Rivals // Norminah

57

"Mani! Breakfast!"

I throw my sweatshirt on before grabbing my backpack off the ground, throwing it over my shoulder.

"Coming!" I yell back. I open my door and start heading towards the stairs. Aspen runs up meeting me and I scratch behind his ear before continuing to head downstairs.

I walk into the kitchen to see a display of breakfast foods all over the island counter. Mom is by fridge pulling out orange juice.

"Good morning" She says smiling at me.

"Morning" I walk over to the high counter and sit in a high chair. "Nice spread" I gesture towards all the food.

"Thank you. I hope you like it" She places a plate of food in front of me with a glass of juice. I grab a piece of bacon and take a bite.

"I'd like it if it didn't mean you're leaving for a trip" I state. I take a sip of my orange juice.

"That's not true" She crosses her arms. I let out a chuckle.

"Before you would just leave me an envelope of cash when I was younger, you would do spreads like this to try and distract me that you'd be gone for a few days, even weeks. It never worked by the way" I joke.

"W-Well maybe I just wanted to do something nice this morning?" She tries defending herself. I raise an eyebrow at her. She sighs. "Okay, yes. I have to head to Atlanta for a big surgery" She breaks. I laugh a little bit.

"There ya go!" I point my fork at her playfully before digging into my food. "When and how long?"

"I leave tomorrow. The surgery will probably run from Thursday night to Friday afternoon, so I should be back Saturday morning the latest" She smiles awkwardly. I stop eating for a second.

"So... you're gonna miss prom then?" I ask. She sadly nods. "Oh... okay" I slowly keep eating. Andrea watches me for a second.

"I don't have to go Mani. I can stay if you really want me to" She starts. I shake my head.

"It's fine mom. It's not biggie. Seriously" I smile. There's an awkward silence for awhile, luckily, Dinah walks into the kitchen.

"You will not believe the talk I just had at my house this morning" She drops her bag on the ground and hops into the seat next to me. She gives me a kiss on the cheek.

"Good morning to you too Dinah" My mom shakes her head and begins making a plate.

"Right. Morning" Dinah says. She turns to look at me "My mother just had a long talk to me about protective sex which led to her talking about a lot of her sexcapades back in the day. She went into the story about her and my dad fucking at one of her relative's funeral. I'm traumatized" She shares. Andrea places a plate of food in front of Dinah.

"Why would she do that?" My mom questions. I bite my lip.

"She may have walked in on Dinah and I" I share. Andrea raises an eyebrow at me.

"Normani Kordei Hamilton, I understand you're at that certain age, but really? With her parents in the house? Have some class" She shakes her head and grabs a piece of bacon off my plate. "You two better behave while I'm gone"

"You're leaving?" Andrea nods. Dinah turns to me smirking. "So we have the place to ourselves?"

"Nope, I'm not listening to this" Andrea grabs a plate of food and a cup of juice. "I'm going to eat my breakfast in my study. Don't be late for school" She exits the kitchen. Dinah spins to me in her chair and begins rubbing my leg.

"You okay?" Dinah asks.

"Yeah? Why wouldn't I be?" I turn to her.

"I know you don't like when your mom leaves" I roll my eyes and turn back towards my food.