Midnight Falls

Chapter Forty

Chapter Forty

Are We Done, Catherine Obvious?

Anna

"Annalyn!" I hear mum yelling from downstairs.

Crap, she used the full name.

"Do you think I'm in trouble?" I ask Molly and she covers her face with her paw.

"Thank you, Molly," I say sarcastically.

"Coming, Mum!" I yell back, closing the textbook and going downstairs.

"Um...mum?" I look around for her in the empty living room.

"In the kitchen," her loud voice comes from the other room and I walk to the kitchen, then I peek inside to find mum waiting for me with her arms crossed.

"Hi, Mum," I smile nervously, walking further inside.

"I got a call from Principal Collins today," she tells me.

I gulp. "You did?"

"She said that you punched a boy at school," her eyebrows raise in question.

"I did?" I let out a nervous chuckle.

"Annalyn," she states firmly.

"Okay, so I may have kinda sorta punched Seth," I tell her truthfully.

"Oh...well in that case, I'm proud of you, sweetie," she smiles at me.

"You are?" I grin.

"Yes. I mean, after everything that boy did to you, he deserved it. Tell me what happened," she grabs a stool chair and takes a seat on it, clutching the mug of tea in her hands.

I explain everything to her in detail and when I'm done, she gives me a smile and sets her mug down. "Something is going on with Luke?"

"What do you mean?"

"You seem to be, I don't know, attracted to him?" She guesses.

"It's that obvious, right?" I say, drawing random invisible shapes on the kitchen island with my finger.

"Well, anyone could tell, honey. The way your eyes light up whenever you mention him and the way you talk about him, I'd say you are really attracted to him," she smiles.

"He's dating Jennie though, Mum. I don't think he will ever like me back," I mumble, looking down.

"Maybe he's dating Jennie now, but there will come a day when he realizes that you are the right one. I'm going to give you a small advice, sweetie. The more that a person hides his feelings for someone, the more that he falls for them," she tells me, emphasizing 'he'.

"I really dislike feelings," I complain.

Mum laughs. "Feelings do suck sometimes, but they are one of the most beautiful things in this world, just like you."

I smile at her and get off of the chair to hug her. "Thanks, Mum."

"Anytime, baby," she kisses the top of my head.

She holds me out at arm length. "But you're still grounded."

"What?"

"It's not right to punch someone whenever you feel like it, even if you don't like that person," she says.

"But, mum," I whine.

"I'm just trying to be a good parent, sweetie."

"You can be a good parent without grounding me," I smile innocently.