ShawnMendes entered Wattpad.

60

<<expectations>>

"Do you also wanna drink something? I've got some home-made lemonade or cocoa if you want to", Karen offers, and I can't but smile back. "Lemonade sounds great, thank you."

"Here we go", a few moments later, she comes out with a tray, on it a carafe full of lemonade and some of the muffins from earlier. "Wow, that look's really great, thank you", I say. "You're a baker?"

"Oh well, I'm not. Honestly, I bake only when my son comes home."

"You've got a son, too?" I look at her suprised. "My mum didn't mention that."

"Didn't she? Well, yes. He's kinda much en route. He doesn't live here at home anymore, ya know?"

"Yes, of course." I eat something of the muffin. "Mmmmmh, Karen, they taste great!"

Karen smiles warmly. "Thank you, darling. My son always says, that they have this precious something, he can't get in a coffee-shop. I guess, that's a real compliment. Even though, I think it is meant a bit ironically."

"Probably it is", I agree, and we both laugh.
I eat the whole muffin and then say: "That was really good, thank you again Karen."

"Your mother told me, that you're thinking about breaking up your studies?" Karen asks and fills me some lemonade in the glass again.

"Honestly, I'm not thinking about it anymore", I say and take my glass.

"Oh, so you've decided to continue studying?"
I hem and take a sip of the lemonade. Then I smile. "I just sent the e-mail for my exmatriculation." It feels a bit weird to say it loud now, and it feels good and weird at the same time, cause it means, that the Amy-and-Mandy-era finally has come to an end. But it does also mean, that I'm free to do whatever i want.

"Oh, wow. That's surely a step, that needed a lot of courage." Karen looks impressed. "And do you know what you will do next? Do you just change the subject of your studies, or do you wanna make some other kind of education?"

"I don't know." I look in my glass. "It's not that easy. It depends on many things, I guess."

"For example?"

I look up. Karen looks at me apologetically. "I'm sorry, I didn't wanna offend you, I was just curious. My son went through some kind of that phase, too."

"No, no, it's okay." I smile. "It's just, that I had some... changes ... in the last time. My best friend and I had some big dissent, and now we're going different ways. Former best friend", I correct myself. "We were studying together, but I realized, that this wasn't what I wanted to do anymore. And at the same time, she realized, that our friendship wasn't what she wanted anymore."

"And how is the boy the dissent was about?", Karen asks.

I stare at her bewilderd, and she laughs. "I was young too, Mandy. And I have a daughter nearly your age, so I'm used to a bit drama."

I smile a bit. "Any advice?"

"If your friendship is worth to fight for, than do it. If this boy is worth to fight for, then do it, too. Just don't lose and remain true to yourself."

I breathe in some of the cold air, and I have the feeling, that this woman told me something very true and something very wise. "You're right. Thank you, Karen."

Karen smiles back. "Nothing to thank Mandy. And by the way: You deserve true friendship and true love, too."

"That's very kind of you", I say. "But sadly, it isn't that easy as I wish. Honestly, nothing did work out the last weeks as I wished."

"You really like that boy, don't you?" Karen looks at me empathetically.

I nod and shake my head and shrug all at one time. "We don't know each other that much in person. We just write a lot, and I had this feeling, that we would get along when we meet for real, and that he'd like me when we would meet. But when we met, he had only eyes for Amy."

"Amy is your former best friend, the girl, that likes this boy, too?"

"She loves him by heart", I answer. "But I think, that honestly, she does only like him, because of an idea, she has of being in a relationship with him. I don't know how to explain this, it's really difficult."

"I see", Karen smiles. "But does he like her the way she likes him?"

"I don't know. Maybe.." I look in my glass again. "Probably." My heart hurts when I think about the way Shawn looked at Amy. I see it all right in front of my inner eye, all the scenes, where she hughs him, where he smiled at her, where they seemed to belong so perfect together. My eyes are burning a bit. I hem. "Well, I think, I gotta go now." I take a look to the sky. "I think, it will be snowing more later, so I better go home, help my mum preparing the driveway."

"You're such a kind young woman Mandy", Karen smiles at me, and when I stand up, she stands up too and hugs me warmly. "Whatever this other girl has that makes her interesting for this boy, he has to be very dumb, if he doesn't like you."

"Thank you Karen. I'm just very glad, that he's not around at the moment", I say.

Karen seems to think a moment, than she seems as she made a decision. "Do you wanna come to dinner Sunday? If you didn't travel back home of course. You could get to know my daughter. Ally surely will be happy to meet you."

"I'd love to, thank you for the invitation."

"Your mother is invited of course too", Karen says.

"We'll be coming." I smile again at Karen, and then turn around to go. Suddenly, a black van stops in front of the house. The motor is turned off, than a door claps. Abruptly, Karen looks worried. She seems like she want to say something, but before she can react, or I can leave, someone walks around of the drivers side. I hear the person humming in a very melodic way, I see Karen looking hectically at the car, at me, and then back as fast as she is thinking, if I could be gone when the person comes around, and I have the strange feeling, that in the next seconds something very weird will happen.
And then, the person appears with the words: "Mum? I smelled the muffins till Toronto, so I decided, to step in my car and drive immediately home."

My smile freezes. My heart makes a bump. My cheeks are turning white and then red.
The world seems to stand still when the only person I absolutly didn't want to see, the only person I didn't expect here in the front yard of my mum's neighbours, brown haired and caramel-eyes, appears on screen.