Love Like Oreos

Chapter 2: Awkward Silence and Long Stares

Chapter 2: Awkward Silence and Long Stares

He can't find out. He must absolutely not find out, I think to myself as I clasp my skateboard in my hands, pressing it against my hip. What happens to his victims? And no, I'm not talking about the girls who fantasize over him. The fools who get on his nerves...what do they become of? Pulp?

"Hey, Mom!" I give my mother a suffocating hug as I met her at the doorway.

"Honey, what did I tell you about that thing?" Mom crosses her arms and shakes her head. Of course. She was talking about my skateboard. Mom does not like the sight of it. Or being around it. The way she gives it the evil eye just says that she wants to break that thing in half with her bare hands. "A grown and mature lady simply does not "skateboard"," she says with a frown.

"So...what's with the fancy red dress?" I simply change the topic so I would not get nagged again for the thousandth time about me "becoming a lady".

"Oh! We're having a dinner with one of my good pals," her frown quickly vanishes. "Anywhoos! Get ready, get dressed and chop chop. Wear a dress, please, for heaven's sake," she rolls her eyes as she left.

Dresses, good manners and talking about the darkest and most embarassing moments of your childhood that you don't even remember. Talk about a nightmare.

I don't hate Mom. Hate is such a strong word. I love her. Respect her. Susan Baylor, Mom, is a strong-willed woman who doesn't need any man in her life. Dad left us when I was just five and Mom soon became the only bread-winner of the family which was a hard thing to do. Years later, she got into the design industry and became a fashion designer who owns her own clothing line, more than enough to support our small family of two.

It's just that Mom has always tried to "transform" me into this "perfect" daughter who wears dresses and go on dates so she can dress me up. But here's me. Skateboarding.

I go up into my room and change into a pair of sweatpants. Pushing the back of my shoe up with my other foot, I slip on my Vans and grab my skateboard, trying to hide it beneath my jacket.

I take my phone out with its screen displaying "8 missed calls" and the name which I once loved to see, "Caleb". But now all that name reminds me of is hurt, tears and wasted months together.

"You're not exactly...my type of girl...We gotta move on," that sentence echoes in my head and the scene of when Caleb had called me up to meet at his house to "discuss some stuff" pops into my brain repeatedly.

"So much for 'I'll love you forever'," I mutter to myself, wiping the tears off my face with the sleeve of my hoodie and throwing down my phone to my bed.

I reach the dining room to see a table placed in the center with a cream white cloth and shining cutlery. I had noticed all this before I sense curious stares surrounding me.

Seated in front of Mom is an averagely tall man with his black hair with stripes of white combed flawlessly to the back and next to him...a red, swelled-up nose which looked as if a dozen bees had stung.

It wouldn't take Albert Einstein's clone to figure out who this is.

Kian Grey...the boy from Phys Ed whom I had hit in the face with a basketball. Look, I don't want to drag on and on by describing every single amazing feature of his in detail - he is definitely hot.

I stand in front of the table awkwardly before Mom breaks the silence by standing up from the table and walking up to me, covering up her anger of me not wearing a dress.

"Mom, I'm heading out," I say quite frantically before she speaks.

"Brooke, my best friend is here. Please. I know you're bummed from Caleb and all...but don't just push everyone away from your life," she places her hands on my arm.