got light brown hair and blue eyes. Her skin tone's a little lighter than mine. I'm not too much darker than her, though. At all. I still consider myself on the paler side. I guess I took after my dad. I have black hair and brown eyes. Mom and I barely share any features.

I let a yawn out and grab the blanket off the back of the couch to cover her with. I also plug her phone up for her before walking upstairs to go to bed.

A/N- Aww! Alyx's is so good to his mom! This chapter took me forever to write. I was having some slight writer's block. But I wanted to show his mother's and his relationship. Please vote and comment.