Billion Reasons Why

Chapter 19

Chapter 19

 

“He was here,” I admitted.

Blaine was glaring down at the phone, before turning up to face me. “When?”

“A few hours ago.”

“Before or after you texted?”

“After…” I whispered loud enough for him to hear.

My mom chose that moment to walk through the door. Her umbrella was already closed up, but she was wearing a coat. I cleared my throat loudly, mostly to catch her attention. She hadn’t noticed Blaine and me standing there.

“Oh, you’re here,” she said, smiling between Blaine and me. “Blaine, it’s good to see you.”

I still couldn’t get used to Blaine and my mom getting along. It was a good thing, but definitely strange to witness.

Blaine had been frowning before my mom arrived. As soon as she spotted us, it was like Blaine had an entire transformation of character. He smiled at her, a small smile, typical for Blaine. He walked towards her and kissed her cheek—strange, but something I had to get used to.

“When did you get back?” my mom asked. She was walking down the hall towards her room, I assumed to dump her things.

“I got here in the morning. You were gone.”

“I was with June,” she replied. June was Alan’s mom, who I hadn’t seen around in a while, not since I’d returned from Russia.

“At her place? Was Alan there?”

I took a seat on the kitchen table because my mom was coming back. She opened the fridge and started taking things out—either she hadn’t eaten or she was going to prepare something because Blaine was there.

“He was there in the morning. He took off with Lara around midday.”

Blaine was standing behind my chair, one of his hands resting on my shoulder. He was tense, which meant he was still upset. I appreciated that he wasn’t trying to argue with me about Vitaly in front of my mom.

“You should sit down, Blaine,” my mom told him.

I turned up to look at him. I felt like he was trying to keep cool. He was definitely still mad at me.

“Actually, can we be excused? Blaine needs me to fill up some things up for the scholarship,” I told her, totally lying.

I knew as soon as I mentioned anything school related, she’d understand. My mom had been extremely supportive all throughout school. Alan was my best friend, and even he thought I wasn’t always in the best of moods when I was concentrated on something. School had been my only priority. My mom had done anything she could to make it easier on me.

“Oh, sure, of course. How are things going?” she asked, looking up at Blaine.

“I’m getting it sorted. Everything should be ready before the fall semester begins,” Blaine told her, giving her another reassuring smile.

It really was no wonder why my mom liked him.

“I’ll call you when the food’s ready,” my mom told me, excusing us.

Blaine looked uncomfortable or mad walking with me towards my room. “She doesn’t mind, you know,” I told him.

“I do. I don’t want her to feel like I’m disrespecting her home, or that I’m trying to take advantage of her trust,” he said.