8/10
Sharon Raydor smoothed down her modest skirt over her thighs with both of her palms then looked up with a distracted little smile. Her breathing was a little irregular, her pupils slightly dilated. Ricky had no idea what the heck was wrong with his mother and, from the looks of her, neither had his sister.
"Mom, are you alright? Do you need a glass of water or something?" He was about to signal the waitress, but Sharon just waved, almost knocking over the single tulip that stood in a vase in the middle of the small round table. Ricky caught it and cocked an eyebrow. "Out with it, then. What is it?"
His mother looked equal parts excited and terrified. She took a deep breath before she spoke, her voice a good octave above her usual tone. "Okay. Ricky…" She looked from him to his sister "and-" Outside on the street, a minivan roared past and drowned out his sisters name. "I guess I'll just have to come out with it… I- I am- I found someone." She struggled for breath, having forgotten to breathe through her admission. "I am in a relationship. His name is-"
"Andy Flynn," they finished her sentence with feigned boredom. Their mother's eyes became large and round with shock.
"What? How do you know? Did Rusty tell you?"
"Not necessary, Mom," Ricky told her. "After all, you friended…" Somewhere near them, the waitress dropped a tray full of glasses and the sound was ear-shattering. "… and me on facebook."
"But I rarely even post anything!" Ricky was pretty amused by his mother's helpless flailing of arms.
"In the past few months you posted a message to Rusty that you believed was in a private message saying that you would meet up for dinner with Andy and a few weeks later there was a picture of Rusty on the balcony that wasn't blurry, so there is no way that you took it yourself. And then a certain Andy Flynn liked every single one of your status updates."
His mother looked defensive now, having folded both of her arms in front of her chest. "And that makes him my boyfriend."
"If you were fourteen, definitely," Ricky explained calmly. "But I was convinced once he began to routinely like everything you posted. Even the picture you involuntarily took of the inside of your handbag and accidentally uploaded to your facebook account."
Sharon looked defeated now, slumping her shoulders. "I've been meaning to ask you to help me delete that."
"It's not that hard." Ricky's sister was slurping on her orange juice with a huge grin on her face. "I'll also show you how to change your relationship status."
Their mother raised her hands in horror. "No! He's my subordinate. It's all very forbidden."
"Mom," Ricky gave her a wide smile. "Stop beating yourself up about it. We couldn't be happier for you. After all this time being single, you found someone who likes you."
"And all of your accidental status updates on facebook," his sister added.
Ricky could tell from the forcefulness of his mother's embrace that she was much more relieved than she let on.