- SCULLY - 1
The small smile on my face that had worked its way there as I slept vanished when I realized what day it was. Day one of Operation My Mother Is A Psycho. Foster Kid Fox was coming to stay today. I groaned quietly and turned over on my other side, savoring the warmth that was contained beneath my covers and that lingered on my body. The smile returned as I flitted in and out of consciousness, almost back asleep when my door banged loudly against my wall.
"Dana, get out of bed! It's almost eleven and Fox will be here around one! We have quite a bit to do to make this house suitable for a teenage boy before he arrives!"
My mother rushed about my room in a way quite unlike her calm, cool, and collected personality. She was so excited. All she could talk about for past couple of weeks had been Fox, Fox, Fox. I knew the house was more than ready for him because my mother had had it so for about a week now.
My brother Bill's room has become a bedroom for the newcomer. Bill was away at college and my mother had no problem putting his room to good use. I wasn't exactly sure how good a use some stranger sleeping in my brother's room was, but I was a people pleaser. If the thought of having some testosterone-filled, moody seventeen year old boy in the house made my mother happy, then I would go along with it.
"All right, Mom, I'm getting up," I said, sighing as I rose from my warm bed. My mother appeared not to have heard me, as she looked surprised that I was out of my bed.
"Ah, yes, Dana, go shower and put some clothes on," she said, rushing out of my room. I hoped she wouldn't be too disappointed. I knew that teenage boys were nothing to get excited about. My mother appeared to have missed this memo. Poor thing. It was like she didn't remember how awful Bill was at this age. I remember arguments between him and my father after a broken curfew. I hoped that this Fox character would be better for my mother. I tried to be that for her.
I smiled thinking of my mother's fragile face as I headed to the bathroom.
I smoothed my outfit and stared into the mirror, examining. My green V-neck t-shirt hugged my chest and slim waist, my white laced camisole peeking out at the bottom. My dark wash skinny-jeans accentuated my legs, even if they were short. I brushed some stray mascara from under my eye. I looked good and I knew it. Hopefully, if confidence was clear in my appearance, it would be clear that I was not to be trifled with. Honestly, it didn't matter if it wasn't. If he couldn't take hints, I would just have to be less subtle.
I prepared myself for disappointment. I wasn't expecting much. He couldn't be offering anything extraordinary.
I didn't hear the doorbell ring, but it must have because my mother screeched up the stairs. "Dana! Get down here! Fox is here!"
"Coming," I yelled back. Without a look back at my reflection, I headed out of my door and toward the steps, confidence squishing beneath my toes. I could taste perfection in my mouth.