It arrived home just in time to catch my mom on her way out to the grocery store. She was still dressed in her work clothes and had her hair up in a neat bun.
"Hi Mom. What are you doing?" I asked, sitting my backpack down on the floor.
"Oh Lennon, I didn't think you were going to be home tonight." Mom smiled and put on her jacket. She had bags underneath her eyes from exhaustion but she never let it show just how tired she was. I really wished she would lay off the work and let me pick up some of the slack around the house.
"What do you mean? Why wouldn't I be at home?" I was confused on what she was talking about. For the past couple of months I always was at home.
Mom sat her purse down on the couch and laughed, "Well, you have been spending so much time with that boy that I figured you would be hanging out with him again." Oh no, she was getting the wrong idea about this.
"Mom, no, it's not like that, it was a group project for school. It wasn't anything like what you're thinking." I groaned, this wasn't what I thought she would say when I talked to her. No, I figured she would be ecstatic that I was spending time with people.
"What's the boy's name? I don't think you told me on the phone." She asked.
"Rowan Taylors. We used to be best friends according to his mother." I wondered if mom knew him and his family. I only had a lot of memories of Rowan when we were kids, he was the boy that always stayed in my memories. For years I wondered what happened to him.
"Little Rowan? God, it's been years since I seen that boy." She tilted her head up and thought for a moment. "What's his mom's name? I remember that her husband passed away a little while back. I saw it in the newspaper."
Roman's father was dead? I didn't know that. The one time I went to his house I saw his mom and he talked about his little brother. He never mentioned anything about his father.
"He's not so little anymore, mom." I laughed. "I believe his mother's name was Jenny." I thought for a moment and nodded. It was definitely Jenny.
"Why don't you invite him and his family over for dinner? It would be nice to see Jenny again." She said.
Rowan at my house. Why did she think that was a good idea? Didn't she know her daughter? Raven would be all over poor Rowan and I would have to beat her off of him with a stick. I didn't have to worry about Rowan being around my sister. He wasn't like him. Although, I didn't have any proof other than the way I felt around him.
With him, there was only fear and pain. I felt like I was going to be sick. I was thrown back into that night, that memory. But with Rowan I felt happy, like I didn't need to be scared of him. Whenever I was with him I felt protected. Which in it's own way, terrified me.
"Mom I don't have his number." I told her. All I had was his email and I'm sure he wasn't the kind of person to check his emails everyday. It would be pretty bad if I messaged him and he didn't see it till a month later. Who knew if we would still be talking then. This all was probably because of the project. No one wanted a broken friend.
"Oh dang, let me see if I still have his mother's number." Mom went over to the entryway table and started to rummage through the drawers. She was looking for her address book, something she hadn't used since she got a smartphone. "Here." She pulled the address book out and stuffed the papers back in the drawer.
Wow, she really wanted them over for dinner. I laughed to myself.
"I found his Mom's number, do you want to call it while I go ahead to the store to buy groceries, and you give me a call if they decide to come?" She asked me.
I nodded my head and she shoved the address book into my hands, her finger marking the number. "Make sure to let them know the time. Your father should be home before dinner. Him and his work buddies decided to play a round of golf before coming home."
She put her purse on her shoulder and gave me a quick kiss good bye. Raven was upstairs in her room doing "homework" and Dakota was in his room taking a quick name after daycare. I took the time to search for my journal in my parent's bed room while they were gone. If they would have found it they would have returned it to me, or kept it in a place no one dared to go into, their bedroom.
Their bedroom was at the other end of the second floor away from my room and closest to Dakota's. I checked on Dakota to make sure he was still asleep and not wanting out. I hated hearing him cry. His tears hit me right in the heart. He was the sweetest and most happiest baby I had ever seen. He had blond hair like me and green eyes to match dad's. I was glad he didn't have Raven's attitude. When she was a baby she would throw things at me from across the room. I was only three and I could still remember her doing it.
I opened the door to their room and groaned. I felt bad for invading their private domain, but if they read my journal then they invaded my privacy. Their bed was made and everything looked nice and neat, that was until I made my way to my father's side of the bed. A pair of what I could only assume to be dirty underwear, laid on the floor at the edge of the bed.
That's just disgusting.
I tipped toed around the dirty boxers and went to his bedside table, opening it. Thankfully I didn't find anything bad. But I didn't find the journal either. Mom's bedside table was just full of steamy romance novels and parenting books, no journal there either.
After I searched every possible place in their room and still hadn't uncovered the journal, I gave up my search. I needed to call Jenny before it got any later.
I went to my own room to call Jenny, feeling a bit nervous. I never was one who liked to talk on the phone. Text messages were just so much easier. No awkward silence or small talk, just straight and to the point. Plus no one had to hear your voice. I hated the sound of my voice while it was recorded ,same thing went for phone calls. All of my family thought I was my mother when I answered the phone.
"Hello?" A woman's voice answered.
"Umm. Yes, is this Jenny Taylors?" I asked, my hands shaking.
"This is she. Who am I speaking to?" She asked. Of course, I forgot to say my name. Ugh, I'm so stupid.
"Lennon Reese."
Without a minute of hesitation, Jenny yelled into the phone, "Oh Lennon. How on earth did you get our house number? We barely use this thing anymore." She laughed through the phone and it made me feel a little better.
"My mother had it from years ago. She wanted to know if you guys were free for dinner." I relayed the message to her.
"Sorry dear, but I'm getting ready for a date tonight."
"Oh, it's okay." I said biting my lip. What else do you say to that?
"But Rowan is free. Would you like me to ask him if he would like to?" She asked me. I then heard her yell, "Rowan get your butt down here!"
"It'll be just a minute sweetie." She said and the phone went silent.
Is he going to want to come over to dinner at my house? I thought the reason why he wanted to hang out was because of the project.
"Hello, this is Rowan." His voice sounded so deep over the phone.
"Hi Rowan, this is Lennon." I announced, not wanting to make the same mistake I did the first time.
"I know it's you Lennon." He laughed.
If people were going to keep laughing at me over the phone I was going to stop calling people. This was why I never called people. I made myself look like a big fool.
"Oh. Well, my mom was wondering if you would like to come over for supper. If you don't want to that's fine." I tried to let him know that he didn't have to accept the invitation.
"Sure." He said.
"What?" I had to have heard that wrong, it almost sounded like he said, sure.
"I got to eat something. With my mom going out on a date, I either have to cook myself something or wait till she gets home. I'm sure your mom's food is better than my burnt mac and cheese. What time?" He asked.
"Six." I said, that left him three hours to get ready.
"Okay, I'll give you my phone number so you can text me your address." He numbered off his cell and then said a quick goodbye before hanging up.
Not before long, I had only ten minutes left to get ready for Rowan to show up in my house. I spent most of the time cleaning up the house, trying to make it look like we didn't live in a pig sty. Raven really needed to start picking up after herself. She made the front room a mess after having friends over again the night before.
Mom was at work in kitchen cooking the food and dad was upstairs taking his shower when there was a knock at the front door.
Rowan.
"Who is that?" Raven asked, not looking up from her cellphone. No doubt she was talking to her friends.
"Rowan." I said.
"Who's that your boyfriend?" She teased.
"No he's a friend." I lied. I didn't really know what he was to me.
I opened the door and Rowan welcomed me with a warm smile. "Hi."
"Come in." I opened the door wider letting him step in front of me and I shut the door behind him.
This is definitely going to be an interesting night.
I was right, the night was very interesting. Rowan said hi to my mom and Raven. Of course, Raven being Raven, gave him all the attention in the world.
Dad came down after his shower and spoke to Rowan for a few minutes, while I helped mom set the table.
"So Rowan, you're a senior?" I heard dad ask.
"Yes sir." He replied.
They sat in silence for a while in the front room, until we had the table set.
"Alright, foods on the table!" Mom yelled.
Rowan walked into the dining room, and for the first time I noticed he was wearing a sweater. He actually dressed up for the dinner and here we all were wearing our normal every day clothes.
I took my seat in my regular spot and Rowan sat in front of me, in the guest chair. Usually, one of Raven's friends would sit there when they stayed over for the night.
"Rowan, it's so nice to see you again. Lennon was right, you're not so little anymore." Mom said.
"Mom." I groaned. She just had to try and embarrass me in front of him.
He laughed. "I guess she's right about that. It's been years since we were friends." He didn't seem the slightest embarrassed by my mother's words.
"Wait, you guys were actually friends? I thought she was just lying about that." Raven spoke up shock filled her voice.
Why would I lie about that?
"No, she's not lying. We used to be friends a long time ago." He answered her and began filling his plate with food.
"Rowan, what do you like to do for fun?" Dad asked.
What is this twenty questions?
Why couldn't they just leave him alone and let him eat his food?
"Surfing."
Raven's eyes lit up like light bulb. "You're a surfer?"
I slouched in my seat. The night had just began and I knew he was already wishing he stayed home. Between Raven's fangirling and my father's questions, he probably was secretly texting his mom under the table hoping for a way out.
"Surfing? Really. Interesting." My father rubbed his stubble on his chin. He wasn't impressed with Rowan's answer. Knowing my father, he wanted to hear something safe, like stamp collecting.
"Yes sir. I teach lessons for college tuition." He nodded.
My father smiled and said, "Smart boy." Now that answer my father liked.
After dinner and many more embarrassing questions, I lead Rowan outside to the backyard. It was still cool, but the sun was just setting making the sky painted pink and orange.
"Sorry about my parents." I apologized taking a seat in the porch swing.
He sat beside me and laughed, the second time he'd done it tonight. "It's fine. They are great. I think your sister however has a fascination with surfers."
"She has a fascination with any kind of guy." I rolled my eyes. She was much better than I thought she was going to be. Maybe I underestimated her.
He started to push the swing back and forth with his foot. I looked at him and he smiled.
"Why did you come tonight? We are done with the assignment." I asked, the question had been swimming around in my mind all night.
"Can't I hang out with a friend?" He asked me.
Friends? Is that what we are?
I hadn't had a true friend stick with me. After, I stopped hanging out with them because of the parties they went to, or how they always wanted to do something in town. I just wanted to stay at home and sulk in my sorrows and hide from him.
"Okay." I said, no other words would come to my mind. Maybe he was a friend I could trust. Someone to take my mind off of everything.
"So, friend do you want to hang out again this weekend?"
"Isn't that party this weekend, that your friend want you to go to?" I asked him.
"Screw it. I don't like parties anyway. My mother will be happier with me doing anything else. So what do you say?"
"Sure."
Maybe this is the start of living again.
Hi everyone hope you liked this Wednesday update. We love to hear what you think.
Do you think this is Lennon is starting to live? What do you think about them being officially friends?