jerk irl \ muke

chptr 21

i looked up at the december cloud covered sky and then back down at my phone. still no messages from my mom. i had texted her asking what we were going to do over christmas break as i walked home on friday after school. it was a good week. dating luke wasn't much different than not dating him considering how before we were together he treated us as if we were already a couple. now there was just a lot more pda, which calum and ashton teased us about. but we got our turn to tease them on plenty of occasions.

christmas break was only a week away and i was hoping that my mom wouldn't force me to go out of town to visit my grandparents like she does every year. i was hoping we'd just stay home and have a peaceful break, mostly so i wouldn't have to go without seeing luke for 2 weeks.

i arrived at my doorstep at exactly 3:14pm, and i was exhausted. even though it's only around a 15 minute walk, it had been awhile since i had to do it. luke drove me home everyday for the past week and few days and hung out at my house for a couple of hours before going home. today, however, his mom needed him to come straight home and my mom needed the house free of company, claiming that she had something "planned."

as soon as i opened the front door, ruby greeted me with a sniff to my pant leg before trotting away into the kitchen. i followed the dog at a slower pace and found my mom in the kitchen, her hair thrown up into a bun.

"mom?"

she looked over her shoulder as she placed something into the oven. once she closed the oven door, she took off her oven mitt and walked over to me, enveloping me in a tight hug. i hugged her back slightly and looked at her as if she had grown four heads since i was at school.

"okay, who are you and what have you done with my mother?" i demanded, walking over to the oven and seeing there was a pot roast cooking in there.

she smiled, "nothing. it's just we have some, erm, company tonight."

i furrowed my eyebrows, "i thought you said we couldn't have any company?"

i heard her laugh gently before speaking, "no sweetie, i said you couldn't have any company. i invited my new boyfriend over for dinner and i need everything to be perfect."

my eyes popped open and i almost choked on the saliva that was present in my mouth, "b-b-boyfriend?"

my mother had finally gotten a boyfriend.

why is everyone getting boyfriends these days?

she nodded and smiled enthusiastically, "yes dear, i got a boyfriend. he is quite a charmer." she gushed as she checked on the pot roast.

"what's his name?"

"brandon."

"how old is he?"

she gave me a look that said 'i'm-not-telling-you-that-so-don't-ask-me-again' and i dropped the twenty questions game. i opened my mouth to ask her something but was interrupted by my mom checking the time and running upstairs to go change.

i also checked the time, noticing that it was only around 3:30. how early would he get here? i sighed at the thought of having to make small talk with my mom's new boyfriend. maybe she'll let me go upstairs while they do whatever it is adult couples like to do. (probably play scrabble or something).

the doorbell rang, resulting in my mom shouting from upstairs, "that's probably brandon! can you get the door michael?"

i gulped and walked out of the kitchen and towards the front door. i wrapped my hand around the doorknob before slowly starting to pull the door open, ruby barking wildly at my feet.