Oblivious to Him - Part II

Chapter 11 - Just Trust Me

"Lana! It would help if you answered your mothers' calls. She's worried sick about you," commanded my dad with his deep and intimidating voice. 

"Uh, I'm sorry?" I tried to feign innocence. 

"Sorry, isn't going to cut it, young lady. Your mother is 10 seconds away from calling the police to report you missing. Not to mention the fact that she has now left at least 12 voicemail messages on my phone since I put it on airplane mode for my flight. You have no idea the panic attack I had when I saw that many missed calls pop up on my home screen," he sighed,  "but first, are you somewhere safe? Do you need me to send a taxi or something to come to get you?"

"I'm fine. I'm safe. I'm sorry that I scared you, dad, but I'm actually at a friend's house right now," I informed, speaking calmly to keep him from getting more upset. 

"You better not be at that boy's house," my dad warned, "don't think your mother didn't tell me that you were out all night with some teenage hoodlum."

"First off, Oscar is not some hoodlum. He is a nice, responsible young man. Secondly, I am at my friend Mia's house. Who is also nice and very generous for letting me coming over," I declared. Mia fanned herself like she was flattered before giggling and shaking her head at me. 

"Fine, but I think it would be best if you just went home and talked to your mother," my dad suggested. 

"Is she even going to listen to me? The last time we talked, it was like everything I said to her went in one ear and out the other," I grumbled. 

"I'll call her back and let her know that you are coming home on one condition, that she listens before she speaks. Will that work for you?" my dad asked.

"If you can promise me that she'll listen, then fine, I'll be home in 30 minutes."

"I promise. Just never run away again, okay? We both love you so much, Lana. We want you to be happy, so if that means going to high school and even, um, dating a boy," he said, practically choking on those last words, " then you have my permission. I want the best for my little girl and if you think this is the best for you, then so be it. Just go home and talk to your mother. She's probably going crazy being in that house without you."

"Thanks, dad. I'll head home right away. I'm sorry that you had to play the middle man between mom and me."

"Anything for my girls," he joked. "I have to go. They have given us the all-clear to board the plane. I'll give your mom a heads up to make everything go as smoothly as possible. I love you, Lana."

"I love you too, dad. Fly safe! See you next weekend?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," and with that, he hung up, and I looked over at Mia, who was smiling at me. 

"What?"

"You are such a mama and papa's girl," she joked. 

"Shut up. Don't judge me for loving my parents," I threw a pillow at her and laughed. I stood up and stretched out my muscles, "can I run back up to your room to grab my bag?"

"Sure, I'm just miffed that we didn't get to have our impromptu sleepover," Mia admitted, folding a blanket up and throwing it onto my spot on the couch. 

"Let's plan another girls' night the weekend after next, okay?" 

"Deal," Mia smiled. 

"Just no funny business or inviting the boys this time. I want to be able to spend countless hours talking girl talk and painting our nails or something," I instructed. 

"But Trevor is so good at painting nails!"

"No, boys," I ordered. I pulled her into a hug, "thank you for taking me in, Mia. It means the world to me."

"Anytime," she said, hugging me back.

_________

As I parked my bike in the garage, I was half expecting my mom to burst into the room guns-a-blazing. I sat there for a moment, waiting for something to happen, but when nothing did, I took a deep breath and entered the house. 

Most of the lights were off, and the kitchen was empty. I looked into the living room, and still, she wasn't there, "mom?" I called out, wondering if she had left to go search for me or something. I was about to head upstairs to check her room when I noticed that the light for the back deck was on. 

I wandered over to the sliding glass door, and there she was, sitting and staring into the firepit with what I assumed was her drink of choice, a Moscow Mule. I stood there a moment, watching her while I collected my thoughts and leveled out my emotions. I did not want a repeat of this morning, and if I was going to be successful, then I wanted to go into this with a clear mind. 

I took one more deep breath and slid open the door. She didn't turn around, but she scooted over on the love seat to make room for me. I sat down, and she wrapped her around my shoulder, bringing me in for a side hug without a word. 

We sat there, staring at the fire for a couple of minutes before she handed me her drink. I raised my eyebrows at her, not fully believing that she was letting me have a sip. She shrugged her shoulders, and I took a swig of the drink, letting the warmth of the alcohol spread through me. It's not often that my mother lets me drink with her, but this was her way of telling me that she trusts me. 

I handed her back the copper mug, "I'm sorry for how I acted, mom."

"I'm sorry too," she admitted. 

"It's just, going to that school has become more important to me than I thought. I realized how much it meant to me when you threatened to take it all away," I started.

I waited for her to interject, but she motioned for me to continue. "I've learned more about myself than I have about theatre, in case you were wondering. I do like my teacher, but she is nothing compared to you. I have been protected and sheltered for most of my life, and finally, being able to stand up for myself and make my own path in this world has been amazing. I have been staying up on all my homework for my other classes and working out and conditioning for the competition this weekend. I've only just added a few more things to my schedule to help round me out and make getting into Yale a little easier."

After an agonizing minute of sitting in silence, she sighed and took another swig of her drink, "I guess I understand. It's just hard for me to accept that you're all grown up and about to move across the country," she sighed. She paused a moment and looked at me as if she was seeing me for the first time. She smiled at me and patted my shoulder, squeezing me into her side again. "If you promise me that your grades won't slip and that you won't let your training fall to the way-side, I guess you can keep going to that school."

I hugged her, "Oh, thank you, mom! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Don't thank me yet. I have every right to change my mind if I feel like it is not working, got it?" 

"Got it. You won't be changing your mind, though, trust me."

"We'll see," she finished off her drink and sat back on the couch, "now, tell me about that poor boy I scared off this morning," she smiled coyishly with me. 

I felt a small blush creep up my cheek and was thankful that it was dark outside with just a fire going. "Well, it's rather a long story..."