I had fallen asleep next to my mom. The bed smelt of Zac and washing detergent and when I woke up I felt a pang on my gut for him. At least he was having fun, I told myself. I rolled over and glanced at the alarm clock. It seven am, far too early to be up. I groaned slightly. Of course I'd be awake till 2:30 in the morning and wake at seven. Damn my sleeping habits.
My mom was peacefully sleeping, her book still clasped in her hands, resting on her chest and following the up and down of her breathing. I crawled out of bed and snuck out if the room, desperate to not wake my mom up. She deserved a good nights rest, and being up at this ungodly hour would definitely dampen her mood.
I went to the bakers and I finished the last of my salary on croissants and other nice pastries. It was my moms last day and I really wanted to make it a nice one for her. I arrived home and I laid the table, or rather the kitchen bar, and put a flower in a vase. At eight thirty, Ace stumbled out of his room.
"Good morning, sunshine," I laughed at his thunderously grumpy expression.
He let out a moaning grumble under his breath and shook his hair. He had the most adorable bed head anybody had ever seen. It stuck up in several directions, thick and messy and I couldn't resist the urge to run my fingers through it. It was so soft as well, and so beautiful to touch.
"Serena," Ace said, sounding amused, "I'm not a dog."
I laughed and kissed him softly. Of course just when things we were getting fun for me, and my lips were firmly planted on my boyfriend, my mom walked in. She coughed loudly, altering us of her prescense and I jumped away from Ace, blushing scarlet.
"Mom, hey!" I said.
She rolled her eyes at me and held up her hand as if to say: Save it for someone who believes it. Ace excused himself quickly and said he was going to wake up Cam. I showed mom the pastries I'd got and she thanked me graciously. I chose the best selection for her plate, I really wanted to show my mom that I had truly learnt to take care of myself.
Cam and Ace joined us and we ate in a comfortable silence, broken only by discussions of plans what we were going to do today. Mom really wanted to see China Town and we agreed tht we would go there and also have a nice lunch. This led to a predicament for me. I was broke, I had spent my money on food (I was cursed with a very strong love of food and I would basically blow my budget every month on it if I didn't also have to worry about rent and water and electricity and oh my god, I needed to sort out my addiction).
I pulled Cam to the side abruptly and I did something I wasn't proud of.
"Could I borrow some money? I promise I'll pay you back but I'm broke right now."
"Sure, how much?" Cam shrugged and I was surprised I didn't have to convince him.
"Um just for like lunch and the subway fees?"
Cam pulled out his wallet and pressed fifty dollars into my hand as if it was no more than a spare button. I gaped at the amount and looked back at him, shocked at him casually he was dealing out his cash.
"Serena, I have three million on my bank account right now and my modeling career is going nowhere but up. I'm rich and I want to treat you, so stop feeling bad and just spend it," Cam told me seriously, and closed my hand around the money.
***
It was a really fun morning. Ace and I hung back whilst Cam did most of the talking, showing my mom the best places. It was cringe-worthy because my mom totally had a mini-crush on Cam. I couldn't really blame her, he was charming and jaw-droppingly good looking but still, mom, calm yourself. There was no need to laugh at his every cheesy joke or lightly squeeze his bicep every time he helped her with something.
Ace was so amused at my mortified expressions. He kept on forcing me to listen to their disgusting back and forth, sometimes even going so far as to quote them in stage whispers, overdramatizing their exchange. Cam was totally eating up the attention as well, completely egging my mom on. Ugh, I wanted a trapdoor to appear so I could disappear.
When Ace started to reenact them so obviously that the people behind us were starting to stare, I pulled him into a little corner shop. Cam and my mom kept walking, blissfully unaware of us and the humiliation I was being put under. My mom never flirted with anyone, was completely romantically uninvolved but of course when she did decide to start, it was with goddamn Cam. Goddamn it.
"You stop, mister," I warned him.
"Whatcha gunna do about it?" Ace teased me, getting all close and personal and walking me right against the shop wall.
I narrowed my eyes at him, debating with what I was going to threaten him with. And then I decided that actions spoke louder than words. The light was very dim in the shop, and it was colored a kind of purple. It gave us the feeling that we were alone, just us two. In fact the shop did seem abandoned, no one was at the till.
I leaned up and grazed my lips against the crook of his neck. Ace laughed slightly, thinking he was going to get some sugar. Oh eww, that was tacky even by my standards. I vowed I wouldn't describe hooking up as 'getting some sugar' ever again. But then I started to concentrate, letting my lips draw patterns against Aces skin.
I then moved up to his face, keeping my touch as light as a father but still applying pressure. Ace groaned and moved to pull me closer but I snatched his hands into mine, keeping him rooted. Well, seeing as he was probably ten times as strong as me, I probably wasn't keeping him at all but it was nice to know he would stand still if I wanted him to.
My lips brushed over his, the touch barely felt but the slightly tingling of my lips I always got when I was about to kiss Ace. I then pulled back completely, and left Ace hanging there, his mouth slightly open and his eyes closed.
I started to laugh and he jerked his head back, scowling at me.
"I'll be your number one tease if you do not quit it," I said.
Ace let out a huffy breath and crossed his muscular arms, "fine, but let it be said that you totally suck."
"Keep that attitude up and I definitely won't be sucking face with you," I taunted him, sticking out my tongue.
Ace took this as an open invitation to kiss me. He pressed my mouth open with his and my whole body felt on the verge of exploding. His hands were wrapped around the collar of my shirt, tugging me so close that there was nothing between us but some scraps of clothes. I let my hands roam through his hair, curling my fingers into the strands at the nape of neck. My heart was practically thudding out of my chest.
"YOU BUY OR LEAVE!"
We sprang apart, as we always did. The owner of the shop had arrived, a little old Asian man without a hair on his head nor a smile. He was literally holding a broom and was poking us with it, trying to get us to leave his precious shop.
I laughed and started to tug Ace out who seemed a little speechless. We held hands as we ran down the block to catch up with Cam and my mom. I felt a hundred times better when I was with Ace, I always did.
***
We were having lunch when phone rang. This was surprising seeing as I had almost zero friends. In fact the only people who did call me were my mom, Lee (and only to check on Cam), Jane (although not anymore since calling was way too pricey from abroad), Zac (ditto with him), Cam and Ace. Seeing that it left only Lee, and the number wasn't hers I was
kind of excited.
"Hello," I said warmly to whoever was on the phone.
"Miss. Serena!"
I laughed as I realized who it was and excused myself, mouthing I was going to take it outside. Ace looked a little concerned, and my mom asked me who it was but I waved their questioning looks away and hurried outside.
"What is up, Rider? Are we going to have an intellectual debate?"
"Ah unfortunately no, Im going to have to do a raincheck on that one. I was actually just wondering if you would want to go out for drinks tonight."
I smiled, "I thought we weren't going down the dating road?"
"A man has hope, Serena," Rider told me, his usual charming self. That man could sweet talk his way into anything, I thought. It was no wonder he was so successful.
"I going to have to disappoint you. You see, I'm in a relationship with my roommate," I told him.
"Oh let me guess who!" He said, sounding enthusiastic and not all too disappointed.
I felt sorry any woman who had feelings for him. Rider was one of those people, charismatic with anything in their reach and liked to test and play with everything. But of course, being such a hush and overly curious spirit, they quickly tired of their old toys and found something else to latch onto. Those toys were usually people. I liked Rider though, I did, but he was not someone I wanted to date.
"Okay, my wager is on the handsome model man. He seems positively codependent on you," Rider told me.
"You guessed wrong. I am very much in a relationship with the other handsome one," I said.
"The blonde one with all the muscles?"
I laughed. I had far too many attractive roommates, "nope, the other."
"Really? Well if you like the whole aura of mystery and gloomy smirks, I guess he would make a fine man."
"Oi! Don't diss my beautiful boyfriend," I warned him.
Rider laughed easily, "sorry, honey, but you can't blame a man for picking on the opposition."
I shook my head, amused by his audacity. He was far too easy to talk to, I thought as I realized I'd already been talking to him for five minutes.
"There is no competition, Rider. I'm head over heels and planning to stay that way," I admitted to him.
"Meh, what a bummer. Oh well, we'll just stick to conversations slash arguments about politics and economics, yes?"
"It's a deal," I grinned.
He hung up and I slid my phone into my pocket. I walked back inside and finished my meal, feeling far better than I expected. My mom and I were getting on great, Ace was my gorgeous boyfriend and Cam was still the bestest friend ever. I didn't know why my mom said I needed closure. I was fine. I could cut them out of my life and be fine.
***
I helped my mom pack up her stuff a little sadly. In fact I was sort of being idle, trying to draw out time. I wasn't even sure why I didn't want her to go so badly. I'd been fine for months now without her, but suddenly my heart was choking up in my chest and my stomach was in a thousand tight little knots and my palms were sweaty.
I didn't want her to go because tomorrow she would be watching Selena and Alex getting married. I didn't want them to get married. Everything was coming up to the surface and I kept on pushing it down but my heart felt so heavy in my chest and all I could think of was graduation and how I had pictured my life to be with Alex, to have two blonde little kids and a dog and a white blooming picket fence.
My mom shut her suitcase and looked at me. I opened my mouth to say something, I didn't even know what when one of the guys came in and picked up her suitcase. He carried it out slowly.
My mom was suppressing a smile and I frowned. That wasn't Cams tall, lean build nor was it Aces tall one which was packed with lean muscle. That was a guy who was taller than the both of them, and packed head to toe with muscle. That was a blonde haired guy. That was definitely Zac.
I ran out of the room as the pieces clunked together and saw Ace, Cam and Zac standing in the living room. Zac looked really good, albeit a little thinner. His hair was sun bleached, he was tanner than ever and his blue eyes twinkled like stars in his face. He smiled and I felt tears prickling behind my eyes because I was so happy to see him.
"Zac!" I squealed and launched myself into his arms.
He was squeezing me in one of is infamous bear hugs and I could barely feel my toes. I pressed my forehead into his shoulder and I was so happy to be near him again. C'mon I hadn't seen my big bear in ages.
"What're you doing here?" I asked as we let each other go.
"We are driving you to Vermont and we are going to see the wedding. You're doing it, but I would never make you so it alone," Zac grinned.
I turned pale at his words and then turned behind me to see my mom holding suitcase packed with clothes for me.
***
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