Second Chance

Four: Reasons for Returning

Four: Reason for Returning

“Ciara.”

Ciara’s heart sank, and she inhaled deeply, bracing herself for the onslaught of her mentally-a-teenager mom. The footsteps sounded closer and closer, and she ran for the stairs, intending to disappearing into her room. No such luck.

“Ciara! Honey! Tell me how your date was!”

“Great, Mom,” she said, her eyes staring longingly at the stairs just a few meters away. If only she could dash to the stairs…

“Details! How was the food? The movie? How’s the boy? Did you guys kiss?”

“Mom!” Ciara all but whined.

“Oh, come on, I was a teenager myself.”

You don’t say? She thought sarcastically.

“It was great, Mom. I’m tired as heck. Can I go to sleep?”

“Oh, no, Sweetie, you’re evading my questions.” Her eyes shone deviously, and she rubbed her hands almost evilly. “What do you think of the boy?”

“He’s great, Mom.”

“Darling, your voice holds almost no enthusiasm.”

“Mom!”

Mrs. Johnson threw her head back and laughed raucously. Ciara rolled her eyes, all too used to her mom’s eccentricity. She silently sidestepped and ran like a ninja towards the stairs.

“Ciara!”

“I’m sleepy, Mom!” she yelled back, the speed she just demonstrated completely contradicting her statement. Ignoring her mom’s giggles, she ran into her room and shut the door. As if on cue, her phone in her pocket vibrated then beeped.

Her hand slipped into her pocket and fished out the rectangular device. She flipped the lid open to see a new message.

Goodnight! :)

A smile tugged at the corner of her lips, and her fingers typed out a single word.

Night :P

She placed the phone on her bedside table and went to the bathroom, slipping out of her clothes. Her finger automatically went up to her lips, and before she knew it, a goofy grin appeared on her mouth.

We kissed. After all these years, I finally kissed Jared.

“Girl, you have a lot to explain.”

“Mona, what the hell? What time is it?” Ciara twisted her head to the side and groaned loudly. “Dude, it’s freaking not even nine! This is Sunday!”

Ciara’s eyes remained closed, and she covered them with her other hand to block out the bright sunlight streaming through the window across her. All her friends should know this by now. Ciara was not a morning person.

“I know! I know! It’s just that I heard Sam saying that he saw you with Mr. Hottie yesterday.” As if that alone was not enough, she lowered her voice in what she thought was a dark and mysterious tone, “Alone.”

Ciara groaned. She underestimated the biggest gossiper in the entire town. Sam was equally bad. The short and small guy could not keep back anything to save his mommy’s life. Everyone in town learned enough to know the basic: stay away from Sam and Mona.

“Yeah, we were together yesterday. Bye.”

She snapped her phone shut and snuggled closer to her pillow. Seconds later, her phone rang, the loud rock music filling every inch of her large room. Ciara swore.