A Love Story that Turned Ugly

Chapter 23

        My mom's angry voice was echoing in my ear, right after I said 'Hello'. She talked so rapidly that I couldn't hear it clearly.

       "What? Mom...slow down, please."

       She paused a second and took a deep breath, letting out a loud hiss.

       "Okay, so what is it?" I asked as she calmed down.

       "Where are you? Go home quickly, we have to talk," she said firmly.

       I frowned. I used to go home whenever I feel like it and she never paid attention, and why did she suddenly care?

       "I can't, I have something to do." I glanced at Nick who was sitting next to me, drinking milkshake.

       "Sharona, it's important," she insisted. Nick choked and was coughing uncontrollably, spilling the liquid all over his sweatshirt.

       "Who is that? Sharona, who are you with? Is that a guy?" Mom sounded worried.

       "Yeah." I quickly took out a pack of tissue from my bag and handed it over to Nick, "..here," Nick whispered 'thank you' and patted his chest, managed to breath.

       "...just a friend, Mom. His name is Nick."

       Nick squinted in dislike as I said that. Maybe he would like us to be girlfriend and boyfriend.

       "We're having a group project and it must be finished tonight," I lied quickly.

       "Turn on your video call. I want to see him."

       "What? Mom, it's..."

       "Just do it."

       "Uh,...okay."

       I pushed the video call button and directed my phone upon Nick, who was waving awkwardly at the camera, and then shot my own face.

        "See?"

        Mom nodded in satisfaction.

       "Okay. Don't go home late. We still need to talk. Love you."

       I stuffed the phone into my pocket as we hung up, apologizing to Nick for the inconvenience. I wondered why she became overprotective like that.

       "Let's just go." I seized his arm impatiently.

        I had made sure that Bradley was currently out of town, so we could sneak into his apartment safely. We were going to check out some stuff. I had successively stolen the key when we had been kissing in the cafe this morning, by slipping my hand into his coat quietly. His lips felt bitter as I remembered it had told so much lies. Kissing him now was just like a nightmare. I thought I was not in love with him anymore. I just wanted to end this up as soon as possible.

       We were standing in front of room number 216. Even though I had been there twice, I just recognized that the door was silver colored, showing our blurry reflection. Nick gazed upon me impatiently. My hand was shaking as I stuck the key onto the small hole and pulled it with a click. Nick pushed the door and grabbed me inside.

        "Nice place," said Nick, roaming around the living room.

       "Nick don't leave any footprint. Shoes off," I warned him.

       Bradley's apartment had five rooms. Living room, kitchen, bathroom, a large bedroom and a workroom. Even though he lived alone, his apartment was always clean and organized. He loved simplicity and didn't have much furniture. Not any photo or painting was hanging on the white wall. I doubt if I could find anything.