Chapter 9

 

I woke up late and so does Greg. The weird thing is, Mom and Dad are still here. Saturdays are yoga day for Mommy and cook-off for Daddy but why are we sharing our breakfast together?

 

This is the first after a very long time.

 

“Uhm, Mom, Dad, why are you here?” I asked nervously.

 

I didn’t mean to offend them but can someone please explain to me why the hell we’re all here? It’s like somebody planned a meeting behind my back and everybody’s forced to attend it.

 

“I don’t see anything wrong about it Sweet” she answered with a bright smile.

 

“I’m going to order tux this afternoon with Greg” Dad announces.

 

“Why?” I asked, fidgeting with my knife.

 

“You’re coming to the prom, right?” Greg finally voice in.

 

“Ugh, maybe not?”

 

“What? Why?” mom exclaimed.

 

“I just don’t want to…”

 

“No, you should and you will. I cancelled everything just to come with you to the stylist this afternoon”

 

“Is she someone who style dead people?” I asked.

 

“Na-ah, of course not!” she answered while wiggling her finger in the air.

 

“But Mom…”

 

“No more but’s! You’re going whether you like it or not”

 

**

 

“We’re running out of granola bars too” I said.

 

I’m walking to the bathroom with Mom behind my back. I finished checking our downstairs for missing necessities. We decided to hop to the mart before going to the stylist that she mentioned this morning. That’s why we’re making a list.

 

My Mom needs to fulfill a lot of wife duties around here.

 

“Should we leave that out?”

 

“Nah, I love granola bars.”

 

“Let me clarify the difference between needs and wants…”

 

“Mom, stop… okay, I get it”

 

“Good. No granola bars”

 

I sighed. I love granola bars because it’s convenient.

 

“Cleansing foams” I looked over as she writes it down, smiling with the thought that I can finally wash my face with something more effective than anti-bacterial soaps we bought at the mart with free toothbrushes or something. “And new sponges”, I added.

 

She stared at me for a short while analyzing why we need all the things I told her to mark down. “Ugh, correct me if I’m wrong but we ordered those sponges from Canada and they’re just a month old”

 

“You got that right Mother” I whispered while smiling, “Congratulations Mommy” I hugged while laughing silently. I’m just so happy that I said cleansing foams before announcing the sponges. I kind of made the right decision with that one.

 

She pushed me with a forced laugh. “Shut up Sweet, let’s go”

 

**

 

We arrived at the mart and shocked when we saw how long the lines at the cashiers are. It’s a weekend, I forgot, they have quality sales every Saturday. I hate sales!

 

“Mom, should we eat our lunch first and go back when all this people disappeared?” I was about to turn 180 degrees when she pulled my arm and gave a slight hit.

 

“Stay! You’re not going to eat unless we have all these things piled in our car” she said while jiggling the list on my face.

 

“Fine. Let’s do this!” I shouted with conviction.

 

I wish I left with dad. That’d be nice. Greg and Daddy’s probably eating something delicious right now. Mom is trying so hard to actually fulfill her wife duties. I stopped my day-dreaming when I bumped someone with my cart “Sorry…” I said with my head down. Gosh, I’m so clumsy.

 

“Honey, watch out” Mom said behind my back.

 

“Chocolate chip?” someone asked, it sounds so familiar.

 

I looked around only to find out that we’re in the sweet section and of course people would be asking for chocolate chips around here. Maybe I anticipated that I’d meet the guy I met at Starbucks today. Sorry Sweet you don’t have that much luck today.

 

We’re in the poultry are and Mom’s picking up some butter.

 

I’m looking around for something to buy or someone to exchange hellos with and I spotted a new milk and strawberry yogurt drink! This is so much better than meeting a handsome guy. “Mommy can I put this in?” I asked while holding the drink up to my face.

 

She laughed, “of course you can”