14: Something Short and Sweet

The next morning, you sat downstairs in your kitchen with a hot cup of coffee in your cold hands. You picked up the creamer, pouring it in with the sugar that you'd already added, then stirred it with your spoon. As you took a small sip, your mom came running down the staircase, her hair soaking wet and a towel wrapped around her. You cringed.



"Mom! Nobody wants to see that. Go put some clothes on," you said. 

She laughed, teasingly rubbing her butt on you. "Come on, show your mom some lovin'."



"Mom!" You took a few steps away, cupping your coffee in your hands so you wouldn't spill it.



"Why are you up so early?" she asked, walking over to the fridge to get out the bag of bagels.



"I'm waiting for Courtney to come pick me up. I wanted her to drive me today since you said you wouldn't have time." Like she so often does, your mom came into your room late at night last night to tell you about her day. She rambled on and on about how stressful things were at work, going into detail about some meeting she had. Last night just before she left your room, she told you that she wouldn't be able to drive you to school in the morning. She went into a long story just to say that she had another series of meetings that started an hour earlier than normal.

"I don't see why you don't have your license yet, Julie. You have your permit right now and you can easily go down and get a license." She popped her bagel into the toaster.



You took a larger sip of your cooled coffee. I guess I never thought about that. I did get my permit about seven months ago and I already sat through the driver's ed class they made me take. And I already have a car since my mom'll let me use her old one. Why haven't I scheduled a test yet? 
"Because I'm too lazy," you concluded aloud.

"Tell me you'll think about it, though, because I don't want that car to go to waste," she said just as Courtney pulled in the driveway.



You gulped down the last half of your coffee and set in on the counter next to the sink. "Oh! Don't forget, we have to go shopping soon for my dress. I need before Wednesday for the Snowball Dance." You knew you'd have to remind your mom again about that later, but it never hurt to say it now. "Maybe we could go later this evening?"

"Alright, I'll think about it," she said as you headed out the door. "Have a good day!"



"Yeah." You left, running over to Courtney's car while trying to dodge the large snowflakes falling in your hair. You got in, closing the door and throwing your bag down. "Freaking A, it's cold!" you said, huddling next to the heater and shivering.



She laughed at you, flipped the car in reverse and headed out of your driveway. "You're lucky I'm picking you up even though you live two blocks away," she said, turning the car around and facing down the street. 



"You can't help it because you love me," you said, rubbing your hands together and sitting back. 


"Consider yourself lucky.." She turned down the street, the school coming into view. Courtney usually liked to get to school early because there wasn't any traffic.



"My mom rubbed her butt on me," you said randomly.



"Nice. I bet you liked it," she said. "And speaking of which, Patrick told Pete who told me about last night."



You looked at her, raising your eyebrow. "How is that a speaking of which?"



She shrugged. "Because it reminded me about that. By the way, you're a slut," she said, matter-of-factly. 



"What? How am I a slut?" you asked, offended.



"Because you're trying to get action from two different guys. First you're doing naughty things with Alex and now you're trying to kiss Patrick."



"First of all, he leaned in first!" you argued. "And how do you know about what I do with Alex?"



She rolled her eyes. "I'm your best friend, dipshit. You'd think I'd know these things." She pulled into the parking lot, swinging around to the area for student parking. She found her usual spot and turned off the car. 



"By the way, you're taking me to get my license this weekend," you decided out loud.


"Okay," she said. "But it'll have to be on Sunday because Pete and I are doing stuff Saturday." You sighed. Couples made you want to puke. And they made you feel bad about yourself. In a way, you were kind of jealous. Out of nowhere comes all this boy drama for you. Now you're stuck trying to figure out which boy is worth your time; who do you like more? Your head and your heart were locked in a raging battle against each other (secretly, you hoped your heart would win out). Meanwhile, Courtney gets the boy of her dreams with now problems at all. You sighed. You'd just have to remember to say 'bunny bunny' the morning after the dance. Maybe that'll bring you some luck. 



* * *

That morning in school, you were walking down the hallway and saw Alex. You waved to him, trying to get his attention so you could at least say hello. You were almost one hundred percent positive that he saw you from the corner of his eye, but he didn't respond. He just walked away in the other direction. What the Hell? You knew he was just probably being stupid and didn't realize it was you, but you were still upset by this. When the entire day went by and he hadn't even acknowledged you in class, you knew something was up.

This wasn't what you wanted, was it? Cause all we know is falling, it falls.