Double Trouble

Mom

"You're meeting who?"

Mom shut the front door and put her keys and purse on the counter.

"Just a guy I know," I said, trying to make it sound irrelevant. I ran up the stairs and started looking for my golden earrings in my room. I had been searching for them for five minutes now but couldn't stop looking until I found them. They tied my whole outfit together, and there was no way I was gonna change clothes now.

I heard mom walking up the stairs. "Kate, who is this guy?" she asked, before standing in my doorway, leaning on to the door frame.

I was standing halfway into my closet, trying not to meet her eyes. "I just told you. It's someone I know." I was pretty sure my earrings weren't lying among my pants and socks, but now it was really all about making mom stop asking questions.

Mom let out a breath. Was it an angry breath? An exhausted one from walking up the stairs? It was probably the serious one, in other words, not my favorite. "You're not going anywhere before you give me a real answer. And don't think I'm playing any games here." I slowly backed out of the closet. "Sit," mom demanded, pointing at my bed. I walked over, rolling my eyes.

"So?" she said, putting one arm on the hip. "Tell me."

I was halfway into rolling my eyes again but stopped, understanding that being rude was not the way into mom letting me go out. "Well," I started. "There's this guy, that I met on t- ... at the mall, and we started talking ... and now were going to make cupcakes, at his house..." I carefully peaked up at mom, only to find her smiling. What? I though she was going to refuse me to go right away. "What?" I asked her, confused.

"I'm so happy for you," mom started, automatically making me cringe, hard. I should never have told her. Should've said I was meeting Olivia, pretending she was back from London.

"You are?" I asked.

"Yes, off course." She came over to me, sitting down on my bed, putting her arm around me. "My little girl is growing up," she started stroking my hair. Ew. I wiggled myself out of her embrace, moving away from the bed where she now was sitting.

"Perfect. I'm happy you feel that way." Suddenly, I saw my earrings, laying half-covered under my cardigan on my desk. "Yay, there they are. Bye!" I was halfway out my room when mom stood up from the bed.

"Wait," she called for me. "You're not going."

I froze, confusion filling my body. I turned around. "What?"

Mom got closer to me, still smiling. "I'm sorry if I gave the wrong impression honey, but I'm not letting you go visit a guy that I don't know." She touched my arm, but I pulled it away.

"But-?"

She let out a breath. "You're only seventeen, and I don't know the guy. I'm sorry, but end of discussion." Her smile was gone, and she walked out of my room, leaving me standing there feeling totally mistreated.

"Not end of discussion," I almost shouted, walking after her. We had gotten to the kitchen, and peacefully she grabbed an apple.

"Kate, don't start anything now."

"But mom -,"

"No. I've been working all day, so don't you try anything now."

I couldn't believe it. This was so unfair. Suddenly I felt like releasing all the negativity that had been building up during my so far lonely summer, all by my fucking self. "What about me then?!" I bursted out.

Mom didn't even bother looking at me when I was talking. "Kate, I said end of discussion."

"But that – is so unfair! I have literally been all alone all summer! All summer! Both of my friends are in- in Europe, Wes is driving across the country and you – you are working all the time."

"You can't possibly be angry at me for working?!" Mom put her hands on the counter, staring angrily into my eyes. "That's how we pay the bills, Kate. Do you honestly think I like spending the summer feeding patients and making sure they are comfortable? I work so hard, so don't you dare try make me feel bad for it as well."

Off course she was right about that, but that didn't make me any less lonely. "I wasn't trying to make you feel bad about that. I'm just telling you that I've been alone and bored all summer. And now- now someone actually wants to spend their time with me, so – so, I'm going."

Mom started shaking her head. "No, you're not."

Okay, that was it. Trying to explain myself to her wasn't going anywhere. I grabbed my denim jacket and bag, on my way to put on my white sneakers.

"You are not leaving this house, Kate." Mom got up and started walking angrily towards me.

I grabbed my keys that were laying on the counter, and opened up the door, angry and disappointed that I had to leave this way.

"Kate!" Mom yelled right before I slammed close the door and ran to the bus stop. I though she was going to run after me, but when I turned around, she was nowhere to be seen. I started to tear up but tried my very best not to cry. It would ruin my makeup and showing up at Blake's with puffy eyes and a red nose was not an option. I pulled myself together.

To my luck, the bus arrived the bus stop the same moment I did. I got on it and when I had found myself a seat in the back and the bus had started driving, I got a text.

Blake: I am so sorry, but we won't be the only ones that are home tonight.

I looked at the text for a moment, disappointed, while wondering who else he meant was gonna be there. I for sure wasn't ready to meet his parents. As if he was reading my thoughts, I got another text from him.

Blake: Chase will be there too.

Dun dun DUN