Deviating from the Norm (A "Freaks and Geeks" Fanfic)

Chapter 27 - Spurned or yearned?

It had been a week since my mother began to spiral into her flare and she was still not showing any signs of coming out of it. I was looking forward to the weekend like no other because, regardless of what my dad wanted, I needed to go out and have some fun for a few hours at least. Maybe I could even drop by and check on Lindsay... if the family made it home yet... or if her parents would let me for that matter.

The constant walking on eggshells was driving me insane. I would do just about anything to make sure I was not in the same room as my mother while she was awake, which explained why I was almost overjoyed to stay in the basement and do our end-of-the-week laundry. As I put the last of the dark colored clothes in the dryer and set the cycle, I heard my mother's raised voice booming from upstairs.

Who's she yelling at? Did we have a visitor and I missed it? Fuck! I've always done such a good job of running interference with something like that but I just had to slink into the basement today, didn't I?

The very idea of such an occurrence sent a torrid of worry through my system as I rushed up the steps. If it had to be someone we knew, I was praying for anyone other than Ms. Vegala. That woman spread gossip with a passion that hinged on being incomparable. If she was on the receiving end of my mother's outburst, the whole block would hear about it by nightfall (with wild exaggerations, no doubt).

"Mom, who was that? What just happened?" I asked as I shot into the living room.

She was fuming about something and gave me an accusatory look, yelling at me as I made my way to the door. "Don't act like you don't know what's going on. I'm not as stupid as you are!"

I bit the inside of my bottom lip in an effort not to reply, opting instead to simply open the front door and walk outside. She was in one of her moods where I could do no right, it was a-ok to insult her own child and everything was some sort of plot against her.

I had a faint hope that I could maybe catch a glimpse of whoever the poor soul was that received a verbal tongue-lashing from my mother, but I could swear my heart skipped a beat when I looked at the car in the driveway. It was Kim's Gremlin. As ugly as the vehicle was, I would certainly call the thing a sight for sore eyes that day.

The door slammed behind me and I instantly heard the familiar sound of the deadbolt locking.

"Fuck!" I yelled as I turned around and wrapped my hand around the handle, twisting it and pushing my body against the wooden barrier in a vain attempt to regain access.

I should have seen that coming.

Foolishly, I pounded on the door with my fist a few times, hoping against hope that my mom would come to her senses and just let me back in. I sighed and rested my forehead against the weathered frame, sighing out in frustration before the sound of the Gremlin's engine caught my ear. It sputtered and tried to turn over again and again behind me. The whole 'suddenly getting locked out of my house' situation quickly made me forget about our visitor (and I honestly thought her car was already running and she was on her way out), but the blonde-haired driver was obviously having trouble with getting her vehicle to cooperate.

Even though it was apparent that Kim wanted to get the hell out of dodge, I was all at once overcome with anticipation as I made my way the driver's side door. Our last talk didn't go so well at all, so my apprehension about her intentions were somewhat justified.

The sight I saw upon arrival literally made me wince in pain. She was desperately trying to get her car to start, furiously turning the key with one hand and wiping away a steady stream of tears with the other.

"Kim,"I began, instantly struggling to control the rush of emotions threatening to bubble over and wreak havoc on my ability to communicate. " Kim, I-"