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leave you money for food and for going out to enjoy the
beginning of your break."
"Yeah? That sounds good." The weight lifted. That's not
what I expected to hear. He had to work to keep the rising
excitement out of his voice. "You two deserve to get away
once in a while." He gave his mom a kiss on the cheek and
walked towards his room. Once there, he shut the door
gently, then did a silent happy dance. His celebration was
short lived when he remembered Scott was still under house
arrest. Hatred for Scott's dad flared up in his chest.
He flopped down onto his bed, grabbing his English book
and beginning his homework. He was in the middle of his
Latin homework when his mother came to his bedroom door.
"Honey, you have a visitor." Derek wondered who would stop
by unannounced and his breath caught in his chest when he
saw Scott standing in his doorway. Derek's pleasure bubbled
up inside of him and his mouth spread into a wild grin. His
mother would have to be a moron not to know exactly what
he was thinking...and she was no moron.
"I'm fixing some chicken for dinner. I'll let you boys know
when it's ready." She lingered in the doorway for a moment.
"Um, I'd like for the two of you to leave the door open." Her
cheeks pinked, clearly uncomfortable at having to make this
request.
"Mom!" Nothing more needed to be said for Derek's
embarrassment to be clearly known.
Derek's indignation seemed to snap his mother out of her
discomfort. "Or the two of you are welcome to spend time in
the living room. I have no problem with you closing this door
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if you're out there." The pink had left her cheeks as she
locked Derek in an unwavering stare.
Derek softened his demeanor. "No, keeping the door open
is fine."
She glanced back and forth between the two of them,
maintaining a serious expression on her face. Derek had
never seen her so parental before. As she headed towards the
kitchen, Derek swore he heard a soft giggle. Wow, she is
some cool shit! Turning his attention to Scott, he ran to the
doorway to make sure his mother wasn't lingering, then ran
to Scott and wrapped his arms around his neck. Scott
returned the embrace and they kissed. "What are you doing
here?"
Scott sat down on Derek's bed leaning against the
headboard. Derek sat cross-legged towards the foot of his
bed facing him. "After you dropped me off, my mom told me
she wanted to talk. She had made fried chicken, which I
found odd because she only makes it when she has
something big to tell me. I half expected she was going to
announce another move." Derek's body stiffened. "Relax,
we're not going anywhere. She told me about the
conversation she had with your mom. I listened as she
poured her soul out, apologizing every third sentence for
failing to stand up to my dad. She even started crying at one
point and I almost lied, saying things hadn't been all that
bad."
Derek gave him an incredulous stare. Scott leaned forward
and placed a hand on Derek's shoulder. "Calm down. I said I
almost lied." Shifting his grip to the back of Derek's neck,
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by D.H. Starr
Scott pulled Derek in for a short kiss, then released him and
leaned back against the headboard.
"So, she's going on and on, telling me how understanding
I've been about the moves and the punishments. And then
she hits me with the big news. She told me my punishment
was over and I could go out again. I asked her when dad had
decided to let me off the hook and she said he hadn't. It blew
my mind. She said that even though he hadn't changed his
mind, she didn't care and was going to...what were her exact
words...oh yeah. Handle things." Scott shook his head, a thin
smile crossing his lips. "She told me I didn't deserve the way
I had been treated and I had never given them any reason to
be disappointed in me. She said this was between her and
dad and I shouldn't worry. I did of course, and said maybe I
should stay home until she actually talked to him, but she
told me to get my unpunished ass out of her house and to go
and enjoy the day. She actually suggested I come over here.
I've never seen her so assertive and in charge before."
"Well, I am glad she was, and I'm happy you're here."
Crawling on his hands and knees, Derek edged closer to
Scott. He tilted his head to the side, like a panther listening
for sounds in the forest, trying to get a sense of his mother's
location. He heard her open the oven and pull the tray out.
Must be basting the chicken. Secure in the knowledge she
wasn't about to walk into his room, he continued slinking
towards Scott who had placed an expression of mock fear on [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]