Chasing Miss Conner •OLD VERSION•

Twenty Four

|Song: Behind These Hazel Eyes By Kelly Clarkson|

Twenty Four

I was pleasantly rested when I woke up. My headache was gone and I felt like I had the energy to run around the world and lift mountains. Okay maybe that's a little bit of an exaggeration. Not run around the world because let's face it- everyone hates running. My excitement was short-lived when I realized I hadn't woken up in a pair of warm arms. I furrowed my brow in confusion when I saw that her half of the bed was unmade, not even wrinkled. Her stuff was still piled in front of the closet though.

Maybe she slept on the couch?

I shrugged and threw my hair into a messy bun before wandering into the bathroom to do my morning duties. The smell of coffee, bacon, and laughter hit me as I wandered downstairs. The clock said it was only 6:30 so I still had quite a while until I had to worry about school.

I caught sight of Juliette's long blond hair as she moved towards the coffee pot. She turned and immediately smiled when she saw me but then her eyes darted off to the side in an almost nervous manner.

I raised a brow in question but stopped dead when I walked into the kitchen and saw my mother. Why I was so surprised she was home, I can't say. I mean she lives here. I just expected that she'd be holed up in the hospital for a little while longer. "Hey honey." She greeted from her position at the counter.

I smiled and walked over to hug her. "Hey mom. How was the hospital?" She groaned and I heard Juliette laugh lightly behind me. "I was just telling Juliette here about that crazy old man that comes in and swears to god he has something growing in him. And it turns out he did. He'd swallowed the seed of a plant and it actually took root in his body."

My face twisted into a disturbed expression. "Gross."

Both of them laughed. I eyed them suspiciously, wondering when this new friendship suddenly bloomed. But when I looked closer, I noticed that Juliette seemed tense and my mom seemed to be sending her sharp looks every now and then when she thought I wasn't looking.

"Okay, what's going on?" I narrowed my eyes at them.

Mom's brows rose at me. "What do you mean? We're just hanging out."

I squinted at her for moment before swinging my gaze over to Juliette. She quickly painted a smile on her face that I suppose was supposed to be reassuring, but it wasn't quick enough for me to miss the flinch as I met her gaze.

"Miss Conner here was just telling me how she majored in English in college." My mother's gaze narrowed and turned dangerous. I shuddered, I'd only seen that look one other time before; when my father and her had gotten in a heated argument and he'd almost hit me accidentally instead of her.

Then it sunk in what she'd said.

Miss Conner

English

Fuck

My gaze shot to Juliette, I could see a muscle in her jaw tick. Her bright blue eyes were sharp and icy where they were narrowed on my mother. Mom's posture was lazily slung over the counter, but I could see the muscles tense beneath her scrub shirt. In the back of my mind I vaguely remember watching a documentary on the nature channel about two female lions fighting over a scrap of meat.