20 Digesting.

My mom was in her room when I came in. She had her door open and her lamp on while she got ready for bed, applying some kind of cream to her face in front of the mirror. I leaned in to tell her I was home and going to bed, but I stood in her doorway for a while watching her.

Looking at me in the mirror while she continued to rub her face, she said, "Ok, honey. I'm going to bed too. Remember, Norma is coming for dinner tomorrow. Come straight home after school so you can clean the house. I set out some chicken to thaw in the fridge, but I need you to preheat the oven."

"Ok, Mom." She finished what she was doing and put the lid back on her cream and placed it in the drawer. "Hey, Mom?"

She turned to walk over to the side of her bed and crawled in under the covers. The house was warmer than outside, but it was still pretty chilly inside because the house was so drafty. "Yes, baby?"

"Finnegan's mom said you can call her tomorrow and talk about a time to meet them." I leaned against the door frame.

"Oh, so you and this boy are dating then?"

"Yes, he asked me yesterday. I just forgot to mention it. I have a lot going on with the project, and I'm trying to get ahead with my other assignments before we have our midterm tests."

"Alright. I'll have to call her on Saturday. I'll be too busy getting ready for Norma to come."

"Ok. Um, also..." I paused. My mom stared at me waiting. "Finnegan was wondering if it would be ok, just until I can start driving my car, if he picked me up in the morning to take me to school so I wouldn't have to ride the bus."

The air between us hovered and became thick. I was afraid to breathe, but I continued to make eye contact with her until she answered.

"This Finnegan...Is he a gentleman? You know what boys want. I trust you, and he seemed nice, but he IS a teenage boy."

"Oh, yes, he is a gentleman. He doesn't seem like that kind of boy, mom. He is so serious about his studies, and he opens doors for me. I'm pretty sure he would carry my books if I let him, but I don't want to take advantage of him. He's very nice. His parents are nice too. They joke a lot, but I like them. We work on our homework in the living room at his house, and they all eat at the dinner table together."

I realized I was rambling. My mom sighed. "Ok. Well, whether or not he seems like that kind of boy, it doesn't mean he isn't. But...." She let the pause dangle, and I thought I had pushed my luck to it's limit. "He hasn't done anything worth condemning, yet." She ended her 'yet' with a hard 't', but relief was slowly trickling through me. "I'll allow it, and I'll meet his parents, but the first thing I see that I don't like, no more. Understand?"

"Yes, Mama." I walked over to her bed to lean over and plant a kiss on her cheek. "Thank you. Good night"

"Good night."

I went to my room and texted Finn. I got ready for bed, and just before I climbed under my blankets, my phone vibrated on my bedside table where it was plugged into the charger. Finnegan was calling!

I answered in a whisper, "Hey, why did you call? I expected you to text."

He whispered back, "I know, sorry, I was just so excited when I read your text, I had to talk to you. So, I can pick you up in the mornings?" I situated myself under my covers while I pressed the phone against my ear with one hand and had a wide grin spreading on my face.

"Yes. I thought she was going to say 'no' at first, but I'm so glad she said 'yes'. I like being with just you."

"I really like that too. It's going to take me a while longer to finish writing my note to you, so I probably won't be able to give it to you tomorrow, but there's a lot to say. What time do you get up in the morning?"

"Um, around 6:30, but I'm usually not ready to go until about 7:15. The bus comes at 7:30."

"Ok, well I want to beat the morning traffic. Can you be ready by 7?"

"I'll try. I better get off here in case my mom hears me." I was still whispering, but Finnegan was talking in a normal tone.

"Ok, sleep well, Mo Cuishle. I'll see you at 7."

"Good night." He clicked off, so I turned the backlight off on my phone and set it aside.

I laid on my back with my hands resting on my stomach over the covers, staring at my ceiling. "Mo Cuishle. My Darling." I said quietly into the darkness. I had admired Finnegan from a distance for so long before we were thrown together- What was that Finnegan wrote about Cosmic Energies working in the Universe? Even if I didn't realize my connection to it, perhaps these Energies are the Great God and Goddess- and now that he was my boyfriend and part of his mystery was revealed to me, I have an opportunity to go deeper.

I wanted to learn more from Finnegan. But more than that, I wanted to be even closer to him. He was a dark fairy tale Prince. He was inviting her into his dark fairy tale. But she found, more and more, that it wasn't really dark, but instead a blinding white. As if the darkness, to her, became a thick, bright fog.

But as long as Finnegan was her guide, she trusted him.

Elise lay staring at the ceiling for a long time before finally rolling over onto her side. She remembered that Finnegan was picking her up in the morning. She shut her eyes tighter and forced herself to sleep so she could get up earlier.