The Only Exception [BoyxBoy]

02 | numb

Ecstasy in the air
I don't care
Can't tell me nothing

Chapter 02 ~ Numb

Bobby Cooper

"Okay, the fridge is stocked, and I've already programmed the security system to be on extra high alert for this weekend so you don't have to worry about anyone breaking in. If you're planning on driving, please be careful and drive under the speed limit. You never know when those cops are lurking around–oh, and if you get a flat tire or anything, make sure to use that Triple A card I gave you. I put an extra one in your wallet.

"I even left your babysitter's phone number on the fridge just in case you need her. I told Mrs. Pierre to check on you once in a while. But baby, if you need anything at all, please call me. My phone will be on 24/7 and you don't have to worry about international fees–I've already got that covered. If I need to, I'll be on the first flight back home, okay?"

The way that my eyes seemed to burn into her soul paired with the way that my lips had pressed themselves so closely together that it had begun to hurt was simply unprecedented.  This wasn't the first time that my mother had given me one of these over-protective mom rants (and it certainly wouldn't be the last) but this was the first time that it pained me to hear it, and it was also the first time that she had so blatantly embarrassed me in front of my best friend.

I found myself nodding absentmindedly at every stupid thing she said just so that she'd stop saying it, and when she was done, she looked to me to see if I had any questions, her deep umber eyes lighting up with an unhealthy mix of fear and concern.

This was going to be a long weekend.

"I think I got it, but you're forgetting one more thing."

My mom clutched onto the handle of her suitcase just a little bit tighter. "Oh my god! What did I forget? I thought I thought of everything."

"What happens if I pee my pants?" I asked, trying my hardest to not break a smile. "Did you leave diapers for me, or...?"

She blinked behind her dark wide-rimmed glasses before her jaw became set in painful irritation. "You and your father with these damn jokes," she said with a firm tone. "I'm going to be worried sick about you while I'm away, and you have the nerve to be funny?"

I gave her a slight nod. "Yeah, exactly." Before she could respond with yet another of her infamous motherly jargon, I ushered her out of the door. "You have a flight to catch. Be safe out there. Change the world." She had begun to protest, but I blocked her out just as I had done a million times before, and pushed her onto the porch steps just so that I could step back into the house and close the door in her face.

I pressed my back against the closed door and sighed like my life depended on it.

Ryan, being the dick that he was, thought it'd be funny to comment on my obvious distress. "I love your mom. Her paranoia is the cutest."

"The cutest," I muttered under my breath as I stalked my way towards the living room where my best friend was seated on our all-white sectional, flipping a pencil between his fingers. "Must be why my dad left her, huh? Because she was the cutest."

Ryan pointed his pencil at me and squinted, appearing to be in deep thought. "I thought it was because she was so lost in her award winning, best-selling young adult novels that she just didn't have time for him."