The Diary of Mei

IV

When my mom heard me come in so late in the evening she was surprised I wasn't already home. It was my turn to do dishes and "they had been waiting for me" but dinner hadn't even been made yet. So I made some pancakes quick for my siblings, and I. I made sure to clean things up as I did so there would be no more fuss, but there was still tension this morning.

No one was there to pick me up from school again. So I started walking back with Uyu. I was still upset about how things were at home the evening before but a few blocks walk, and Uyu had me laughing about something his math teacher was saying to a know-it-all student. Then my mom pulled up next to us. She screamed at us from the car asked who I was walking with. The whole encounter was a bit awkward because mom was being unreasonable I had waited 35 minutes at the pickup spot with not text or clue as to when or if I would be getting picked up. But then I can see why it might be unsettling to see your daughter walking on a quiet ride with someone you never met before.
I took a deep breath and apologized to both my mom and Uyu. It was not a great moment I felt my cheeks get hot with embarrassment. But Uyu apologetically explained that we were friends in school, and we shared a few classes. He heard me say that I thought my mom forgot about picking me up from school so he decided to walk with me to make sure I got home ok. We live a few blocks away from each other so we would be walking in the same direction anyway. He went on to apologize again and said something about how I had always been really nice to others at school, I often volunteered in setting up for events, and cleaning throughout the year. My face felt even warmer I had not noticed he realized me before we met at the coffee shop. I didn't even hear what else he said after that because I was so shocked by how things were being smoothed over. Eventually, my mom seemed to calm down, and she pressed down her messy hair, then smoothed her sweater across her shoulders. I watched them shake hands, my mom still in the car I looked down she had slippers on her feet. Then he started to walk away towards his home, and my mom drove off. The air between my mom and I calmed down a bit thanks to Uyu.