Moving On Without You by Kiarah Whitehead

after work.
     
    When Tracy got home her mother was sleeping on the
couch. The room was dark except for the light coming from the television. Tracy
picked up the remote to turn off the box.
    "Hey," Janet said.
    "Hey."
    "You were at school this late?"
    "Yeah, I was working on that project with my
partner."
    "There's food in the kitchen."
    "I ate."
    It felt like someone was pulling Tracy's legs away
from the living room. She could not stand to talk to her mother anymore. Every moment
they stood there pretending to care agitated Tracy more.
    "Your progress report came. Is there any
reason why you skipped English a few weeks ago?"
    "I didn't skip it. I got caught in a hall
sweep."
    "You didn't tell me about it."
    She wasn’t sure why her mother still tried. Tracy
just wished she would stop. They stared at each other in the dark.
    "I forgot. It was no big deal."
    "You mean you thought it was none of my
concern. Like your boyfriend?"
    Caught off guard by the comments, Tracy stood in
the doorway unsure of how she should respond. Her heart rate increased as she
attempted to think faster than her mother. She thought she had hidden these
details which is why she never thought of an explanation.
    "It was not worth mentioning and we aren't
together."
    There was a long pause while Janet got up from the
couch and collected a few items from the coffee table. Tracy heard her heart
banging against her chest and wondered if her mother could hear it too.
    "I expect you to make it to the rest of your
classes on time this year. This isn't the time to start getting off track. And
clean the kitchen."
    Tracy felt the wind brush against her side while
her mother walked past her. She stood in the dark room until she heard the door
shut down the hall. Her secrets were now exposed and her mother was
surprisingly calm about it all.
     

Chapter 9
     
    The snow had started
falling, but it melted before it hit the pavement. It was too windy to walk
down the hill, but Tracy was bored enough to do it. Each house was sealed
tightly fighting the winter cold. She had gotten to the point where spending
any amount of time outside the house was worth whatever friction it took to get
there. The point of the game was to stay away, far away from anything that felt
like her mother—the awkward conversations and lies she had to tell to keep up
with the other lies. It was exhausting trying to be the person her mother
pictured her as—the little girl that had already grown up.
    Tracy slipped down the path leading up to Keisha's
door but caught herself before she fell. Before she could ring the doorbell a
second time Keisha was pulling the front door open rushing her inside.
    "Hurry up! It's cold out there."
    Tracy dumped her boots by the door and shook the
snow off of her jacket before hanging it on the banister. Keisha's house was
toasty and quiet other than the television playing in the next room. The cat
sprang to his feet and watched Tracy until she was seated on the sofa across
the room. They stared into each other's eyes until he was back in his resting
position. Sometimes it felt like it was more his home than anyone else's.
    Keisha didn't waste any time with formalities. She
intended to catch up on as much gossip as possible.
    "So who is this new guy you were talking
about?" Keisha asked.
    "Not exactly new but I'm kind of hanging out
with MD."
    "What? How did that happen?"
    "I'm not sure. It kind of just crept up on
me."
    "Is he cute?"
    Tracy thought for a while before replying to her
friend. Cute wasn't the best word to describe her new mate. He was funny and
nice most of the time. They understood each other, but he was not what one
thought of when they said cute.
    "He's okay. No dreamboat or anything."
    "So why are you dating him?"
    It was a good question. One that had panged around
in her head for the past few days, but somehow it kept getting ignored. There
was always something more important to worry about and then before she knew it
he was calling again.