Perfect Strangers |Complete|

Chapter Four

And the mystery continues : ) Read to find out what happened!
I slam my locker shut, stuffing my books into my backpack. Marcus turns to me and smiles as we head down to the entrance.

        I smile back. "Thanks for lunch."

         "No problem."  He stops in front of his car. "Need a ride?"

          My phone vibrates and I pull it out to see a message from my mom say she's on her way. I put it away and turn back to Marcus smiling. "No, my mom's coming."

          "Okay. See you tomorrow Lyla."

           "Bye Marcus."   He waves as he gets into his car, pulling away.

            I sigh, anxiously looking around the lot for my mother. A group of laughing senior girls come out behind me smiles lining their faces. I smile. I wish I still had a friend group like that. 

          A car honks and I rip my gaze away from them, turning to see my mom's car sitting in front of me. I open the door getting in.

        My mother's brown hair glistens in the sunlight, her tan muscular arms on display through her tank top paired with some black yoga pants and her gym shoes. I glance in the back and see her bag of weights.

        She glances at the girls now getting into one of their blue Jeeps. "Friends of yours?"

        "No." I buckle my seat belt and she starts the car, pulling out of the lot. "You came straight from class?"

       "Yeah. It ran late and I didn't want you to have to wait for me."

        She turns onto the main road as I smile.  "I could have walked home."

        She shakes her head.  "It was your first day. I knew you would be in no mood to walk home."

I nod. That is extremely true.

         She glances at me as she glances back at the road. "Do you have any homework?"

       I shake my head. "Not much more than last year."

          "I should have dinner ready in an hour so you can get some of it done before we eat."

          "Okay."

           She glances at me as the light turns red. "Rough first day?"   

             You have no idea. "Not as bad as I expected."

             "That's good. If anything ever happens, you can tell me."

             "I guess and I know." We start moving again as the light turns green, pulling onto our street. Beige two-story houses line both sides of the street, with their pale mailboxes. 

         We pull into the driveway, stopping in front of ours. Light peach siding lines the exterior of the house, matching the dark gray roof. White windows and their matching window boxes pop out from the siding, gray brick path leading to the white door.

         My mom turns the key from the ignition and opens her door, grabbing her bag of weights from work.    

          Ever since my father went overseas for a business trip when I was four and decided he wanted to stay there, my mother has been my constant. She threw her self into her work opening her own gym, while still managing to make time to take care of me. She loves what she does and that just goes to show things happen for a reason.

        As for my father, he divorced her when I was five and is happily married to his new wife, and gave my mother full custody.

       I open the car door grabbing my backpack and following my mother into the house.

         Pale gray walls create a calm vibe, pictures of me and her lining them. I lock the door, and walk towards the stairs, passing the living room with the beige couch and the gray side tables and huge cabinets, with the TV mounted in-between the cabinets clinging to the corners of the house.

          I walk up the stairs to my gray room, with natural wood cabinets and bed, a huge wooden couch underneath the windows. I open my backpack and start on my hours of homework.

    My phone buzzes and I glance at it, a smile on my face. Marcus' name flashes across my screen and I swipe to answer the facetime call.  "Miss me already?"

    He laughs. "It's too quiet without your sarcasm. And who can punch my arm?"

    I pause. "That's very true...you could just punch yourself."

    He grins."That's no fun though."

     I roll my eyes. "You're extremely mature."

    He smirks. "I really am."

    I ignore that, instead changing the subject. "You going to do your homework?"

    He holds up his homework. "Yes I am, actually."

    I feign a gasp. "Wait, you're being responsible?"

    "I know, extremely shocking."

    We fall silent as we both start doing our homework, occasionally cracking jokes.

   I'm just about halfway through my last assignment when my mother's voice breaks the silence.  "Dinner!"

I glance at my phone. "I got to go eat, talk to you tomorrow."

"Tell your mom I say hi!"

"I will. Bye! "

"Bye."

I put down my math homework and rush down the stairs, the smell of fresh chicken tenders reaching my nose.

        I pull out a chair, sitting down. "This smells so good." I start cutting it up and dipping ten pieces in ketchup before putting it in my mouth.

        She laughs. "You always say that."

        I stare at her, putting my fork down. "Why would I lie?"

      She grins mischievously. "Because I make your food, so you better stay on my good side otherwise I might just pour a huge amount of pepper in your food."

  I roll my eyes. "I say it a lot cause it's true. You sure you didn't miss your calling as a chef?"

           "I'm sure."

          "Okay, I reply unconvincingly as I reach for a napkin. "How was work?"

         "Good. A bridal party came in and they had me laughing so hard I was in tears by the end."

          I smile. "That must have been fun."

           She nods. "It was."

    "Oh, Marcus says hi."

    She grins. "How is he?"

    "Handling everything as well as he can."

            She nods and we finish eating in silence. "I'm gonna go finish my homework. And hopefully, we can watch a movie later? If it doesn't take me too long?"

         She smiles.  "Sure."

       "Love you, mom."

    "You too, Lyla."
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