Nikki walked me home, arm in arm, and talked my ear off about the rudeness of the once-hunky Tobias. "Seriously," she sighed, buzzing us in like it was her home too. I could have told her what Tobias had said to me. Then I second-guessed that topic of conversation and let her carry on. "The nerve of some idiots. He could have at least looked at me." We stepped into the elevator were lifted upward.
"Aw, jelly much?" I nudged her ribcage, trying to lighten the mood for myself, too.
"Yes."
"Shut up," I laughed. The elevator buzzed and we pushed open the door.
As always, Mom found some inspiration while I was out. Old newspapers littered the floor, dabbed with colorful blotches of paint. We walked inside, Nikki minding her new boots, and came upon my mother doing what looked to be some sort of yoga pose. She stood in front of a huge canvas that faced away from us, leaving up against the couch. Mom looked at us, upside-down, from between her legs.
"Girls! Hi, Nikki!"
"–pfft– Hey, Ms. Bird," I elbowed her in the ribs, but couldn't stop laughing myself. Mom up-righted herself and swatted a loose strand of hair out of her face.
"Yeah, you think it's so funny," Mom grabbed my hand, and I grabbed Nikki's. She pulled us in front of the canvas and turned us around. "Look at it."
"Well, I can't unless I grow eyes out of my butt."
Nikki snickered. Mom rolled her eyes and did her stance again, spreading her feet out and looking at the canvas upside-down. I complied, bending the same way, and Nikki, still snickering, obeyed.
What was once a splatter of unorganized blues and oranges became a ballerina and a young man on his knees. The ballerina stood on her toes, one arm above her head and the other stretched elegantly towards the rose the man held out to her. Nikki had stopped snickering. With the blood rushing to my head, it took me a second to think of how amazing my Mom was.
We all up-righted ourselves and squished into the loveseat. The unorganized splatter was back, but now we could just make out the ballerina and her companion.
"Wow, mom,"
"That was pretty cool, Ms. Bird."
Mom smiled. It was only every other Saturday that her artwork was complimented, after all. "Thank you, girls. Nikki, are you spending the night?"
Obviously, since she didn't have her black over-night bag with her. Nikki shook her head. "Just walking my BFF home. Ever since she fell into the street–"
I couldn't elbow her fast enough. Mom's eyes went wide, and she jumped over Nikki to look at me. Grabbing my face between her hands, smushing my cheeks together, she bombarded me with questions. "Are you hurt? What happened? How'd you fall? Why weren't you paying attention, honey?"
"Mom! Mom!" I pushed her hands away and took a much needed breath. "I'm fine. I just tripped. That's all."
Nikki raised her eyebrows behind Mom. I raised mine back, daring her to say another word. She shrugged and stood up, fixing her scarf. She had Tobias in her eyes, but only said, "Bye, Ms. Bird. See ya later, Mim." I waved goodbye and just went ahead and let Mom clean the gravel cuts in my palm.
It suddenly got very cold, and I glanced around the room. None of the windows were open. Must've been a draft, I thought, and winced as the rubbing alcohol burned my palms.