I am really sorry about skipping last week's update. I had a major presentation to give in my History class on Wednesday and I still had a bunch of work to do on it. Since I had three majorly lazy people for partners, I had to do almost everything myself and didn't end up having time to write anything. That being said, this week I have finals, but then school's over until January. YAY! During break, I'll have a whole lot of time to write. I'm hoping to be able to update several times a week, so please just bear with me for a little longer.

…

The First Visitor

…

This morning, I woke up to go get my mom from the airport, and to my absolute horror, found that my roommate had apparently invited a bunch of stoner friends over and they'd trashed the place. Plastic cups of all colors, cigarettes, plastic bags full of "herbs", matches, beer bottles, straws, sharpies, scraps of various fast food wrappers, and suspicious white powders littered the floor, tables, and couch.

"Oh my God."

I scoured the place for people, and found just one- in the bathtub.

"Get out of my house!" I yelled frantically.

He smiled up at me dreamily and poked the edge of the tub.

I groaned and hauled him up and out of there, pushing him in the direction of the door. He staggered out and then stood in the doorway waving at me like a princess in a kid's movie. He even started blowing kisses.

I pushed him back a few inched and then slammed the door in his face.

Quickly, I began cleaning. Years with my mom had proved to be beneficial, because I'd learned how to clean up quickly and efficiently whenever I'd made a mess that I had to keep her from seeing.

I grabbed trash bags and began tossing in every bit of trash or suspicious substance. I even threw away the sharpies, just to be safe. That task alone took me half an hour. After that, I moved on to vacuuming.

I sucked up any remnants of what had remained. I vacuumed every surface, the floor, the couch, the bathroom floor. The only room I left alone was my own, which fortunately hadn't been touched.

Next, I mopped up the kitchen and bathroom with a Swiffer and wiped down all the counters, cabinets, and much of the walls. The wipes and Swiffer pads went into the trash bag.

I checked my watch. My mom's flight landed in 15 minutes.

I grabbed an air freshener and sprayed it all over the dorm, including in my room. I pulled in jeans, slipped into tennis shoes, and buttoned up my shirt as I ran out with the trash bag. I didn't even look behind me as I left.

The trash bag I threw toward a dumpster. I don't actually know if it landed in there, because I'd already started running again. I made it to the bus station and began smoothing my bed head down as best I could. A glance at my watch made me swear again.

"Fuck, I missed the bus. I've got ten minutes."

I waved my hands around and yelled for a taxi. One stopped and I leapt in.

"Airport!" I yelped.

He raised an eyebrow and asked, "In a bit of a hurry, aren't you?"

"YES!"

He took his sweet time merging back into traffic while I fiddled with my hands worriedly. My mom doesn't tolerate lateness. Being late, to her, means that I was doing something dangerous or illegal. Or both.

Finally, we pulled into the airport and I jumped out of the taxi, about to head in, when the guy asked, "And where's my pay?"

"Umm…" I mumbled as I realized I'd left my wallet at home. "How much?"

He told me, and I searched through my pockets in hopes of a miracle.

I found one, in the form of my ATM card.

"Do you take these?" I asked.

"No."

"Well, can I get the money from an ATM then? I'm sure there's one in there."

"How do I know you won't take off without paying me?"

I groaned in exasperation.

"Why don't you ESCORT me there then?"

He thought for a moment.

"Fine."

We got out of the taxi, he locked it, and then we went into the airport to locate an ATM. We found a few, but they all had at least five people waiting for them. I checked my watch again.

Late. I was already late.

I fiddled around in line until it was my turn. Thankfully, I got the money out without any problems. I handed it over to the man, waited for him to count it, and then dashed off to the baggage claim, where I'd be meeting my mom.

I found the correct belt, but there was no one there.

"Shit. I'm so late… she's gonna kill me."

I looked around the baggage claim for my mom. Then I caught a glimpse of the sign above the belt.

FLIGHT DELAYED- ESTIMATED ARRIVAL- 10:16 AM.

"TWO HOUR DELAY? DAMNIT!"

I collapsed into a chair and waited.

The plane arrived at about 10 o'clock, an hour and a half later.

Of course, I'd fallen asleep.

"Freddie? Freddiebear?"

I opened my eyes and blinked a few times before I remembered where I was and what I was doing. I stood up and smiled.

"Mom! Nice to see you!"

It kind of was, actually.

"Freddie! Are you alright?" she asked worriedly.

"I'm fine. I didn't sleep too well last night and didn't find out about your delay until I not here."

She nodded and I took her suitcase.

We caught a taxi back to the dorms, and my mom paid the driver when we got there.

My mom complimented me on how clean I was keeping everything, and I almost laughed.

"Did you find an acceptable academic fraternity?"

I frowned, "No. None of them were right for me."

"I did tell you not to get your hopes up…"

"I know, mom."

I gave her a short tour, and then we settled on the couch. She asked me how I liked everything so far, and I told her it was okay. I skirted around her questions about my roommate by saying he wouldn't be here until next week, so I hadn't met him yet.

Finally, she asked me what I knew was coming.

"What about Sam?"

I shrugged.

"I mean", she continued, "Are you two still… together?"

"Well, yea. Of course."

She swallowed thickly, as if the idea sickened her.

"How exactly do you manage that when you're so far apart?"

"We talk on the phone every night. I'm trying to get a Skype set up so we can see each other too."

My mom pondered this for a moment.

"I just don't understand-"

"What I see in her?" I finished.

"Here's the deal, mom. I really care about Sam. We've been friends for a long time, and she knows me pretty well. She's fun to be around, and with her I can forget my worries for a little while. I know you don't really get it, because she's so… different than me… but I'd really appreciate it if you would accept it."

"But she's a criminal! She constantly breaks the law, and… and she's just so rude!"

"Mom. Sam's had a rough life. Being "rude" is just her way of protecting herself. And… well, remember Dad?"

Her eyes grew wide and she took in a large breath.

We never talked about my dad. He came from a bad family and that caused him to get addicted to some illegal drugs. He ran away from home, was homeless for a while, but then he got it all together and met my mom. She knew that he had a bad past, but never wanted to know more about it because it didn't matter. She loved him no matter what. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough. His father tracked him down and murdered him, leaving me and my mom with just each other. She's been afraid that he'll come back for me, and that's why she's so overprotective. I don't like it, but I understand.

"What about Henry?" she asked warily.

"You knew he came from a bad place. But you didn't care about it, because you loved him. I feel the same about Sam."

"You're… in love with Samantha?" she asked with a slightly panicky expression.

"No. Well, yes. I'm not really sure. But I do know everything about her background and it's just as bad as Dad's. She's scarred from what happened to her just like Dad was. Just like we are."

My mom bit her lip and a teary glaze coated her eyes. She stared off into space, thinking about my dad.

"Don't judge Sam based on what you see on the surface. She's more than meets the eye."

I left the room, leaving my mom alone to process everything, and fixed dinner.

We sat on the couch and ate it while watching her movie pick, "Cinderella". I suffered through it in silence, until…

"Freddie! What is THIS?"

My mom pulled something from between the couch cushions and I mentally slapped myself for not checking in there.

"I um…"

"You promised not to eat too much junk food! Freddie!"

She looked at the McDonald's bag in disgust.

"I got a salad", I improvised, "with one of the fraternities that went to McDonald's."

She frowned. "Freddie, do you know how unhealthy the dressing is there? It seems healthy, but it's just as deadly as a hamburger."

"Sorry, mom. I guess I forgot. It won't happen again."

She nodded and went back to watching the movie. I grinned and thought about how much I would have to tell Sam once my mom went to her hotel.

…

Next chapter will be up tomorrow (with all the chaos this week, I haven't quite finished it).

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