Love Is Not The Enemy

JUST KEEP HER SMILING

Cari's PoV

Walking up to Shannon's house in the morning before school, isn't something I should be particularly nervous about doing, as it's something I have done pretty much every morning since we started school. Though, this Friday, only one day before Shannon and I's half-year-mark, the only feeling I'm able to actually feel, as it's so dominating, is nervousness. It could be because it's almost an hour before I normally would come around in the morning, or the fact that I'm not coming over to see my girlfriend before heading to school, rather her mom. And though I'm almost as close to Shannon's mom, as I am to my own, the fact that she's now not just my best friend's mom anymore, but also my girlfriend's, makes her quite the more intimidating. Sure, she's been like a second mom to me for pretty much my entire life, but when I go over there with the intention of asking her if it's okay that I follow through a plan Ryan and I made two nights ago, which involves her daughter, I feel like it's justifiable that I am as nervous as I am.

I slowly lift my hand up to knock on my girlfriend's front door and trap my bottom lip between my teeth as I take a deep, slightly shaky breath, before gently letting my knuckles meet the familiar wooden door in front of me. I take a short step back from the door as I wait for whoever is awake to answer the door, and as I'm aware of the fact that Shannon probably won't be up for another half hour, I already know it won't be her opening for me. I can clearly feel my heart speeding up by every second that passes by without the door opening, causing my nerves to rise rapidly. In frustration of my own nerves towards a woman who've been as a mom for me for as long as I can remember, I lift my hands up to my face and rub my palms against the heated skin as I breathe out shakily though my nose.

"What are you doing?" A voice suddenly says in an amused tone, making me jump slightly in my spot, not having heard the door open.

"I... I don't... nothing." I mumble in embarrassment, but feel my nerves lessen slightly by the fact that Casey had been the one to open and not Debbie.

"Are you going to come in?" My girlfriend's sister chuckles lightly and opens the door up further, gesturing for me to come inside with an amused expression.

"Is Shannon up?" I ask quietly and send Casey the best smile I manage to push though my nervousness, having no intention of seeing my girlfriend before our English class today.

Casey gives me a confused look, but eventually shakes her head, watching me as I nod slowly and make my way past her and into a house I've almost lived in since before I could even walk there myself. "Do you want me to get her?"

"I...No." I shake my head, adding to Casey's already confused expression. "Actually... I'm just here to ask Debbie something... I'm kind of trying to avoid seeing Shannon today... or, until our first period, that is."

"Mom will be down in a second." Casey says and leans against the closest wall with another light chuckle falling from her lips and her eyebrows raised in my direction. "Why are you avoiding her?"

"Eh... it's just a part of this... this plan I've made." I tell her, feeling a blush creep up my throat and all the way up to the tips of my ears.

"A plan." Casey smiles and pushes herself off the wall, taking a step closer to me. "Does this have anything to do with a certain anniversary I heard was happening soon?"

I shrug my shoulders and tilt my head down to hide the rising blush and the widening smile spreading across my face. "It might... who knows?"

Casey places her hand on my shoulder and squeezes it softly, effectively lessening my nerves some. "Just keep her smiling, okay?"

"Of course." I nod quickly and look back up at her, sending her a small, still pretty nervous smile.

"And don't be so nervous, you look like you're about to explode." Casey continues with a small chuckle and pulls me into a hug, rubbing my back in small circles. "There's no way mom is going to say no, you know that." She tells me softly, before tightening her grip around me and whispering quietly. "Especially today."