Peer Pressure [S.Barber]

[09] MAYBE HE'S HURTING

"Are you sure you don't wanna stay the night?" Iris offers as they pull up to Lana's house. "I'm alright. Thanks." Lana sighs, nodding to the two, before walking into her house.

It was pretty dark out already, and so was the house. "Hello? Who is it?" A woman calls from the kitchen. "It's just me, Mom." Lana responds, following her mother's voice.

She didn't know what to say, and neither did the woman in front of her. "If you're here to scream at me again—"

"No, Mom. I'm sorry. Look, I'm not going to drop out of school to help you raise a baby, but I really need a mom in my life right now... and if being pregnant is helping you realize your faults, then I want to forgive you." Lana says softly.

"I've been attending these group therapies. They've been helping a little." She informs. "Why haven't you told me this?" Her mother furrows her eyebrows.

"You wouldn't listen anyways." Lana responds. Not being able to deny it, the woman just takes a sip of her water.

"Mom, have you ever been heartbroken?" Lana asks, leaning her head on her palm while her elbow rests on the counter. "Of course. How do you think I went down this path?" She breathes out.

"But that doesn't mean this is how you'll turn out. You're smart, Lana. You're smarter than I am." She continues. "Why are you asking me this?"

"Because I totally messed up my chances with this guy I like." Lana explains, her eyes still teary from earlier. "I told him I didn't think we would work as a couple, and I realized I was wrong. But... I was too late. He already asked some other girl to homecoming."

The tall woman watches as her daughter slouches as she stands, sniffling away her tears. "Lana, promise me this. Promise that you won't become.. like me."

Lana looks up at her mother, slightly frowning. "You are so much better than that. I don't want you to make the same decisions I made." She adds.

"I won't, Mom."  Lana shakes her head. "And if the boy doesn't fight back to re-gain your heart, he's not worth it."

Lana chuckles at her mother's words, shaking her head. "Or maybe he's a respectful guy he doesn't want to keep harassing someone who said no?" Lana playfully rolls her eyes.

"You do you, Lana. But a guy who tries is a keeper." The woman laughs. "Yeah, well, we've already established that you don't want me to have the same views as you, Mom." Lana comments, leaning her head on her mother's shoulder.

"Anyways, I'm not even half as pretty as Syd." Lana sighs. "Syd? Is that the girl who he asked to homecoming?"

Lana nods. "He likes her better. I can see it in his eyes." She adds. "I just— I don't know why he would.. he would even.. Mom, we had sex." She confesses.

"And yet, he's already moved on as if it were nothing." She buries her head in her palms. "I wish you would tell me these things sooner." The woman places a hand on her back.

"I wish you would've listened sooner."

"And this... boy.." She trails off. "Stanley."
Lana informs. "Stanley, was he your first?"

"Yeah." Lana purses her lips. "It was only a little more than a week ago, Mom. And he's already forgotten I exist."

"Lana, sweetie, I know you're hurting. I know the feeling. But, have you ever considered that he was hurting, too?" The mother inquires.

"He seemed pretty happy when Sydney said yes to homecoming." Lana shrugs, sniffling. "Maybe Sydney is a distraction from the fact that you and him will not happen? Or, at least, that's what he thinks. Maybe he thinks that if he gets another girl, he'll feel better." The woman suggests.

"That's Exactly what your father did in high school. You know, Lana, we're not so different."

"Yeah, I guess not." Lana lightly chuckles. "I'm not going to ask you to drop out of school to help me get my own life together, because I know that's my job." The woman finalizes.

"But, what I will ask you to do, is to take care of yourself. Take care of your boy problems, make friends, find activities you love to do. I will be beside you from now on." She assures.

Lana can't help but smile, wrapping her arms around her mother. "This is exactly what I've been needing, you don't even know, Mom."

"Oh, I know, sweetie."