I Will Try My Best

Ch. 9

The next morning I woke up with nothing to do. It was a Saturday so I decided to start on my homework while watching cartoons. My brother came downstairs to the living room and asked me if I wanted to come with him to hang out and get familiar with New York with Tiffany and her friends.

"Will Steven be there?" I asked.

"No, he said he had a lot of homework and a project to do."

Damn, he would be the only reason to say yes since he's the only one I liked.

"Oh... No it's okay. I actually have a lot of homework and a project to do too."

Jake looked at me funny. "Oh... Well all right, Kitty Cat." He hugged me. "Just text me if you change your mind. Bye! Love you."

Man, this was so weird. My brother and I have been by each other's side since birth! We always hung out with other people together. Jake is my best friend. It sucks that he had to make friends with complete assholes. I started to feel sad. I didn't want Jake to be friends with them. I wanted us to be friends with people that liked the both of us. Like how it used to be back home.

I continued to do homework and watch cartoons then my mom walked into the living room. She looked slightly surprised.

"Cat, sweetie, you didn't go out with your brother?"

"No..."

She must have noticed that I was a little sad.

"Oh well is there anything you want to do? I don't start work til Monday so I'm free all weekend." My mother perked up.

I thought for a bit. "Well... I do need to go shopping. It's so damn cold here and I have nothing warm to wear."

My mother laughed. "I know what you mean. I could use some winter clothes too."

We had a lot of fun just shopping, laughing and talking. It's been a while since me and her hung out without my dad or brother around. It was really nice. As we were looking through the clothing racks of the 3rd boutique we went to today my mother started to ask questions.

"Cat, why didn't you go out with your brother today? You guys always hang out."

I sighed. "Yeah I know. I guess its cause I don't really like the friends he made."

My mom looked a little concern. "Why not?"

"I don't know, mom, I just don't have anything in common with them. The guys are your typical asshole jocks and the girls are like super mean. They're mean people, mom. Jake shouldn't be friends with any them."

She gave me a sympathetic look. "Have you taken the time to get to know them at least?"

"No.... But they don't want to get to know me either!" I argued back. "Okay, fine maybe I got to know one of them and he's pretty much the only one I like."

"See, maybe you just have to get to know them more."

"No, mom like I said they're mean people."

"Well they can't be all that bad if Jake likes them. He's a smart guy and if they're as mean as you say they are then he'll see it sooner or later and stop being friends with them."

"I feel like he should have already realized it by now. I feel like we're drifting apart or something... I don't know like who am I supposed to hang out with now?!"

"Sweetie, I love how close you and your brother are. It makes me so happy as a mother to see that but it's okay to be friends with other people. He's your twin brother so no matter what he'll be your best friend whether you're together or not. I think it'll be good for the both of you to find other friends. Besides, at the end of the day you guys will always come home to each other."

God dammit, I hate how my mom is ALWAYS right. But she did make me feel better.

"I GUESS." I grunted.

After a couple of hours and over $400 later we finished shopping and decided to grab a late lunch. We put all our bags in the car and saw a nearby café that looked good. We ordered some lattes, a salad and sandwiches. As we ate my mom started to pester me with more questions.

"So... Cat, any cute boys you want to talk about?" She giggled.

"Oh my god... NO MOM."

"Oh come on! What about that cute boy you were talking to when I picked you up from school yesterday?"

"He's just a guy I met in one of my classes!"

"I saw the way you two were flirting and looking at each other and as soon as you entered the car you could NOT stop smiling. I think he likes you too."

I started to get embarrassed. "Mom... He's just a really nice guy that's all, okay?"

"Okay, whatever you say, Cat." She chuckled.

We finished up lunch and walked back outside and as soon as we did my mom noticed another boutique she wanted to check out before going home. I was kind of over shopping already but luckily I saw a record shop nearby. So I told her that I'd be in the record store while she did a little more shopping.

I went in and started to look at their vast collection hoping I would see something I like.

"Hey there, Cat."

I turned around and saw Julian. He was looking good as usual.

"Hi, Jules." I perked up and greeted him with a hug.

I felt him tense up a little when I put my arms around him but he quickly relaxed and wrapped his arms around me tight. It felt amazing. He smelled nice too. It was the perfect combination of cologne and cigarettes.

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

"Oh just doing some shopping with my mom. She's in one of the boutiques next door. What about you?"

"Well Fab drunkenly broke one of my Velvet Underground albums last night. So I'm here buying a new copy."

I started to laugh. "Aw, that's a bummer. I love that band."

"Yeah, I know. I remember you mentioning that to Fab yesterday."

I learned that we liked many of the same bands when we got to talking about music and man he was so into it. It was such a turn on to see how passionate he was about music. He actually knows a lot about it. He told me how he likes to write music. Then my mom walked into the store. FUCK, I HOPE SHE DOESN'T EMBARRASS ME.

"Hey, Cat I'm done." She said then she had a surprised look on her face when she recognized the guy I was talking too.

"Hey, mom." I said then I introduced them. "Mom this is Julian and Julian this is my mother."

He smiled and extended his hand out "Hi, it's very nice to meet you Mrs......"

I realized that I never told him my last name.

"It's Buckingham. Our last name is Buckingham." I said.

"It's very nice to meet you Mrs. Buckingham." He repeated. "I can see where Cat gets all her good looks from."

My mom blushed and giggled a bit. "Why thank you, Julian. It's very nice to meet you too."

"Well I gotta go, Jules. See you at school." I said.

"Oh I know! Why don't you come over Julian? You can hang out with Cat and stay for dinner?" Offered my mother.

He smiled really big. "I'd love too. Thank you!"