Cinders

~1~ Change of Plans

The rain is coming down in droves, flooding the street and causing traffic to drive slowly. This storm came out of nowhere. One minute it was sunny, the next minute mom is struggling to keep the car on the road. She's a not great driver on a good day. With this rain, it'll be a miracle if we make it home alive.

I'm already in a bad mood—The rain is a metaphor for my life right now. One minute it's sunny and perfect, the next everything is getting washed down the drain.

This wasn't the plan. I was supposed to be with dad tonight. Once dad went to sleep, I was planning on sneaking out to Aria's. Her parents aren't going to be home, and we would've had the whole night to ourselves. Dad is easy; He doesn't care what I do. If mom knew about half the crap I do when I'm not with her, I'd be dead. Actually, I'm pretty sure she'd bring me back to life, just so she could kill me again.

Mom got a new job and she starts tomorrow. Tomorrow was supposed to be my night with her, but since she'll be working all night, she wanted me to come to her place tonight instead.

My story is pretty simple. My mom and dad were best friends when they were little. They decided to date, had unprotected sex, got pregnant with me, and decided that they just wanted to stay friends. Lucky me, I get to shuffle between them. I'm with my mom half the week, and my dad the other half. I'm never in one spot for long, and I hate it. At least they get along, though. It could be worse.

My mom is a paramedic. She transferred to firehouse 20, because she said she was needing a change. She's been at firehouse 92 for years, and she was starting to hate going to work. Unluckily for me, it's completely across town, so we had to move. The new apartment complex really isn't too bad. It's got a pool and a gym in it, so I'm actually a little excited about that part.

"Jeesh this rain is coming down hard," Mom says as she grips the steering wheel tighter and scoots forward a little more.

I don't say anything. I'm mad at her. Why couldn't I stay with dad an extra day? Aria isn't even talking to me right now. She doesn't understand why I can't just sneak out at mom's house and come over anyways. I've never told her how strict my mom is.

She's fair, I guess, but I will NEVER get away with sneaking out. She would catch me, and I know what the consequence would be once she did. I haven't gotten spanked since I was 13, but I know that such an offense would earn me a trip with the damn paddle. I hate that thing. I can't tell my girlfriend that, though. Getting spanked by your mom at 15... How embarrassing. No way I'm admitting that, so I just tell her that I can't come over tonight.

So instead of having sex tonight, I get a pissed off girlfriend, and I get to hang out with my mom. This sucks.

"What's wrong, buddy? Why are you so quiet tonight?" Mom asks as she glances over at me.

"I don't want to distract you, and die. Your focus needs to be on the road."

"Watch yourself," she says, her tone getting darker.

The rest of the way home is silent. We get home and rush in, trying not to get completely soaked.

Once we get in the hallway, we can hear our new neighbor's music blaring from the apartment across from us.

"I'm about to beat on that dang door," mom says as she gets out her key and shakes her head. "I'm so sick of hearing that music, I'm about to lose it. They better hope I don't run into them."

I continue to sulk as I throw my book bag on the couch and turn on the TV.

"What do you want for dinner, Liam?" Mom asks as she starts looking in the fridge.

"Don't care."

"Why're you in such a bad mood? Did something happen at school today?" She asks, shutting the fridge and looking at me.

"No," I say simply. I can't actually tell her why I'm mad, so that sucks.

"Does lasagna sound ok?"

"Sure."

"Ok, I've had enough. What's wrong?" She asks, slamming the hamburger down on the counter.

"I just don't know why I had to come here tonight. I wanted to stay with dad. We had plans." I finally look at her, and give her my best glare.

I immediately regret looking at her. I feel guilty instantly, as I watch her face go from annoyed to hurt. I don't want to hurt her. I should've just kept my mouth shut.

"What did you guys have planned? Dad didn't mention anything," she asks, trying to hide that I've just hurt her feelings.

"We were just gonna watch the Cubs game," I say, trying to sound casual. We didn't have plans. I'm actually not even sure the Cubs are playing tonight.

"You can watch the game here."

"No it's fine, I've got homework to do," I say as I get up with my book bag and head to my room.

I work on my homework until mom knocks on my door.

"Dinner," she says with a smile.

I get up and head to the table. We eat in silence for a while, until she finally starts talking again.

"I'm sorry I didn't let you stay with dad tonight, Liam. I was just missing you."

I suddenly feel really bad. It wasn't about staying with dad. I didn't care about staying with dad. I've gotta try to fix this.

"I'm sorry I've been in a bad mood. I'm just stressed about my history test tomorrow," I lie.

"Want me to help you study?" She asks, giving me a cheesy grin. We both know that she hates history.

"No thanks," I say as I smile back at her.

Sometimes I wonder if she wouldn't be so crazy about her time with me if she would just start dating. She hasn't dated anybody since dad. They split when I was 4. They had me when they were both 16–So at 20, my mom was single with a kid. I asked her once why she hasn't dated. Ever. She said that she wasn't interested. I was her priority, and she didn't need a man in her life to make her happy. I think it's a bunch of crap. I think she's scared to get her heart broken again.

We finish dinner, and I help her clean the kitchen. I'm still feeling guilty about hurting her feelings. She makes me mad with how strict she is, but I love her. If it wasn't lame for a 15 year old boy to call his mom his best friend, then she would be. But since that's totally uncool, and I have an image to maintain, I'll just say that she's a pretty great mom.

As I'm wrapping up the lasagna, we hear music coming through the walls again. Mom slams down the cup she was washing and yells "that's it!"

"What are you doing?!?" I ask, knowing full well what her plan is.

"I'm about to get acquainted with our new neighbor."

"Mom, please don't. We just moved in. I don't want to be hated already. Please?"

Her eyes soften a bit as she lets go of the door knob. She sighs loudly and rolls her eyes. "Fine. I'll let it go awhile longer."

I smile slightly. My mom isn't afraid of anything. I'm already taller than she is, but I'm completely confident that she could still kick my ass. I don't plan on finding out, though.

The next morning we're rushing around, getting ready. I'm ready before she is, although she had the nerve to harp on me. She informed me I was moving too slowly.

She's scrambling around getting her bag packed, and then making sure I have all of my stuff.

"You ok, momma? You seem nervous."

She doesn't normally act this flustered.

She laughs slightly and gives me a hug. "I'm ok...I think I AM nervous though."

"They're going to love you."

We leave and she drops me off at school. "Good luck," I say as I get out of the car.

"Be good," she says with a soft smile.

Little does she know, I'm gonna be getting drunk tonight...and I'm looking forward to it.