Transatlanticism

Chapter Ten

            "ARWEN!" she shrieked, even though I was standing a mere twenty feet away. Then she saw Leo, and her face drained of color. "Oh, hey... you." I knew what she was thinking. She was thinking that she had sex with Ralphie, and now Leo would hate her for taking advantage of him.

            But to both of our surprise, he smiled warmly and waved a hello. Then he squeezed my hand with his quickly, and then turned and walked off.

            I absolutely beamed after that.

            Who cares if my mom thinks I'm a slut now? Who cares if my sister and her slut-of-a-fake-friend ruin my life? Who cares that afore-mentioned sister is, also, a slut? I was crazy about Leo, and I didn't care who knew.

 I followed my sister back into my dorm, where my mother was nowhere to be seen. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Good, because I really didn't want to deal with her just then. Bad, because she couldn't stand the sight of me.

            Terrific.

            I shrugged and flounced off to my room, humming to myself. Awkward first kiss forgotten, hello second amazing kiss. Thank you, Leo!

            I zipped my duffel and tried to ignore Marta blabbing loudly to Eowyn, who was discreetly slipping ear buds connected to her iPod in her ears.

            Mom met us at the car, and to my horror, completely ignored me. I guess I better fix this before it gets out of hand...

            I slid into the passenger seat, smiling kindly at her. She stared straight ahead.

            "Mom?" I said, trying to sound chipper. Not even a flinch. She glanced into her rearview mirror, adjusted it slightly, and then started the engine.

            "I just wanted to say that... um..." I started, but I wasn't quite sure how to finish. Say sorry? What could I possibly be sorry for? She should be saying sorry- for being embarrassed for walking in on us, for being so rude to me, and for being so rude to Leo.

            "Who was that boy?" Mom asked, trying to sound nonchalant. She screeched at a red light, jolting me forward.

            "Mom!" Eowyn complained, scrunching her nose up in annoyance. Marta was oblivious, chatting on and on.

            "He's Leo," I said slowly. "He's a really nice guy, I promise."

            "Nice?" she seethed.

            "Yeah. Like... the sweetest," I said in a dream-state. I glanced over to see if she was actually listening, and I smiled wide when I saw that she didn't look angry anymore. "You know I wouldn't be... with... someone... unless I knew they were a good person."

            "I know," my mom sighed dejectedly, flicking on her turn signal with an over-exaggerated toss of her arm. "I just can't believe it!"

            "Can't believe what?"

            "That you would be like that with a boy!"

            "Mom..." I whined, my cheeks heating up. "I didn't mean to make you mad or anything. But trust me, I'm not a slut." I looked pointedly back at Eowyn, but she was too busy ignoring Marta.

            "I understand, Wennie," Mom said, placing a hand over mine. We exchanged a quick smile and look of empathy before she returned her attention to the road. "You'll have to invite him to dinner sometime. You know... when it's serious."

            I smiled widely.

            "I will, Mom."

After taking a three-hour nap over the course of the drive to the cabin, I was grumpy and tired and the high that I had from seeing Leo before I left had faded. And now Eowyn was whining at me to go with her to the stupid party.

            "I got you all dolled up! Now you have  to come! Don't chicken out on me!" she cried, her hands on her slender hips and her lips ridiculously red lips pouted.

            "I'm not chickening out," I snapped. I glanced into the mirror in front of us, where she had been prepping for the party, while I tried to not choke Eowyn with her own eyelash curler. I took one deep breath. "I just don't want to go, you know that."

            "Trust me, once you get there, you'll love it!" Eowyn insisted. She was a good liar. "Besides, you can't leave me to go with just her." She jammed her thumb in the direction of the couch, where Marta now currently meditated, a long hum of ooooommm's and random, made-up incantations coming from there. How she got into UCLA with us, I'll never know.

            I rolled my eyes, letting her know that she was stuck with the psycho.

            "Wyn, seriously, you got yourself into this, because you thought going partying was better than faking an illness."

            "You know Mom would take me, anyways! I might as well make the best of it," Eowyn defended with an innocent shrug of her tiny shoulders. I stomped out of the bathroom, ignoring Eowyn's protests.

            Now would be a continuation of the car ride earlier; a long, uninterrupted nap.

Author's Note: Short, I know. Can you please vote? It would be really nice! And... it's nice to be nice to the nice. Or you could comment? That would be really nice too! I mean, you don't HAVE to, but it boosts my self esteem.