The Cheerleader's Side Piece

Okay(1)

"Ani!" My mom shouted from her office, which was upstairs. I was in the middle of sweeping, since she can't stand it if I don't sweep at least once a week. Setting the broom beside the stairs, I make my way up, almost at the top, when she shouts again, "Bring me a water as you come up!" Cursing under my breath, I quickly rush down, fill up a cup of iced water, and ran up before she could request anything else. She was busy typing away, not even bothering to swirl around to greet. I place her cup on the left of her, since her monitors and work occupied the right side. She still hadn't said anything, so I take a seat on her little leather couch that was pushed off into the corner of the room. Her loud typing filled the humid room. The orangish light from her little lamp was overheating to the point it smelt like fire. She had been working from the moment she woke up, which was six A.M., and it's currently five P.M.. I patiently waited, staring at her white walls and racks filled with binders. Nothing about her office was interesting. It was boring and purely used for work. With a happy huff, she swiveled in her seat, sipping on her cold beverage, "Wanna grab lunch with me?"

"Lunch?" I point to her digital clock on her desk, "More like dinner."

"Eh, whatever," She got up, every joint in her body cracking, "I have another meeting at seven so I only have time to eat right now. Your father will be eating with clients tonight, so it's just us. Pick where you wanna go."

She grabbed her purse, threw her hair into a messy bun and slipped on the first pair of shoes she came across. Flicking the lightswitch off, I walked behind her as we get to her car. Getting all settled in, I rested my chin on my hand, "Let's just have some sandwiches."

"Are you actually my daughter?" The look on her face told me the answer was no.

"How about pizza?"

"Too greasy."

"Chinese?"

"Eh."

"How about you choose mom," I say.

"Nah I want you to choose."

How can I choose when you are shooting down every idea!

Rubbing my forehead, irritated with the woman, she spoke up, "I haven't been able to talk to you too much, but how's school going?"

"The same as always," I pull out my phone, checking the ASB group chat. On there was a picture sent from Olivia for everyone to see.... it was Cassie kissing Derek on the cheek with a caption saying, 'The Luv of My L8'. Biting my tongue as hard as I could, I delete the chat so I wouldn't have any proof of Cassie being... Cassie. "Norma told me Cassie found herself a new boy," my mom is just trying to talk about something other than her work, which I love her for but it's causing more damage than good, "have you met him?"

"Yeah," counting all the cars I see, I try to control my anger, "he's... he's a guy."

"Well of course," my mom snickered, "Norma did say new 'boyfriend'."

Thirty-six, thirty-seven....

"She sent me a picture of the boy, very cute," she said, turning onto the main drag, "it got me thinking... maybe you should start dating."

"No thanks," I said, not missing a single beat. My mother's heavy sigh and frown spoke louder than words. My head was starting to hurt from my tightly clenched jaw. "Let's get Vietnamese."

"Oooh their coffee sounds really good!" And that was all we had to say for the rest of the drive.

Typing up my English essay, my phone goes off for the fourth time. Glancing at the image that covered my screen, I ignore it. Today she doesn't have practice, so she wouldn't come over here. She's probably at home and wants someone to talk to. Knowing her, I'm probably the last person she hadn't tried until now.

I was on the fourth paragraph, starting the topic sentence when my computer froze up, showing a Skype call from her. Her persistence has always amazed me. If only she added that energy to our relationship... solely on our relationship. Waiting for the call to end, I immediately go back to typing when the call came up again. Again I just stare at the screen with her name written across it.

When it ended, she sent messages through the platform;

I know you're on your computer. You literally do everything on the thing.

Ignore

Aniiiiiiiiiii

Ignore

What did I do????????

Ignore

You know I hate it when you act like a child

Don't let her provoke you to answer.

Ani

Ignore

I love you

My hands stopped moving and the guilt built up like a fortress;

What?

I watched her type;

You finally answered me! I knew you would!

Ticked off now;

What do you want Cassidy?

Why did you say my name like that?

Twisting my lip, I reply;

That's your name. what do you want?

For a minute she didn't reply and instantly I felt remorse. Maybe I'm being a little too rude. She was just trying to talk to me. Maybe something happened. Feeling anxious and a little rattled, I decided to send something nicer.

Are you okay? I'm sorry for being rude.

A second later I saw her typing;

That was rude of you... I just want to talk to my girlfriend. Why were you ignoring me?

I felt sick all of sudden;

I was working on an essay and I really didn't want to get distracted... I'm sorry.

She messaged;

Don't ever ignore me again, okay?

The invisible chains of love wrapped around my throat, tightening against my angelic skin. Without even noticing the crackle of the metal nor the lack of air, I simple wrote back;

Okay