That's My Spotlight | ✔

xxi. hit or miss

"It was about time," the girl mused as she slightly bent down to open the door of the family's black, electronic tumble dryer. Bit by bit, she took out all of her clothes, making sure to take out any possible dryer sheets that laid around. Inez didn't have a lot of clothes in the dryer, so she placed all of the clothes on top of the machine, pushing them all as far as possible so she could have room to fold them right there, instead of taking it up to her room to do so.

The environment of the laundry room was silent. Inez's father, Jared, wasn't there to crack corny dad jokes, and her mother was busy ironing an entire set of scrubs. For a family of three, silence was normal. It didn't mean that it was good, however.

That's when something popped up into Inez's brain. When Alexander and her were at the hospital volunteering the week prior, she did insist on her mother not telling her father about Alexander just yet. Knowing her mother, Inez figured that by now, she's at least said something. Her father also happened to be at a friend's house to watch a basketball game, so she muttered. "Remember my friend? The one I took to the hospital last week?"

"Yeah, I remember. What about him?" Gabrielle questioned as she neatly folded the scarlet red scrub top, placing it on top of a growing tower of already-folded scrubs. "Wait . . . are you going to tell me that you're dating him now?"

"No, Mom, that's not what I'm saying," Inez huffed as she held out an oversized yellow T-shirt. "I was just going to ask . . . did you tell Dad about it?"

"I haven't, I promise," Gabrielle swore as her hands flew into the air playfully. "I take it that you don't want him to know that you have a guy friend just because he'll think of it as being more?"

Inez sighed as she shook her head. "That's exactly the reason. He'll be so extra about it."

"He kind of has every reason to. These things are new to him. He doesn't want to see you get hurt, regardless if it's a friend or even more," Gabrielle reasoned as she ran her iron over one side of her nurse scrub bottoms. "You're still his little girl. You're growing up, and he's going to have to learn to accept it."

"Yeah, but . . . what would happen if I started . . . I don't know, dating someone? How do you think he'd react?" Inez asked out of curiosity as she placed a few folded shirts into an empty laundry basket.

One thing that Inez Archer knew was that she could usually rely on her mom for motherly advice when it came to relationships, love, and everything in-between. She could usually give reasonable, yet bearable advice without saying a word to anyone else. That, right there, was trust.

"Wait . . . are you implying that you like someone?" Gabrielle questioned as her mouth dropped open. "Is it that guy friend of yours that you like? What was his name? Alonzo? Or was it Alex?"

"Alexander," Inez reminded her mother dryly as she folded a pair of jeans in half. "And yeah, I guess you can kinda say that?"

"Right," Gabrielle snapped her fingers in memory. "Well, okay. To answer your question, your father may not accept it for a while. Like I said, this is new to him. It's a big change, but you're growing up right before his eyes." She continued. "And you know that he can tend to worry a lot."

"I guess you have a point, but I think I'm going to keep this from him for a while," Inez reasoned. "Alexander and I aren't even a thing, so I guess there's no reason to tell him anything now."

"My lips are sealed," Gabrielle hummed as she placed a folded pair of scrubs into a white laundry basket. "For now."

"Mom," the girl's voice nagged sluggishly as she placed a laundry basket filled with clothes on her hips. At this point, she was finished with folding her clothes, but she wanted to stay around for the conversation.