Chapter 10: Family Matters

(Tara's POV)

Bzz... Bzz... Bzz...

I looked up from the notes I was studying and sighed.

'I only have a week till exams,' I groaned inwardly, 'Whoever it is needs to get the picture.'

PJ, who was sitting across from me, looked up too. "You should really see who that is," he whispered, "This is the third time they've called since we got here."

He was right. We'd arrived at the library over an hour ago, Isabelle had kicked us out of the dorm to do some "studying" with her boyfriend, and my phone wouldn't quit ringing.

With a huff I picked it up and checked the caller I.D.: 'Mom'. 'Oh no,' I thought, 'She probably thinks something horrible has happened to me.'

I mouthed to PJ that I'd be back in a moment and headed out of the building, picking up the phone. "Hey, mom," I started.

"Tara, hey," she chriped, "Sorry to bother you, but I am just so excited!"

"About what?"

"Your room is all ready for you for when you come back after the semester is over!"

"Oh," I tried to sound enthusiastic, but I wasn't. It's not that I didn't want to go back, because I did, but I'd forgotten to tell her I wasn't going to be there right after I'd finished out the semester.

"Mom, there's something I have to tell you."

"What's that?" Her tone changed almost instantly from light to stern.

"I won't be coming home the first two weeks of summer."

"Why not?" She asked with a hint of irritation; this was going to end badly.

"Well," I began, mustering up the courage, "Because I am going on a trip with my friends to Ireland."

"You're doing what?" She snapped, making me flinch, "And when did you plan on telling me this?"

"Mom, there's no need to get mad," I shot back, "I'm 20, not 12. I can make decisions like this without your permission."

"Not when you plan on stay at my house for the summer!"

"It's just a trip to Ireland, mom. I'll be with PJ, it isn't a big deal."

"PJ? Who the bloody hell is PJ?! The only friends you've ever talked to me about are Mark and Isabelle. Did you meet him online? Is that why you're going to Ireland? To meet up with your online boyfriend?"

"What? No! He goes to UCA with me! He's a senior. I met him back at the beginning of the year."

"So you just meet some random boy and run away with him to Ireland and decide not to tell me!"

"Mom, stop!" I hissed, "Maybe if you'd just ask instead of jumping to conclusions and yelling at me, you'd know the whole story! I'm going with PJ and 6 other people to Ireland for two weeks. It's a celebration trip because PJ is graduating. It's not something to get all bent out of shape about. We're all mature adults. It's not like I am sixteen anymore, I can take care of myself. I just want to live a little."

"Well I guess you can just find a new place to stay for the summer since you are so mature and can take care of yourself," she spit before hanging up the phone.

I took a deep, frustrated breath and slunk down against the library wall. She wasn't serious, was she? It was hard to tell. On one hand I was her first born child, and her only daughter, andd she was very protective of me because of it. On the other, though, she'd made my dad sleep on the couch for a whole week because he'd done her laundry for her and forgot to seperate them correctly.

I sat for a long while, thinking, wondering, if she was serious and, if she was, where I was going to stay.

PJ walked out of the building about a half hour later and looked around. When he spotted me, the worried look on his face was replaced with one of relief and he took a seat next to me.

"Hey," he tried, glancing at me, "Why are you still sitting out here?"

"My mom just told me to find another place to stay for the summer because I didn't ask her if I could go to Ireland," I huffed.

"Wait, really?"

"Yeah."

"But you're twenty!"

"I know."

"Well that's ridiculous," he exclaimed before he looked over at me with a serious expression, "Where do you plan on staying?"

"I don't know," I whined, hiding my head in my knees, "I really have no idea. It's one thing to camp out at a friend or family member's house for a week or two between semesters, but this is almost three months."

"Well..." He mused, "You could always stay with Jamie and I for the summer. We don't have a spare room, but you could keep your stuff in my room and I'll sleep out on the couch."

I picked my head up and looked over at him, "Oh no, I couldn't possibly."

"I insist. It's just a couple of months. And besides, Jamie and I will have graduated, we'll need someone around the house to make us actually do things."

I laughed some and stood up, holding my hand out to pull PJ up. "Well," I decided, "I guess I'll take you up on your offer, assuming my mom was serious about not letting me come home, but I'm sleeping on the couch, not you."

We laughed and headed back into the library to continue studying.

Yay. I did it! Chapter 10! Finally in the double digit chapters! I really thought I would never get this far, I am literally the laziest person you will ever meet, but I am so glad I did.

How's everyone liking the story so far? Too fast or too slow? Too realistic or not realistic enough? Let me know!

Finally added a bit of drama to the story line. Trust me, this is not even close to the end of the drama or excitement. I want to let all of my readers know right now that there will be no ED 's, cutting, suicide attempts, or any other generally angst filled topics. If you were hoping at some point that the O/C would have one of these then you have found the wrong fic.

Thank you everyone for 500 views! You have no idea how much that means to me!

-Boots