Chapter Six: A Night Out
Naomi
I stood up and stretched my arms over my head, letting out a groan. I had been sitting in the same position for way too long making my body stiff. My eyes were tired from staring at the screen of my laptop, but the research paper I’d been working on was still not finished. It was an assignment for my psychology class, and we had been given the freedom to choose our own topic as long as it was something that we’d covered in class this semester. So, I’d decided to focus on the application of the four recognized parenting styles and their long-term effects on children. It was a big undertaking, but the paper would be worth thirty percent of my overall grade for the class. Besides, it applied directly to my social work degree.
This was important, but I felt restless. I seriously needed a break. Besides, it was only Thursday and the paper wasn’t due until the beginning of next week.
Standing from the kitchen table, I glanced into the living room. Gavin was playing with his game system, working his way through the levels of the Mario game that Smoke had bought for him yesterday. Gavin loved it, but even better than that was the way the two of them got along so well while they were playing.
“Your homework is done, right?” I asked, folding my arms across my chest.
He’d sat across from me at the table for about a half an hour when he got home from school, completing a math worksheet before playing his game.
“Yeah,” he said without looking away from the television.
I cleared my throat to get his attention.
He frowned but paused it and looked at me.
“One math worksheet? That’s it?”
“Yeah,” he repeated, holding my eyes.
“Okay,” I said after a moment. I knew he hated my ‘homework before video games’ rule, but I didn’t detect a lie. “How about some pizza for dinner?”
“Yeah!”
I chuckled. “Is that the only word you know how to say?”
“Yeah,” he replied with a toothy grin.
“Aright, I’ll order the pizza. Extra anchovies and olives?”
“Ew!” Gavin wrinkled his nose.
I felt love for this little boy swell inside of my chest. “Pepperoni it is, then.”
I pulled out my phone to place an order online and saw that I had a text message from Angel. She was asking me to go out with her tonight. My immediate reaction was to say no, that I had too much schoolwork to do on one of my few evenings off. I even went as far as to type out the message, but I hesitated with my finger lingering over the SEND button.
I really needed a break. I felt like it had been forever since I did something fun, something for myself. I worked, went to school, and took care of Gavin. Then, I did it again. And again.
I had fallen into a pattern, heavy with responsibility and it was all becoming a bit overwhelming. So, instead of declining Angel’s offer to take me out to a bar, I opened another text message conversation and sent one to Samantha, asking if she could babysit tonight.
Her reply was almost immediate, confirming she would come over in half an hour.
I felt a sliver of excitement as I sent a message to Angel, telling her when and where she could pick me up. I couldn’t even remember the last time I put on a dress that I wasn’t going to turn around and take off while spinning around a pole. Of course, those outfits were more like cheap costumes that barely covered my body to begin with.
“I’m going out tonight,” I told Gavin.
He then turned his attention from his game to me. “With Smoke?” he asked.
This question surprised me. “What? Why would you ask that?”
“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “Isn’t that what parents do?”
Uh-oh.
Pushing aside all thoughts about what I might wear out tonight, I went to the couch, taking a seat beside Gavin. “Yeah, sometimes parents do that when they are in a relationship. But Smoke and I are just friends.” I wasn’t even sure if we could be considered as being friends, if I were being honest. He’d only recently seemed less hostile toward me. I hoped it meant he was moving past his anger about my keeping Gavin a secret from him. I felt attracted to him just as much as I had been the night we met, but that didn’t mean anything. It would never lead anywhere, not after what I did. I felt sure about that.