[insert catchphrase] Hi. I own nothing you recognize.
See you at the end note. (Cause I know you just want to read anyways.)
Chapter 4
This could be worse…
The small collection of bags sits by her foot, propped up lazily against her (now bare) legs. Her new skirt stretches over the expanse of skin, halting near the middle of her thighs, and she pulls at the still somewhat uncomfortably tight fabric. (She misses her pants.) Her actions go largely unnoticed in the large setting of the mall's food court, people at the nearby tables focused on the large trays of food in front of them.
Brown hair curls around her face. Stops at her shoulder. Caresses her cheek. A voice rumbles in her ear, low and breathy. Needy, almost. "You know, Zoe, if you wanted out of your clothes, I'd be more than happy to help speed up the process." Instinctively, she narrows her eyes and turns her head swiftly over her shoulder. Her mouth opens for a retort, but it dies in her throat.
She could've sworn…
Her mother is standing over her shoulder, eyes full of confusion, hands full of trays. "If you didn't want the food, honey," her mother says, dropping the two carefully balanced meals onto the table, "you could've just said so."
Izumi's face flushes, the all-too-familiar (because of Takuya – er, dream Takuya) pink tinge creeping toward the tips of her ears. She takes a moment to shake her head, muttering a soft (and not too-embarrassed) "thanks." Her mother just gives one of those "uh huh" noises that sounds both accepting and patronizing at the same time.
After the food is dispensed between mother and daughter, (how did her mother know she wanted French fries, ice cream, and a sandwich?) the moments pass by in a (mostly) comfortable silence. Of course, her mom being…her mom…there are the occasional questions thrown about here and there. Most are mundane questions that she's pretty sure her mom could answer on her own, but she humors her anyway. (You know, because she's paying – or is using her dad's "freely given" money – for all of this.) But then…
Things get interesting. (Or mortifying, if you want to look at it that way.)
When the two of them finish eating, Zoe's mom points out the nearest bathroom, saying that she'd be there "if you need me". Zoe nods, missing her mother's glare in her direction. If she hadn't, her mother wouldn't have resorted to pulling (read: dragging) Zoe in, despite her protests of not having to go.
"So, sweetie," her mother begins in a tone that Zoe can't really describe in any other way than curious, "do you know why we're here?" It takes a lot of effort to resist saying ("Because old people have tiny bladders?") out loud, but she does, choosing instead to shrug as nonchalantly as possible. (Ok, and maybe muttering it into her hand.)
Her mom sighs heavily into her chest, head turned down in an obvious state of disappointment. (Or disapproval, because sometimes shewas just weird like that.) Then she takes her daughter by the hand and points it at their reflection in the mirror. "We're here, darling, because you're obviously going through something right now." As she says this, she takes one of her hands and extends a finger so that it is roughly pointing toward mirror Zoe's navel. "Whatever it is, I want you to know that your father and I love you and that nothing will change that."
Zoe blinks for a moment. "Mom, what are you talking about?" Her head turns to look at her mother. Then at the reflection. Then at the finger. The realization does not dawn on Zoe at first, but when it does, it is met with a large amount of shame and embarrassment that her mother would think that…that…that was happening, along with the vehement denial that seems all too appropriate (even though it probably isn't helping her case).
The resulting scream of "I'm not pregnant, mom!" reverberates throughout the entire bathroom. It clatters off of tiles and smashes into mirrors, bursts through the door and runs down the mall courtyard like the water in the bathroom faucet. Her face flushes as loudly and suddenly as the toilet behind her would if it were in use. Then her mother laughs – in a full bellied, I just finished a Comedy Central marathon sort of way – and Zoe is left utterly confused.
"Why would I think that you're pregnant?" Her mother wheezes the question out in between gasps and guffaws, and it takes a lot of Izumi's willpower not to snap at her. (Which would be bad, because, you know…mother.) She takes a few seconds more to compose herself, stomach curling with phantom gasps, then turns Izumi to look her directly in the eyes (you know, despite that Izumi is a good inch or so taller, she thinks with a bit of pride).
"You're not though, are you? Because you know I'd love you and support no matter what, and even if Daddy would be a little angry – but not at you, just at "whoever touched my princess" – he would too, but if you are, we need to plan for it now because I don't think any of us saw this coming and if the boy that did this to you is going to skip out then he's going to have to deal with me and-"
(So that's where I get my nervous ramble from, Izumi thinks.)
"Mom, I'm not pregnant."
"Oh. Okay."
"…"
"…"
"So what did you want to talk about?"
"Uh…"
"Is it about your sex life?"
"Wh-what?"
"I'm really glad you're telling me about it –."
"What?!"
"-but honey, let's be serious, you weren't really that subtle. Your room reeks of sex. Please, tell that Takuya boy to open up a window."
"Mom, I'm not…" Zoe stammers, then pauses. "How did you know his name was Takuya?" She realizes, just as the words leave her mouth, that she still hasn't denied the sex. She opens her mouth to correct that mistake, but it's too late.
"Oh Izumi, you don't have to play dumb with me." Her mother says, placing a well-manicured hand on Zoe's head. I can hear, you know. You're pretty loud, btw. It's something you inherited – sorry, by the way – but you should really try to fix that."
Her scream of pure disgust echoes off of the walls as she runs out of the bathroom.
...so, that's part 1 of Chapter 4. Sorry to cut it so abruptly! I wanted to wait until it was, you know, complete and just release it as a whole chapter, but it had been awhile, so...didn't want to make you all wait more.
Also, if you didn't notice, I left a little hint of what's next in store on my list of things to do. (I also wasn't very subtle. You may have been waiting for a while for it.)
See you soon... *cue smirk*