Sunshine || Jai Brooks

chapter nine; two complete messes

They hadn't spoken for a week. No, not Luke and Aileen. That was doing perfectly fine. It was Jai who she hadn't heard anything from since the phone call. Since that day they had been hanging out together, because between air quotes  'he looked like shit' and 'she was the sweetest person he knew'. Since that day he told her about the breakup and she told him about not liking his twin brother in the way she was supposed to now that they were acting pretty couple-y, with the kissing and all.

She wondered what he was up to and how everything was going. If he had taken good care of himself. It were those questions that she had been dying to ask if she had enough guts to do so. She hadn't though and so she had been waiting for him to contact her, and hoping she would hear something from Luke.

Aileen was now sitting at the kitchen table, doing her homework while her mom was cooking dinner. It was Thursday now, meaning she actually was supposed to be chilling at Luke's today, but he was too busy.  Meaning she would be home alone again and her mom would be at her boyfriend's. She wasn't sure if she wanted to be alone – not even if she could cuddle with her cat and go to bed early. Her mind was too full of thoughts and she was stressed. And she actually thought nobody noticed, until her mom interrupted her homework with one of her favorite sentences.

"You should talk more."

"What?" she turned around in her chair, watching her fill a plate with chicken noodles. She was handed one of the plates, and then her mother came to sit in front of her. Her face was wearing that special motherly expression. The concerned one.

"You've been very busy lately and then suddenly you're always home."

Aileen raised an eyebrow. "No, I'm not. I'm at school and sometimes I'm with Kristina-..."

"Sweetie, you know exactly what I mean," she said. ""Sweetie, you know exactly what I mean," she said. "If you don't want to tell me about those guys you're seeing, that's fine. But I know that when I was home, you weren't. And when you were home, I wasn't. That was until a week ago and I have been watching you squirm and groan and sigh all the way until today. I don't want to keep watching you do that, honey."

"It's not that I'm don't want to tell you about those guys, it's just... too much.My mind's a mess."

"Not only your mind's a mess," she grinned slightly, grabbing her hand to stroke the back with her thumb. Aileen knew what she was talking about. When her mind was a mess, everything she touched would eventually become a mess too. "Your room's a mess, this table is a mess. And don't tell me your schoolbag's a mess too. That means you're not doing okay, as much as you want to be."

"Alright. I guess so."

"Okay," her mom brushed some strands of brown hair out of her own face and shrugged. "It's fine. I just want you to know that I'm here for you anyway. And that you need to talk more, I don't care who it is you're talking to. It can be with your sister-..."

"I do talk to her. Like last time we went to get groceries."

"That was a long time ago. Maybe you should show up there sometime. She would like that," her mother sighed, shaking her head.  Mostly at herself. She was mid-sentence and she had to think of where she had left off. "It can be with me, it can be with Kristina. It's your own choice, only if you decide to talk or do something about it."

Aileen nodded.

 ----

Her mom had left her alone with her thoughts around seven o'clock. She said if she needed her she was only one phone call away and it reminded of the last conversation she had with Jai. That conversation she still wondered what happened to. Soon, he had said, I hope I can see you soon. No pressure though.