Curveballs (Chapters from 200 on.)

7.52 Grinding - Harder Than A Diamond

Suddenly I heard the door bell ring. I paused my game and went down the stairs in hopes to prevent the disturber from ringing again and thus waking up Mom. That didn't work though because Mom was already standing in the hall with messy hair taking a glimpse through the drape. Then she looked shocked before she noticed me coming down.

"Mom, what's wrong?"

"It's Gloria!"

"Gloria?"

"Gloria!"

"Is it that late already??"

"No! It's only 4 PM for Christ's sake!", she complained and took a look in the mirror.

"Oh, that's early. Can I help you with something?", I offered her to which she stared me down.

"Get dressed!"

"...but I am...?"

"We're having a guest. Please dress up, hun!", she ordered me pointing at my red slacks.

"But we can't keep her outside..."

"I'll take care of her and you put at least some jeans on", she winked while she already tied her hair together. She had already put on a new top and jeans after her shower.

"Mom!"

"Yes, honey?"

"Your fly", I chuckled to which she quickly closed the button of her jeans embarrassed that she had opened for her nap and hid her white panties behind the zipper.

"Not that as well...", she lamented and pointed up the stairs. I dashed to my room and changed into a pair of blue jeans. The fabric should hide the pad perfectly I thought. I heard voices from downstairs and decided to joined them quickly.

"Hi Lyza", the school nurse welcomed me with a warm smile and gave me a big hug. The old lady was obviously delighted to have some company.

"Hi Mrs. Osmond..."

"Gloria...we're not at school", she corrected me and chuckled.

"Hi Gloria. It's nice you came here early"

"Am I too early?"

"What? No, no, not at all", I returned while Mom and I gestured wildly to calm her down.

"We didn't set a time so I thought it would be impolite to arrive only for the meal at 5:30", she explained to which I mouthed:

"5:30!?"

"That's really nice of you, Gloria. I'd say we take a seat in the living room. Do you want something to drink?", Mom quickly added and pointed towards our couch.

"Actually I'd rather see the house first"

"Oh, of course", Mom returned and led her the other way. When we were both behind Gloria's back she whispered to me to get the ground meat from the freezer and defrost it and also clean up the baking dish. I wanted to get to the bathroom first, but Mom stopped me pointing at an imaginary watch. I gave in and entered the kitchen.

"Where's Mr. Anderson?"

"Jim? He's away on a business trip", Mom explained before both went out of reach.

I quickly tried to take care of the meat. It was harder than a diamond. I wasn't sure what to do other than putting it in the sun. Then it dawned on me that the microwave could do the job. I put it in for a minute and then another minute and so on. I had thought about setting it on five minutes and taking a leak meanwhile, but I was anxious about ruining our dinner ^^