A Proscriptive Relationship

:A Proscriptive Relationship: 29

I walked in and the scent of coffee filled the air. I inhaled, following the smell towards the kitchen. Yep, definitely my mom. I yawned, pushing open the kitchen door.

"Mom, why are you home early?"

"Mom?" a masculine voice responded sounding amused.

My eyes snapped open and I came face-to-face with Mr. Heywood. He raised an eyebrow as I felt my face begin to heat up. With my eyes wide, I looked past him to see my mom sitting at the kitchen table, sipping a cup of coffee.

She watched me for a moment, and then stood up. I watched her warily as she came to a stop right in front of me. I braced myself, preparing for the worst.

"Welcome home!" she cried, throwing me into a big hug. "How was school? Was everyone nice to you? I hope so! I don't want to have to make any calls to the principal!"

Yep. My mom was a doting mother.

I rolled my eyes, giving my mom a short squeeze before trying to squirm out of her grasp. "Today was great, mom."

"And your date? How come I've never met this man before?" she continued, beginning to frown. "How old is he?"

I shot Mr. Heywood a glare. He was biting his lip, trying not to laugh. That only made me more irritated.

"Mom, why is my teacher here?" I asked, trying to change the topic.

My mom grinned, pulling me over to Mr. Heywood. By now he had his laughter under control and he was smiling pleasantly at my mom.

"We ran into each other at the grocery store," he explained, a smirk on his face.

"Literally," my mom interjected. "And then I found out he was your teacher, so I invited him here to have dinner. He's so young and handsome, how come you haven't mentioned him before, Holly?"

"She's never mentioned me?" Mr. Heywood asked, frowning slightly.

"When we have time together, mom, I'd rather not talk about school," I told her. "Since you're so busy all the time, it just never came up."

My mom nodded. "I see." She turned to Mr. Heywood. "Work keeps me busy so I'm almost never home."

Mr. Heywood nodded his head understandingly. "I'm sure being a single mom with a... teenage daughter must be hard."

I scowled at Mr. Heywood for a second. I knew he was going to say something offensive about me before he corrected himself. He smirked back. My mom was oblivious to the exchange completely.

"Well, shall I get supper started then?" she asked, looking between Chris and myself.

"You won't," I told her, an amused smirk slipping on my face. "Face it, mom, you can't cook at all."

My mom blushed, looking down in embarrassment. "I could still try..."

"I can cook something," Chris offered. "Believe it or not, I'm a good cook."

My mom turned to him with a grin on her face. "Really?"

"Really."

"Well, it's settled then. Holly, would you help him?"

"Uhh..."

"Good!" my mom said with a smile, putting a hand on my back. "I'm sure the two of you can figure out something good. There are steaks in the fridge. If we don't cook them soon, they might go bad. There's also onions in there too, and some potatoes. It could make a good dinner-"

"Mom," I started, cutting her off, "if you want a steak dinner, you just have to ask."

She blushed again, laughing sheepishly. "Right... sorry."