⌜ chapter eight ⌟
"You'd think that after all this time, you'd find something better to do than follow me around the bookstore and take my picture." Tyler says, and Letty chuckles as she snaps another photo of him.
"Why on earth would anyone think that?" The brunette questions.
He looks at the book in his hand and then sticks it on the shelf. "Get away from me." He says, and she rolls her dark eyes.
"It's getting kinda late. Did you want to start in on the shipment in the back or wait until I get out of classes tomorrow?" She asks as she shuts off her camera and puts it in her shoulder bag.
"Ooh, uh..." He turns and looks at the clock. "Why don't we start on it as soon as you come in tomorrow?" He says, and she nods.
"You got it, boss. Need anything else before I head out?"
"Not here, but, uh... You're taking creative writing at school, right?" He asks, and she nods.
"Yeah. Why?" The brunette asks as she grabs her jacket to put on.
"Lina's gonna be starting that class — guess she's tired of hanging around the bar with Reggie all the time. Can you show her around the campus a bit, take her to class?" He asks as he turns to face her.
"Yeah, absolutely. Just tell her to meet me at the apartment tomorrow morning, and we'll head over."
"Alright. Thanks, kid."
"No problem."
Letty gets back to the apartment complex later that night and she runs into Hope on the way into the lobby. The girls link arms, and Hope leans into her best friend as they walk over to the elevator, seemingly exhausted.
"Hey, can you do me a favor?" Hope asks after the doors close.
"Yeah, what's up?"
"Can you cut my hair before I get into the shower?"
"I think I can manage cutting in a straight line." Letty nods. "How short are we talkin' here?"
"Like I had it before. Maybe a little shorter?" She says as the elevator doors open, and they head out into the hallway. The girls walk past the door to Letty's apartment, moving toward Hope and Jason's.
"Are you sure? I thought you liked it long."
"I do, but it gets in the way. And Faith likes to grab a fistful and tug." Hope tells her, and she chuckles, knowing about that all too well. Letty thinks that that's part of the reason Eric cut his hair a little shorter than usual. "At least if it's shorter, it'll be a little more difficult for her to try and yank my hair from my head."
Letty nods as she shuts the door behind them, and they make their way into the bathroom. "Uh, the striped shirt needs to go, or it's gonna screw me up when I cut." She tells Hope as she gets the scissors from the shelf.
Hope pulls her work shirt over her head, happy to be out of it after such a long day, and then she starts combing the knots out of her hair. Jason leans in the doorway, and the three of them start talking about their schedules for the next week, none caring that Hope's only in a bra. It's exactly the same as seeing her in a bikini top, which they both have before. Not to mention, Jason was with her when the twins were born, and he was around while she breastfed them when they were younger. The three of them are best friends, practically siblings.
After Letty cuts Hope's hair like she asked her to, she and Jason leave the bathroom so that she can shower. The brunette hops on his back, and he heads down the hallway between the apartments to walk Letty home. He leaves her in the living room, saying that he has to get back in case either of the twins wake up, and Letty heads to hers and Eric's room.
"Hey..." Eric rolls over on the bed and stretches his arm out to look for his girlfriend.
"Hi." The brunette kicks her jeans off and then climbs straight into bed, immediately cuddling with him under the blanket.
"Damn, you're cold." He mutters as she tangles her bare legs with his.
Letty chuckles. "You're warm."
"What time is it?" He asks as he rubs her arm, trying to warm her up a bit.
"Just after midnight." She takes a deep breath as she nestles into his chest, her eyes closed. "I didn't mean to wake you up."
"You didn't. I never go to sleep before you come home." He tells her, and a smile tugs at her lips.
"No?"
"Gotta make sure I'm awake in case you don't make it back, and I have to send a search party."
"I didn't know you do that."
"Have I ever been asleep when you got in?" He asks, and she pauses a moment.
"Actually, no... Come to think of it, you're always awake." Her smile widens. "That is incredibly sweet, and entirely unnecessary."
"Go to sleep." He kisses her forehead. "I love you."
"I love you." She yawns as cuddles more into him for warmth. "G'night."
The next day, Letty's showing Lina around just like she promised, and they walk into the creative writing classroom. "You remember Jack?" Letty says as they walk over to where the boys are sitting near each other.
"Right, yeah. The guy with the boned pumpkin pie." Lina teases, and Jack chuckles as he looks up at the two girls.
"I hate you." He says as he looks at Letty, and she smiles at him.
"Is that seat taken?" The older girl points at the one next to Jack, and he shakes his head as he returns his attention to her.
"No, no one's sitting here. You know, I didn't know that you were taking this class." He says as she sits down beside him, and Letty goes to sit next to Eric.
"Yeah, well, Reggie's annoying." Lina shrugs. "And Tyler suggested that I take some classes to meet some people closer to my own age." She tells him, and he nods.
"Excuse me, is this seat taken?" A familiar voice catches their attention, and they all look up.
"Mom?" Eric questions when his eyes land on Mrs. Matthews.
"Eric? Oh, hi, Scarlett." She smiles when the teenage girl waves at her.
"What are you doing here?" He asks as he quickly stands up, his voice rising as well as he glances around the classroom. "Am I in trouble?"
"Babe, calm down." Letty reaches over and grabs his hand, and his fingers curl around hers.
"No. I-I'm in creative writing." His mom tells him.
"But this is creative writing." He says.
"Oh, I had no idea this was your class." She says, clearly not seeing that it bothers him. "But, well, you said to get out there in the world, so here I am, back in school."
"Hey, today's my first day too." Lina says, earning her attention. "Exciting, huh, Mrs. M?"
Letty stands up then, pulling on her boyfriend's arm. "Isn't it great that she found something she's excited about doing?" The brunette asks as she squeezes his hand, and he shoots her a dirty look.
"Hey, maybe we could all have lunch together?" Mrs. Matthews suggests.
"Your mom is, like, so cool." Jack interjects, and Eric turns to him.
"No, she's not." He argues, and then grunts as he pulls his hand from Letty's because she started squeezing it again. "Look, Mom, when I said get back in the world, I meant, like...the mall."
"Eric, I'm in creative writing because I always wanted to write." Mrs. Matthews tells him. "And your words really inspired me. I was hoping you'd be happy for me."
"I think it's great." Letty says, and Eric looks at her. "Some people aren't fortunate enough to have the opportunity or the support to go back to school...after taking all the time to raise an ungrateful little jerk."
"Happy. I am, I'm happy." Eric says. "Who wouldn't be happy going to school with their mom?"
"At least you have a mom." She says under her breath.
"You're playing that card, really?" He looks at her, and she nods.
"Mrs. Matthews, please, sit next to me." Letty then motions to the seat on the opposite side of her than Eric's sitting.
—
"And as I turned a corner and walked down that road, it occurred to me, either I was going the wrong way, or that semi truck was, but that's life...and it's all we have." Eric reads. "Thank you."
"Thank you, Eric." Their teacher says as the teenage boy quickly moves back to his seat beside his girlfriend. "Next we will hear from Amy."
"Oh." She gets up and then quickly makes her way over to the podium with her paper in the binder that she's carrying. She stands behind the wooden podium, then puts on her reading glasses. "Um, A Young Married Woman, by Amy Matthews."
"Oh, this is great. A thousand words on dryer lint." Eric whispers as he leans toward Jack, and the brunette on his other side smacks his arm.
"The wedding was over. I was nineteen and about to embark on a new life. The hotel suite was as lovely as a picture." She's reading, and Letty reaches toward Eric to squeeze his arm, knowing that there's no way he's comfortable hearing about his parents' honeymoon. "Alan walked toward me, and I began to tremble. My lips—"
"Oh my God." Eric stuffs his fingers in his ears as he leans toward Letty, who rubs his shoulder as he tries to keep from hearing his mom's story.
After school the next day, Letty's sitting on the couch in their apartment, her back against the arm of it, and Eric's at the fridge getting some water. "You don't have work today?" He asks, and she shakes her head.
"Nope. Today's my day off, which means it's my day with the little ones. You wanna help me? I can bring them over here." She tells him, and he shrugs.
"Sure, I like the little tikes." He says as he starts over to her. "You don't have to babysit yet though, do you?"
"No. Jason leaves in about an hour, I just have to be there before then."
"So, you have some time before you have to go." Eric smirks as he crawls over her, his hand then moving to her hip as he presses his lips against hers.
Letty sinks into the cushions so that she's laying underneath him, and her fingers tangle in his hair as he deepens the kiss. She brings one of her legs up to hook around his as he rests his hand on the side of her face.
The front door opens then, and Jack walks in. "You two disgust me." He says as he walks past the couch to get to the kitchen, and Eric lifts his hand to flip him off.
"Hey, kids." Mrs. Matthews announces herself as she quickly walks past them, and Eric shoots up so that he's no longer laying on top of his girlfriend.
"Hi, Mrs. Matthews." Letty greets awkwardly as she sits up as well.
"So, what are you guys doing?" Eric asks as he looks over at Jack and his mom. Letty reaches over and smooths out his hair where her fingers tangled it a bit.
"I had a little trouble with my writing assignment, so Amy offered to help." Jack tells him.
"Amy? Her name isn't Amy, it's Mrs. Matthews."
"By the way, that last paper you wrote... I couldn't stop thinking about it." He says as he looks back at her.
"Because it was smut!" Eric yells as he stands up.
"Aaaand here we go." Letty sighs as she looks over at his mom.
"My lips quivered. It was filth! It was squeamy filth!" He says as Letty then gets to her feet as well.
"The teacher gave her an A." The brunette says as she walks up behind him and wraps an arm around his bicep.
"He's dirty too." He declares as he leans into her, and she rests her other hand on his side.
"Well, I think he's really going to like my next paper." Mrs. Matthews says as she pulls it out of her backpack.
"Let me see this. Let me see this." He reaches out and takes it from his mom as he takes a couple steps toward her. "An Evening in Cape Cod — now this is more like it."
"I'm thinking not." Letty mouths to Jack, crossing her arms over her chest, and he stifles his laughter by pressing his fingers into his lips. "Five bucks?" She asks, and he shakes his head, knowing he'd just be losing his money.
"As Alan touched me, my lips began to quiver." Eric reads, and Letty and Jack both bite back their laughter. "Don't you do anything but quiver?!" He questions as he looks at his mom, then turns his attention back to the story. "Oh my God, you do."
"Oh, give me that." Mrs. Matthews snatches the paper back from him.
"Mom... College is my time. You shouldn't be here, you should be at home raising your kids." He tells her. "They're not done yet."
"Yeah, obviously, if you can be that selfish." Letty says, and Eric glances at her for a moment.
"I have been a mother and a wife for most of my life, and I've loved it." Mrs. Matthews says as she puts her paper back into her backpack. "But I need to be more." She says as she starts for the door. "And if you're uncomfortable with that, then you're right. I shouldn't be here."
"I think your stories are... Well, they're a little much for me." The brunette says as she turns to look at Mrs. Matthews, who then turns her attention to her. "But that's only because you're my boyfriend's mom. I think you're really good at writing. And I work with books everyday, so I know what sells. I think you'd do really great...Amy." She tells her, and Mrs. Matthews smiles.
"Thank you, sweetheart." She then leaves the apartment.
"You're mad at me?" Eric asks as his girlfriend turns back to him.
"Did you hear what she said in class the other day?" Letty asks, and he nods.
"Yeah, I heard more than I wanted to. That's the problem." He tells her, and she sighs.
"Not what she read, Eric, what she said on her first day." She says. "Your mom told you that she's always wanted to write...and now you're asking her to give it up. Believe me, I get that you don't wanna hear about your parents — I don't either... But if she loves writing, how can you ask her to stop doing it?"
He knows that she's right — and that he has to look past what's been making him uncomfortable in class — so, he tells Letty that he can't help her babysit today after all. His girlfriend offers him a small smile as she then walks over and kisses his cheek. Alone, the brunette heads over to Hope and Jason's apartment to watch the twins. Eric, on the other hand, goes to try and make things right with his mom.