Brian's POV:
My life was finally starting to work out. I had the hottest boyfriend ever, I applied to my dream college with my teacher's and counselors' support, my mom was looking better each day. And thanks to my hard work at the cafe, I could afford to rent an apartment with my boyfriend! Life was good. Everything was amazing. I was amazing. And I couldn't stop smiling as we went to pick up mom. We had agreed to be back by seven, and now we had a few hours to chill and help mom get ready. I knew she was nervous.
"Mom, I'm home", I yelled. Will had been in my apartment several times, but he had actually never met my mom. A combination of her staying in her bedroom and me sneaking him in in the middle of the night made them never cross paths. So I was kinda worried about how she would react. I'd already told Will and Amber that my mother didn't know I liked guys, and they promised to not bring it up. If everything went well, I would come out to her tonight. Yikes.
"Brian, what dress should I wear?", she asked, holding up two pieces of fabric. "Mom!", I yelled. She was standing in the doorway from the bathroom, wearing just a towel. I pushed her inside the bathroom, locking the door quickly, before Will could see anything.
"I told you my friend was coming. You can't walk around like that", I scolded her. "Oh...", she said. "My bad." I sighted. She smelled good, like cherries. Her short dark hair was clean and she looked healthy. She was short, even for a woman. She had always been on the chubbier side, but after eating only junk food and laying on the couch, she had gained some more weight.
He didn't think his mother had noticed it, but she seemed to be self conscious now. "My clothes don't fit like they used to", she sighted, pinching her stomach at the mirror. "Stop that", I slapped her hand away. "I think the purple dress will look nice on you", I kissed her forehead.
She changed, and I helped her put on some makeup. The whole time, I was thinking about Will. Poor guy, he was just waiting outside like a poor puppy. When mom was finally satisfied, she walked out to greet Will. "Hello Mrs. Kim", Will greeted her, putting out his hand. She looked confused, but eventually shook his hand. "Oh my, what a handsome boy", she looked at me when she said it, like I wasn't aware of that myself.
"What is your name, my boy?", she asked. "It's Will, Will Miller", he replied. "Wow, I didn't know Brian had such handsome friends", she said, smiling at his face. "Uh, thanks Mrs. Kim", Will replied, unsure of how to react. "Oh, just call me mom. Any friend of Brian is like my son", she said, patting his arm.
I narrowed my eyes at her. She did not say that when she met Cole. Damn Will and his pretty privilege.
"Mom, let's go. We don't want to be late", I told her.
My mom kept glancing at her phone, giggling. When I asked her what was so funny, she just told me it was nothing and turned her phone off.
When we finally arrived, Amber welcomed us with big hugs. To my surprise, she hugged my mother. And to my even bigger surprise, my mother let her. We we're all walking towards the dining hall, making small talk, when I saw there was someone already sitting at the table. My skin ran cold.
"Hey little brother, did you miss me?"