Within the Lines

3.

"No. Make the text larger," Mom's voice sounded through my laptop speakers.

Swallowing a sigh since we'd been working on changing the text for about half an hour now, I obliged. I already regretted promising Becky those flyer ideas by tonight. I also regretted calling my mother, who legitimately noticed things like when two pieces of furniture were not precisely perpendicular. This actually happened. I didn't believe her. We got a triangle ruler out, and she was right.

Finishing the flyers with Mom would take forever, as she wouldn't quit until they were perfect. However, I also had to admit the result would be undeniably better with her around, and I wanted to make a good first impression on the Student Council.

I needed a critical mind around because my friends from back home, Jenny and Taylor, just gave me a thumbs up for everything I sent them. They were more interested in what the 'big city' was like, anyway. I'd described it to them like the inside of an ant's nest. Except, with less organisational skills and much less space.

Although my first day went fine, all things considered, the headache had set in the moment I left school. I rubbed my temples, and Mom finally seemed to take pity on me.

"It's... acceptable now," Mom offered. She nodded at me from the bottom left corner of my computer screen. "Since you're doing this for free, let's not spend more time on it."

She was holding back. At least, I was pretty sure she was. If it were up to her, she'd be working far past midnight to tweak the flyer to perfection. But she was also my mother who worried about me getting enough sleep. And as a designer, she'd had people trying to trick her into doing work for free far too often. She always warned me to not fall into the same trap.

I smiled. "Great, I'll send these to Becky then. Thanks for your help, Mom," I said.

"Of course." Her brows knitted. She ran a hand through her unruly curls. "Hey, things are okay there, right?"

"Yeah, sure. Dad's new wife is nice. School's alright. I'm sure I'll be makin' new friends at the Student Council with these designs."

"As long as they're not just usin' you to do their work. You're nice. People take advantage."

"I'm sure they're not," I reassured Mom, deciding not to remind her of how she didn't hold anyone else to the same high standards as herself, which often resulted in her doing other people's work at the office.

Mom blew me an air kiss. "Alright then. Off to bed you go. Sleep well, honey. Love you."

"Love you too, Mom."

I didn't remember a bed ever feeling as comfortable as the one I dropped myself on face-first after emailing Becky my designs. Usually, I needed at least half an hour to fall asleep, but tonight it felt like I'd only blinked, and then the alarm clock was ringing.

I blinked again, and I was at school, practically sleep-walking into my first class of the day, Biology. It was another class Atticus and I shared. It was another class to which Atticus escorted me because his mom asked and then left me in the door opening.

Becky, Kim, and Mandy, the three girls I'd become acquainted with, were nowhere to be found in the classroom, so I was back to square one. Trying to figure out where to sit on my own.

I scanned the classroom for a suitable spot when a guy suddenly started waving.

"Hey, Turner! Turner!"

At first, I didn't realise the boy was talking to me because nobody ever called me by my surname. But he looked directly at me and his enthusiastic beckoning to me to come over was hardly subtle.