Chapter Ten
My life officially ended when my mom walked into the hallway. Leo and I broke apart quickly, and his hand quickly snapped away from where it had been creeping down my back. I reached up to straighten my glasses, realized I wasn't wearing them, and then let my hand drop awkwardly to my side.
"Hey..." I said slowly, side-glancing at Leo, who looked kind of woozy. Probably from lack of air. "Mom." He suddenly stood up straight, looking nervous, as he registered that this woman who had caught us was my mother. "This... this is Leo... Mom."
Her eyes narrowed, but she shook hands with him anyways, smiling very a fake, gritted-toothed smile.
"Nice to meet you... Leo," she hissed the name, her eyes narrowed. "And he's your...?"
"Uh... he's... my... friend?" I said it like a question, avoiding everyone's eyes.
"Uh-huh," she said skeptically. "I didn't know this was how friends acted nowadays." I'm sure my face turned bright red, and I saw Leo's was red, too.
"Well," I cleared my throat, "we went on a date."
"A date?" Mom snapped. I saw her reasoning, of course. Only Eowyn would fully make-out with a guy in a public place after only one day. But... she didn't understand! It wasn't like that with Leo. Leo wasn't like that... "Well, say your goodbyes, Arwen, and then we're leaving, got it?" I nodded, because that was definitely the safe thing to do when my mom got like this. Talking would probably only make her irritated.
She stormed off, as if being in the presence of the two of us was completely repulsive, and slammed my dorm door. I winced after, turning to Leo.
"Sorry, she's usually not like that," I said quietly, feeling ashamed, embarrassed, and irritated.
"Oh, um... It's not your fault. It's fine," he said waveringly, and I could tell he was upset.
"No, it's not," I interjected, finally meeting his eyes. I tried to smile, to show him it was all just dandy, but it didn't really work. "Don't even worry about it, okay? She'll get over it."
"Oh."
And then... silence.
What were you supposed to say now? Does anyone know? Because I sure don't.
"I'll see you later," I decided, my arms hanging limply at my side. He smiled at my awkwardness, which made my stomach churn, and then he pulled me into a hug.
Oh. Well. That was unexpected. Pleasant... and unexpected.
I buried my head into his shoulder, savoring the moment while I could. He was really warm... and smelled good. Wonder what cologne he uses...
"See you," he replied as he pulled away. He looked kinda sad, like he would miss me or something. It was endearing, and surprised me, too. Since when had anyone ever missed me?!
"It'll only be for three or four days," I promised, smiling crookedly. He nodded, looking at me through the lashes of his eyes. He was really sexy when he did that... I tried to clear my thoughts and get my legs to move, and thank goodness Eowyn came out then, otherwise I would've been standing there forever.
"ARWEN!" she shrieked, even though I was standing a mere twenty feet away. Then she saw Leo, and her face drained of color. "Oh, hey... you." I knew what she was thinking. She was thinking that she had sex with Ralphie, and now Leo would hate her for taking advantage of him.
But to both of our surprise, he smiled warmly and waved a hello. Then he squeezed my hand with his quickly, and then turned and walked off.
I absolutely beamed after that.
Who cares if my mom thinks I'm a slut now? Who cares if my sister and her slut-of-a-fake-friend ruin my life? Who cares that afore-mentioned sister is, also, a slut? I was crazy about Leo, and I didn't care who knew.
I followed my sister back into my dorm, where my mother was nowhere to be seen. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Good, because I really didn't want to deal with her just then. Bad, because she couldn't stand the sight of me.
Terrific.
I shrugged and flounced off to my room, humming to myself. Awkward first kiss forgotten, hello second amazing kiss. Thank you, Leo!
I zipped my duffel and tried to ignore Marta blabbing loudly to Eowyn, who was discreetly slipping ear buds connected to her iPod in her ears.
Mom met us at the car, and to my horror, completely ignored me. I guess I better fix this before it gets out of hand...
I slid into the passenger seat, smiling kindly at her. She stared straight ahead.
"Mom?" I said, trying to sound chipper. Not even a flinch. She glanced into her rearview mirror, adjusted it slightly, and then started the engine.
"I just wanted to say that... um..." I started, but I wasn't quite sure how to finish. Say sorry? What could I possibly be sorry for? She should be saying sorry- for being embarrassed for walking in on us, for being so rude to me, and for being so rude to Leo.
"Who was that boy?" Mom asked, trying to sound nonchalant. She screeched at a red light, jolting me forward.
"Mom!" Eowyn complained, scrunching her nose up in annoyance. Marta was oblivious, chatting on and on.
"He's Leo," I said slowly. "He's a really nice guy, I promise."
"Nice?" she seethed.
"Yeah. Like... the sweetest," I said in a dream-state. I glanced over to see if she was actually listening, and I smiled wide when I saw that she didn't look angry anymore. "You know I wouldn't be... with... someone... unless I knew they were a good person."
"I know," my mom sighed dejectedly, flicking on her turn signal with an over-exaggerated toss of her arm. "I just can't believe it!"
"Can't believe what?"
"That you would be like that with a boy!"
"Mom..." I whined, my cheeks heating up. "I didn't mean to make you mad or anything. But trust me, I'm not a slut." I looked pointedly back at Eowyn, but she was too busy ignoring Marta.
"I understand, Wennie," Mom said, placing a hand over mine. We exchanged a quick smile and look of empathy before she returned her attention to the road. "You'll have to invite him to dinner sometime. You know... when it's serious."
I smiled widely.
"I will, Mom."
After taking a three-hour nap over the course of the drive to the cabin, I was grumpy and tired and the high that I had from seeing Leo before I left had faded. And now Eowyn was whining at me to go with her to the stupid party.
"I got you all dolled up! Now you have to come! Don't chicken out on me!" she cried, her hands on her slender hips and her lips ridiculously red lips pouted.
"I'm not chickening out," I snapped. I glanced into the mirror in front of us, where she had been prepping for the party, while I tried to not choke Eowyn with her own eyelash curler. I took one deep breath. "I just don't want to go, you know that."
"Trust me, once you get there, you'll love it!" Eowyn insisted. She was a good liar. "Besides, you can't leave me to go with just her." She jammed her thumb in the direction of the couch, where Marta now currently meditated, a long hum of ooooommm's and random, made-up incantations coming from there. How she got into UCLA with us, I'll never know.
I rolled my eyes, letting her know that she was stuck with the psycho.
"Wyn, seriously, you got yourself into this, because you thought going partying was better than faking an illness."
"You know Mom would take me, anyways! I might as well make the best of it," Eowyn defended with an innocent shrug of her tiny shoulders. I stomped out of the bathroom, ignoring Eowyn's protests.
Now would be a continuation of the car ride earlier; a long, uninterrupted nap.
Author's Note: Short, I know. Can you please vote? It would be really nice! And... it's nice to be nice to the nice. Or you could comment? That would be really nice too! I mean, you don't HAVE to, but it boosts my self esteem.