My Champagne Problems

2: Canard-Duchêne

'People change when their situations do'

"You look to be in an awful mood today," Graham remarks just as I shove myself into his passenger seat. "You know more than usual," he adds but frowns when he realizes that something's wrong.

"What's wrong Liv?" He asks, his voice laced in concern.

"Mum's getting married," I reply, causing him to swerve the car sideways briefly before he takes control of it again.

"The fuck?" He mutters.

"When?" He asks, pulling over to the side of the road not far from my house.

"She announced her engagement yesterday," I shrug.

"And have you met the guy? How is he?" He asks cautiously, placing a comforting arm on my shoulder.

"He has three sons," I say, still trying to process the fact that I'm going to have siblings now.

"Oh, how did they take the news?" He inquires.

I shrug. "You alright Livy?" He frowns. "You know you can tell me anything, right?" He adds in reassurance and I nod.

"For now, let's just get to school on time," I tell him and he nods but not before studying me with a concerned gaze.

"By the way, Mercy and Mason are coming back today," he informs me, my eyes light up at the very mention of the two, now with their arrival from their family vacation that lasted longer than any of us anticipated our group of friends is finally complete.

The rest of the car ride goes by silently per usual, and we soon find ourselves in the school parking lot. Exiting the car we head straight towards Graham's locker that we have designated as the group's meet-up point.

On reaching the very end of the line of lockers Graham identifies his before pulling it open and shoving his things inside. "Hey look, we asked the Heavens above to show us some hope and here Mercy has arrived," Graham remarks just as Mason and Mercy make their way towards us.

"Real original, Ham," Mercy retorts while trying to swat the back of his head. Trying being the operative words here.

"Gotta be faster than that, Mercy," Graham sticks his tongue out at her, but this time Mercy manages to land a smack on his arm.

"You're so fucking violent," he mutters under his breathe while Mercy smirks.

"Hey Liv, you alright?" Mason asks, at once directing the group's attention towards me.

"Yeah, you look a bit out of it today, everything okay?" Mercy agrees once she takes a moment to assess me.

"I'm fine," I nod, before leaving the group only to go a few lockers down to my locker and shove my things in, grabbing only the books I need.

"What's up with her today?" Mason asks Graham, concern evident in his gaze that he alternates between Graham and me.

"Her mum's remarrying," Graham sighs, while I ignore them and fidget with my locker.

"What?!" Both yell out simultaneously causing me to clench my fist around my binder when I notice a few students turn towards them in hopes for new gossip.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Mercy demands, now standing right next to me.

"I found out yesterday," I say slamming my locker shut. "And now I have class, so can we not talk about this right now?" I add, my tone that of pure exhaustion as sleep was the toughest to come by last night.

"Fine, but you're spilling everything at lunch," Mason says before he and Mercy head towards their first period which coincidently they share, just like I share mine with Graham.