~Selena~
I was nearing my limit. In more ways than one.
"Selena! Ohhhhh Seleeeeenaaa!" My mother's voice sang from outside my door, making the pain throbbing at the back of my eyelids sharpen. I winced, rubbing my head as I moved to reluctantly to leave the comfort and solitude of my bed. I would normally just ignore her and pretend to be asleep, but the woman is relentless.
Most people would- after receiving no response from knocking- assume that the person in question is either not there or otherwise unavailable. My mother, however, has never been a woman of either mercy nor courtesy. She's been tapping and singing at my door for the past 20 minutes.
"Selenaaaa!" She whined. "We're going to be late! Come on already!"
I opened my bedroom door, focusing all my efforts on glaring at the woman who gave birth to me and not collapsing on the floor. Before I could even open my mouth to say something, no doubt rude and sarcastic, she had grabbed me by the arm and was towing me downstairs at full speed.
Personally, I thought that I had to be incredibly lucky not to slip as soon as my foot neared the edge of the first step. In fact, I made it all the way to the last step before my feet couldn't keep up with the rest of me, and I literally tripped myself down the stairs.
I laid on the floor, gathering my bearings and what little pride I had left, listening to the sound of several amused snickers and laughs.
When I finally had the courage to lift my head from where my face was planted on the floor, I noticed that my entire family was laughing at my suffering, excluding my father. He- of course- wore a perfectly blank mask that made him appear emotionless.
I glared at Sam and Stanton, who were cracking up on the sofa, holding their stomachs and howling with laughter. Our youngest brother was on the floor next to them, giggling into his hands. My mother was the source of the snickering.
I ignored the hand that she offered me and scrambled to my feet, before huffing indignantly and marching into the kitchen.
Sam was the only one who followed me into the kitchen, still looking far too amused for my liking. I sat at the table, ignoring the yelling from my mother telling me to hurry up and eat breakfast so we could go. God only knew where she planned on taking me anyways.
Sam opened the fridge, looking around for something to eat for breakfast. "Sellbells, you have to be the clumsiest person I've ever met."
I snorted. "Tell me something I don't know."
"Okay, well I found something that I can't define in the fridge." He frowned, moving his face closer to the fridge to inspect whatever it was.
"I already knew that."
Sam rolled his eyes and pulled out the milk, then shut the fridge. He stopped by the pantry on the way to the kitchen table where I sat, grabbing a box of kids cereal that undoubtedly contained more sugar than grain. He set both food items on the table before turning to grab two bowls and two spoons.
"Thanks." I muttered as I poured some of the cereal into the bowl I was handed. He nodded in response, and thankfully had the sense enough not to irritate me when I was running on fumes.
"Mother-daughter yoga class?" I could hear my dad's incredulous voice from the living room as I munched on my cereal. "Why the hell do you need to go to mother-daughter yoga class? I can't even remember the last time she's actually voluntarily exercised! It's pointless."
"It's a very important step in the deepening of the relationship between a mother and her daughter!" My mother argued. "A man could never understand! When you swap sexual organs and then give birth to a child the size of a watermelon, then you have the right to tell me what's so pointless about it!"
I sighed, knowing that if I didn't step in soon they would be deadlocked in this odd argument for hours. I pushed away my bowl, only half of it eaten. I didn't have much of an appetite anyways.
Ignoring Sam's disapproving looks at my bowl, I joined the rest of my family in the living room.
My mom was standing by the front door, arms crossed as she huffed at my father, looking more annoyed than angered. My brother's were still in the same place, eyes wide and heads moving back and forth like they were watching a really intense tennis match.
My dad rolled his eyes. "You two share bras and cooking utensils, how much closer can you get?"
"Technically," Sam added from the kitchen. "they both live here and the cooking utensils belong to both of them, so they're not really sharing."
My father ignored my smart-ass of a brother, of course. "Besides, Selena's grounded, so she can't leave the house."
My mother reached into her purse and rummaging around, looking extremely confused. "I could have sworn they were here somewhere..." Everyone stared questioningly as she continued looking through her purse for another moment, before giving up and frowning at her husband. "Nope, sorry I can't find any."
His brows furrowed in confusion. "Find any what?"
My mother looked him dead in the eye and said, "Shits that I give."
Everyone's jaws dropped to the floor, and could have sworn that my dad's eyes were going to pop from their sockets. Before anyone could process what had just happened, my mom grabbed my arms again and yanked me out the front door.
In my weak and stunned state, she had no trouble shoving me into the front seat, and before long we were pulling out of the driveway. If I were her, I would be hurrying too. I was surprised that my dad wasn't chasing after us with a broom by now.
"I'm not even dressed for yoga." I mumbled, looking over my leggings and oversized hoodie.
She shrugged, eyes still on the road as she grinned manically. "Doesn't matter."
I was starting to worry about the fact that I was a passenger in a car that's driver was a probable nutcase.
I sighed and turned back towards the window, trying not to wince when we swerved and narrowly missed hitting a garbage can. It was still better than sitting at home like a prisoner.
~
Now by no means was I an expert on all things yoga, but I had a nagging suspicion that something was wrong when we pulled into a house.
It was a vacation house, to be exact. It had belonged to my grandparents before they had passed away, and I could remember visiting it a few times when I was really young. It was a secluded little place, hidden away on the outskirts of society, at least 45 minutes by car away from the nearest supermarket or gas station.
But other than the fact that it was practically in it's own country, there was nothing all that special about it. It was a pleasant, one story medium-sized house. There wasn't much more to it.
I frowned as my mother got out of the car, and I briefly wondered if we were actually lost and we had stopped to grab a map from my grandfather's study.
But when my mom turned to me and raised an eyebrow expectantly, I merely let out a reluctant sigh and followed after her up to the house.
"What are we doing here?" I asked her as I caught up, keeping pace beside her. "What about the ridiculous yoga class?"
She shrugged and smiled sheepishly. "Whoops, I guess I told a lie."
I scowled at her. If I had lied to her and then blatantly admit to it with such little regret, she would probably smack me until I saw stars.
We entered the house, to find two figures slumped on the sofa. My heart stopped.
"Conner!"
My body flung into action, reinvigorated with new found strength as I surged towards him. He had just enough time to stand up and hold out his arms before he caught me.
"Hey princess." He smiled at me, and I couldn't help but notice how exhausted he looked, despite the happy sparkle in his eyes. There were noticeable dark circles under his eyes now, and his skin looked much paler than it had before.
An image of how I saw him back at the police department made me instinctively tighten my grip around his waist. I had never seen him look so defeated and miserable to the point of not caring. It had been an eye opening experience, one that I had to be sure to bring up to him later.
But for now, I was perfectly content just snuggling into his chest as he rubbed soothing circles on my hips with his thumbs.
"What are you doing here?" He mumbled into the crook of my neck, and the feeling of his warm breath against my skin made me shiver.
I laughed breathily in response. "I was going to ask you the same thing, actually."
He reluctantly pulled away to glance over at where out mothers were standing, giggling and staring at us like fan girls. "Which member of the paparazzi wants to explain what's going on?"
Mrs. Rogers rolled her eyes and gestured at the sofa behind us. We exchanged equally confused glances, but sat down as instructed. No demand though, could stop me from willingly being pulled into his side, tucked securely to his chest.
"Okay then." Conner's mom clapped her hands. "Well, since our husbands are being stubborn asses about the two of you dating, we've decided to take a little initiative of our own."
"As far as they know," My mother added. "The two of you are at mother-daughter yoga classes every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday."
"Mother-daughter yoga?" I echoed.
Beside me, Conner snorted. "It was unsurprising that everyone was confused in my involvement."
"Oh pish posh." His mom waved her hand dismissively. "Gender is irrelevant to family bonding time."
Her son scowled back. "But it's most certainly important in mother-daughter yoga class."
His statement was a valid one, so naturally, it went unnoticed. "Anyways, you two lovebirds have fun! Unfortunately, we'll have to come back and pick you up by dinner time. But until then, I expect some serious romance to be brewing here." Mrs. Rogers pointed back and forth between us suggestively.
"Have I ever told you that you two are way too involved in our love life?" Conner asked.
"Pssssh please." It was my mother who responded for her, hands resting on her hips in a manner that just screamed sass. "I made Selena's wedding dress when she was 11. You two are destined."
She makes it sound so easy.
"Anyways, we're off!" My mom continued as they headed for the door. "Don't get into too much trouble!"
"Where are you going?" I asked.
She rolled her eyes like it was obvious. "Uhhhhh, yoga class? Duh! This MILF body doesn't stay this perfect through magic!"
And giggling like school girls, the two mothers tumbled out the front door and drove away, leaving us stranded. Not that I would even dream of leaving anyways.
No, I was much more content laying on the sofa with my boyfriend, raw emotions sizzling in the air and yet nothing really needing to be said. Conner just got me like that.
And so, I looked up into his crystal green orbs and spoke the words that have been weighing me down for weeks.
"I love you."
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Done! :)