Morose ✔️

5

Fresh air has been said to help basically anything. At least my mom always said so. She said it again in a text, then she called and said she was going to the mall, and then she showed up at my door to drag me with her. I had a sneaking suspicion that she wanted to talk about something, and just disguised it as a shopping trip.

She hated shopping. That's how I knew.

At least I could get some new stuff, and I didn't care if I survived whatever talk she wanted to have with me either, so it wasn't really such a bad thing to get out a little. Some sun on my pale skin couldn't hurt, and my body probably needed the exercise— if you could call walking around inside a mall exercise.

I tried to go out with the hoodie I wore to the grocery store, but my mom stopped me, saying it was unflattering and hid my gorgeous figure, so I had to change into something else before we could go. If I'd felt better, I'd have fought her for it, but I didn't want to spend the precious amount of energy I had on something like that.

Instead I wore a ripped Guns N' Roses shirt. It wasn't quite what my mom wanted, but she was happy I changed out of the too-big hoodie and didn't argue anymore when I came out of my bedroom with it on. I was a grown woman, but it still mattered to my mom that I didn't look like a train wreck. It mattered to me too, but I didn't think that hoodie was too bad.

"Maybe we should get you some whole clothes," my mom said in the car on the way to the mall.

I snorted, thinking it was a little too funny that she'd start caring about that now. "These pants were whole when I bought them," I told her, grinning a little towards her, only to get an eyeroll back, along with a chuckle.

We went into several stores, not really buying much, but we looked at trends, laughed at them and wondered who the hell was in charge of selecting what people were supposed to wear at the time— usual stuff we'd done from time to time for as long as I could remember. I ended up buying a new collection of earrings and a cheap bracelet, while my mom opted for something she needed, a new pair of pants.

It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. She acted normal. I acted normal. We were normal— but then came lunch time. The gray clouds gathered over us like magnets when we sat down at the cafe. In an attempt at making the break last for as little time as possible, I got myself a sandwich, and planned to excuse myself to the bathroom when I was finished.

I knew those plans rarely made it, but I tried nonetheless. But... it was no use. When I finished eating, my mom looked at me, eyes shiny and her face filled with worry, as she leaned closer and lowered her voice. "Are you okay, Olivia? Really? I heard—"

"I'm okay," I interrupted her, sending her a big, reassuring smile. "I've reconnected with Jesse, actually, and we spent a whole day together this week, watched movies, ate junk..."

I trailed off, shrugging, taking a sip of my drink, while still smiling her way. I hoped that piece of information would push her off the thought of whatever she'd heard. "That's good!" she exclaimed, as if it was a big surprise. "That's really good, Jesse is such a good kid, always so nice and generous. What's he up to now?"

"Um, he's fixing motorcycles," I told her, nodding along as if it was a natural thing. It was, for him, anyway; he'd always been interested in that sort of thing. I wasn't surprised at all when he told me he got a job at the shop a few years back, before we lost touch..

"No, I know that, I talk to his mom all the time." She waved her hand in the air and rolled her eyes with a small smirk. "I meant, is he seeing someone? That girl from you high school, perhaps? Or is he... you know... available? He's grown into a very good looking, young man, Olivia."