Risking it All

7

The next morning, there was a knock in my bedroom door. My mom walked in, a basket of laundry by her hip. She smiled at me. "Good morning," she said. I sat up and smiled. She walked over to the edge of my bed and placed the laundry basket on it on the bed. She started putting the clothes away in my drawers. We sat in silence, not bringing up last night's discussion. She folded another shirt.
"Thanks for putting my clothes away," I told her. She smiled at me. "No problem," she said. "I mean I feel guilty that you have to do it," I said. "But it's just so hard for me to keep bending down and putting the clothes away." Mom turned to me. "Is it that bad?" she asked. I nodded. Mom looked concerned, but just turned away. "So," she said as she started hanging my clothes in the closet. "How was last night?"
Last night? Or right. The singing, meeting Nick, the roof, Nick putting his hand on mine. I tried to describe what it was like. "It was... Fun." Mom nodded, her back turned away from me. She was twitching. It's a thing she did. Whenever she was in a conversation that made her uncomfortable, she would always twitch and fidget. She started tapping her foot, and at first it was slow and quiet, but then she was rapidly tapping and the noise seemed to crescendo. I knew what she was going to say. "So who was that boy?" she asked, trying to keep her tone leveled. I chewed on my lip, not wanting to tell her about going up on the roof. I didn't know what she would do if I told her. My mother wasn't the type of person who judges people. And she didn't know that Nick got arrested, and she never will.
I started to tell her that Nick and I were just talking and stuff, not going into details about the roof or his prison record, and I even told her that I mentioned the cancer and the surgery. That seemed to surprised her. She just kept nodding. I continued to tell her about last night and then finally, Mom cracked.
"WAS HE SMOKING POT?" she cried.
"MOM!" I screamed. "He just seemed like the type of guy that would do something like that," she said. I out my hand up to my forehead and shake my head. "He's in a band, Mom," I said. "Well you don't know what type of drugs band members could get their hand on," she said hysterically. I sank back down under the blankets, hiding away from the rest of the world. "I can't even believe we're having this conversation."
"I just want you to be safe," she said as she hung the last shirt in my closet. "There's more to him," I told her. "Like, he's really nice." Mom thought for a moment. "Invite him to dinner," she finally said. "What?" I cried. "Mom, I just can't randomly ask him to dinner. Do you know how desperate I'll sound?" Mom sighed. "I just want to meet him and see what he's like."
"We aren't even dating," I protested. Mom just shrugged and said, "Just ask," and walked out of the room. I reached over for my phone and found Nick in my contacts. I texted him a message.
Me: Hey Nick
Nick: Good Morning, Mackenzie
Me: Um... Are you doing anything tonight?
Nick: Should I be concerned?
I cringed when he said this. Just do it.
Me: Do you want to come over for dinner?
I sat there, holding my breath, waiting for him to respond. Finally, he texted back.
Nick: I would love to come over for dinner. What time?
I swear to God my heart stopped. He said yes. I couldn't stop smiling.
Me: Okay. Come by around 5:45. Dress causally. Lol
Nick: Sure. And did you tell your mom about what we did on the roof last night?
Me: No... Why would I?
Nick: Well, I just don't think that it was legal.
That made me laugh. Wow, if it was illegal, then I broke the law. I felt like a rebel.
Me: Don't worry, I won't tell her.
It's also probably not a good idea to tell him that my mom thought he was a drug addict.