Page 31 of Kiss Me Ever After
Except…
“Lennon? Are you home?” My mother’s voice shouted up the stairs.
What the hell was she even doing here? I struggled into a sitting position and pulled the sheet around my body.
She couldn’t come up here and find us like this.
“Wassup?” mumbled Justin. “Come here.” He tried to pull me back down, but I leaped out of bed and scrambled into my underwear, rapidly pulling on the first pair of shorts and t-shirt I could find.
Trying to act as if everything was normal, I padded barefoot down the stairs to find Mum standing in the hallway, an overnight bag on the floor next to her.
“I wasn’t expecting you.” I embraced her, and she hugged me back tightly.
“Are you okay? I heard about what happened in the cafe. Did the boy really have a knife?”
I pulled away. “How do you know about that?”
“I read something on one of those social media sites.” She averted her eyes briefly, and I sensed she wasn’t telling the truth. Mum wasn’t that social media savvy. How had she found out? Sonya?
“Seriously, Lennon, are you all right?” She grasped my upper arms, her gaze falling on my clothes. “And where did you get that t-shirt?”
In my hurry to get downstairs, I must have picked up Justin’s shirt instead of my own. While the dark grey t-shirt had been close fitting on him, it practically drowned me. I had to hope he’d stay upstairs until I persuaded my Mum to go and see Sonya or something. I mean, I knew that being twenty-three and having a guy stay over wasn’t exactly illegal, but I was still her little girl.
Instead of answering her, I asked her if she wanted a drink and set about making some tea. While the kettle boiled, I gave her the bare bones of the cafe incident, omitting the part where Justin came to my rescue.
“I’m so pleased you weren’t hurt. You hear such horrible stories these days when people are in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Mum sipped her tea. “I didn’t expect it to happen in Ealynn Sands.”
“Teenagers get bored, Mum. They don’t exactly have the same opportunities as I did in London. It’s how they fill their time, unfortunately.” I’d heard that a lot over the past couple of days from various sources. It wasn’t as uncommon as Mum thought.
“Have you seen a lot of Amber?” Mum asked, changing the subject.
“A bit.” I nodded, thinking this could be a good opportunity for me to suggest she popped over to the Kane’s house. “We’ve been out a few times.”
“Good,” she nodded. “I don’t like to think of you being bored and lonely.”
Not much chance of that if whatever Justin and I had started was going to continue.“It’s been fine. But I haven’t been going mad, I need to save money, remember? That’s why I’m here.”
She fell silent, no doubt remembering the reasons which put me in this situation.
“How’s Dad?” I asked. We hadn’t spoken in weeks.
Mum let out a long sigh. “Quiet. Doesn’t go out much. Spends a lot of time reading or playing some stupid game on his Kindle.”
“Has there been any more information about the charges?”
“Not so far. The solicitor has been providing him with updates, but he doesn’t tell me a great deal.”
It must have been hard for her. Uprooted from a life she loved, banished to a remote part of Cornwall to live with her parents, who weren’t exactly impressed with the behaviour of their son-in-law. In several ways, I could identify with her.
From upstairs, I heard a door slam and froze.
“What was that? Is there someone else in the house, Lennon?” Mum jumped out of her chair and started towards the hall.
I heard Justin’s footsteps coming down the stairs and put my hands over my eyes. This wasn’t exactly how I saw things playing out.
She hadn’t got very far when Justin burst through the door.
“What’s taking you so long?” he asked, before grinding to a halt inches away from my mum.
