Muse

Chapter 32

Pamara Blake had walked into a particularly unusual sight on a Saturday evening. Normally, Saturdays were reserved for my Enterprise job and last minute edits for my webcomic, undisputed me-time that she didn't want to get involved with. Lo and behold, you could tell she was startled to find that not only was I not holed up in my room, but that I was washing dishes, my least favorite chore. Dishwashers were basically non-existent in Japan, and we couldn't afford the deluxe apartments that had them, so Jo-Elle and I split the responsibilities of doing them by hand. Because I came home hours before she did, I was the one who got stuck doing them most of the time, especially when our mother couldn't do them and was tortured by having to stare at a sink full of dirty dishes all day long.

Today had been an exception. The TV had been playing daytime public television in the background layered with English subtitles, and while I had no interest in listening to the random stations my mother had playing in the background while she napped (mostly because it wasn't anime), hearing Michael Bublé's melodious voice caused me stop scrubbing a particularly stubborn piece of egg stuck to our frying pan. Warmth and familiarity filled me to the core as the lyrics of "Feeling Good" filled my soul, encapsulating how high on life I had been the last two days. I'd been currently in the thralls of singing my fifth encore of the song, pouring my heart out into the smiley faced scrub-brush during the final stanza when my mother had chosen that moment to step out of the bathroom.

"Alyssa," my mother gasped, her voice that level of exaggeration that meant either she was pleasantly surprised or on the verge of abject fury. Judging from her expression, it appeared to be the former.

"What? Oh hey, Mom. What's up?" I guiltily looked up from my dish, feeling a little tremor in my heart that always happened when I heard that tone of voice. "Did I do something wrong?"

"You're doing the dishes. It's not your turn to do them, is it?"

"It's not, but I figured I'd give Jo-Elle a break. She's been working so hard lately," I said casually, my shoulders dropping in relief as I put away the last of the plates. The load had been small and most of it did not require re-soaking, so it was hardly a burden. "By the way, Mason's volleyball game is on tonight, right? Do you want to watch together and maybe I'll massage your arm?"

"That sounds like a great idea," my mother beamed a smile of disbelief, pleasantly shocked by the suggestion that I not only wanted wanted to watch sports with her, but offered bonus perks willingly. "You seem to be in a good mood, less grumpy and not acting like-" She rolled her eyes and did an overly dramatic sigh that sounded more like a lion in heat. "What's gotten into you?"

Memories of Izuku holding me and declaring his feelings for me caused another burst of warmth into my cheeks, fueling my ever growing smile. "Nothing~ I just had a really good day today and happen to have energy leftover."

"I'm glad. I know Masako has been keeping you late at work for all hours, but you've worked so hard lately, my little busy worker bee. You are growing up so much." She reached over and gave me a big bear hug that I tried to return, hands still covered with suds. I smiled through the lie, not having the heart to tell her that I had actually been out with a boy, something she would not have approved of. Was this what Jo-Elle felt like all the time?

"Let me just finish up here and then I'll pull up YouTube on the Roku so we can watch, 'kay?"

"Oh-kay!" Mom declared, marching over to sit on the lumpy yellow couch we'd had since I was eight that had become her second bed. I finished up the silverware and pulled up the Mooresville High School boys volleyball team. Basketball season was over, but in a small town filled with cousins that did nothing put play sports yearlong, there was rarely a dull moment.