|Lost Stars|

| Chapter 3 |

My eyes opened when silence filled the room. My mind was blank of any dreams I might of had or any worry I possessed prier to falling asleep. My music had stopped playing, revealing the sudden silence. I looked around the room, slowly waking up. The sun was still up, which normally did not happen when I woke up from a nap. The slice of sun cut through the darkening room and onto my arm. The position my body was in, at least I could remember, was in the same position I fell asleep in. Eventually I stretched. My ears picked up sounds of movement from downstairs.

Mom was home.

The clock on the nightstand read 4:31, two hours before my mom got off work. Freezing, my ears listened to every sound I could pick up. Immediately, I thought of all the worst scenarios that could be taking place. A robbery, which wouldn't happen in our small, average house, a murderer, they would be a lot quieter than they are right now, or my dad was home. Jumping out of bed, I ran downstairs, nervous sweat beading on my forehead. With a smile on my face, I ran towards the sounds in the kitchen.

My father wasn't home. Instead, my mother was washing the dishes in the sink, her nice work attire still on. Her body was tense. Water was splashing on the floor. She seemed unfazed by the mess she was making.

"Mom?" I called out to her, my face clearly upset by her actions. She paused what she was doing and turned around to me. Her make-up was smeared around her eyes, which were red and puffy.

"Mavis... lets order pizza tonight okay? You want to go make an order?" She avoided my eyes and gestured towards her phone, which was on the table. Without a word, I walked to her phone and dialed a local pizza place we often ate at. My mom's childhood friend owned it. He was the classic Italian man with a huge sense of humor. I've always thought of him as an uncle more than my mom's friend.

When I was done ordering the pizza, mushroom and extra cheese, my mom just stood there, over the sink. Her eyes were closed. She opened them to turn the sink off. Slowly, she took her dark blazer off and set it over a chair at the table. Her hands smoothed the fabric, looking at me.

"We'll discuss it over di-"

"Is it about dad?" I interrupted. Did the police find him dead? Thankfully her head shook. She forced a smile, which I returned.

_____

When dinner arrived and we ate in silence. The television was blasting a regular sitcom and we were both dressed in our nightwear. Every so often I heard a sniffle or a forced cough. Thomas sat on my lap and occasionally ate the crumbs I dropped. His grey fur brushed on my arm. He sensed the tension in the room. My mom took a sip of her soda can and cleared her throat.

"Mavis. You must understand that in life, there are many things we, as simple human beings, can't control." She looked at me as she spoke and sighed. There was no way she could sugar coat what she was going to say, I could tell by her eyes. "I was fired today, Mavis. The company let a handful of people go due to budget issues. I knew this might of happened but I didn't want to worry you." My head spun with the news. I thought of all the payments that would be due and how we would eat.

"I'll get a job if it helps" She shook her head at my offer.

"No Mavis, ill figure something out. Tabitha said she would help look for some jobs around for the time being. Ill be gone in the morning. The girls want to get together and talk things out. " I only nodded. " School. How was school?" Another forced smile.

"Okay. I'm just glad it's over for a while. I can't wait to see jasmine and Sunny next month." My mood brightened at the thought of them. They made the year of hell, I mean school, worth it. They were like my reward for the year. We always did memorable things together. My favorite was when we stuck into the neighbors pool while they were gone.

"That's good. That's good. Are you going to eat your crust?" With that, everything was normal. We laughed at the show and made witty comments about it. Thomas even got a whole piece of crust to himself, which he happily ate on the floor. Sometimes in times like this, I forget all the drama surrounding us. I just absorb the energy and the laughter as if it were there the whole time. It was times like this when I even imagined him there, on the couch with my mom and I, laughing.

I could almost feel it.