Mom’s voice answers back and my eyes roll all by themselves. “Sage, when you’re done with the shower I need to speak to you.”
“Okay,” I huff. Way to ruin a fantasy.
I don’t bother chasing after my orgasm. It’s long gone and probably scared to death of my mother’s shrill voice. I finish washing up and step out of the shower, grabbing a towel to wrap around my body.
I yelp when I see Mom sitting on my bed with her arms folded tight enough to cut off her circulation. Evidently, privacy is a thing of the past. My heart is beating wildly as I move past her and yank my robe from the back of the closet door.
“Mom, what are you doing in here?”
“I told you I wanted to talk to you after you got out of the shower.”
“Well, I thought you meant like…after I was dressed.” I tighten the robe’s tie around my waist to shield myself from her stare. The purple bruises on my neck are fading but she stares anyway, like she can see Mars’s fingerprints on my skin.
“I meant now.” She unfolds her arms and pushes out a sigh. I’ve already annoyed her and we haven’t been in the same room for ten minutes.
Great.
“I talked to your father and he’s asking me to take it easy on you as far as this…boy is concerned.”
“He’s my boyfriend,” I blurt out. I’m tired of calling Mars my friend, and I’m tired of dancing around what he is to me. My skin heats at the declaration and a small smile tugs on the corners of my mouth. I hide the tiny smile with my knuckle and try to avoid looking at Mom’s ice-blue eyes.
“I see.” She tilts her nose in the air and for a moment, I allow myself to imagine her falling backward from the weight of her overinflated ego. I swallow the laughter. “Well, can I at least know his name, where he’s from, and what he’s going to school for?” She looks at me and I pull on my robe tie again.
“Mom, please. I gotta go. I don’t want to talk about this right now.” I want to keep Mars close and private for as long as I can. He’s my little slice of peace. The moment I unleash my mother on him, we’ll have to defend every move we make. I know it.
“Since when have you kept things from me, Sage? I’m your mother.” Since you started ignoring who I really am.
“I’m not keeping anything from you. I just told you he’s my boyfriend. I don’t have time for an in-depth conversation about it right now.” I move over to my closet and pull down a Marilyn Manson sweatshirt and a pair of jeans.
“I want you to make time in your busy schedule to sit down and talk to me about this boy, who seems to have your head in the clouds.”
I grit my teeth against her words and hurry to get dressed behind the closet door. I can’t wait to get out of this house. I walk out of the closet and past Mom then I flop down at my vanity.
“You’re being so unladylike, Sage. That’s not how you should sit.” And she wonders why I don’t talk to her like we’re best friends. I try my hardest to tune her out, but it’s like she can bypass any guard I toss up.
I hate it.
“Sit up straight,” she says with a sigh before walking over to me. I see her hand move toward the brush and I groan inwardly.
“I don’t have time for you to brush my hair. I have to go or I’m going to be late.” I pull my hair into a messy bun and Mom shakes her head.
“The time it took you to put that…mess on top of your head could have been spent brushing your hair. You have to put effort into looking nice. You don’t just wake up that way.”
“I don’t care about how I look when I’m going to class.” I actually say what’s on my mind instead of choking it back. A quick thrill slices through me. I’m sure I won’t be able to do it again, so I grab my bag and move past Mom before she can speak.
I hear her saying something behind me, but I’m out of the front door before she can catch up with me. Once I’m sure she’s not going to chase me down like a crazy woman, I slow in my stride and make my way to class.
I don’t look forward to my afternoon political science class, but it means I get to be away from Mom and her incessant questions for at least an hour. So I sit and listen to Professor Jamison go on and on about state and urban politics until I can hear my brain drying up.