11 My Mom's Surprise

We pulled into my driveway five minutes before my curfew. It was dark, so I didn't want Finnegan to linger too long. I said good bye and went straight into the house. My mom was waiting up in the living room, watching a movie.

"Hey, baby. Did you finish your project?" My mom switched the volume to MUTE when she started talking and looked over her shoulder at me when I walked in.

"Well, we finished one of them. We haven't finished putting the other one together yet. Finnegan said we have to wait for the materials to dry out completely. The twigs we found Saturday were green. He wanted to know if I could go back over there later this week to help him put it together. Is that ok?" I asked, hoping she would at least think about it.

"We'll see," she said glaring at me. I went to my bedroom door and dropped my bag just inside, on the floor, then I sat on the couch next to her.

"Ok. So what did you want to talk to me about?" She scooted so her body faced me and tucked her legs up on the couch.

"Well, your birthday is coming up soon. I was wondering if you wanted to do anything for it."

"Oh, I had almost forgotten." I was going to be seventeen. "I don't know. I don't really want to have a party or anything."

"Well, I thought maybe we could go shopping around at some thrift stores and have dinner out at a Chinese buffet. Plus, I've been saving up some money and I found a special gift for you."

"Oh, Mom, you really don't have to get me anything. Thrift store shopping sounds nice. We could just do that."

"Well, I know you have your driving permit. I thought you could get some practice driving around, and my friend, Norma, is selling her car because she is getting a van to drive her grandkids around." She waited for what she said to sink in.

"What! You're buying me a car!!! Mom, thank you! Can we go see it this weekend?" She smiled.

"I thought you'd be excited. I invited Norma to come for dinner this Friday. You can test drive the car then and see if you like it. She's giving me a good deal on it, since she's my friend."

I jumped forward, throwing my arms around her neck. "Thank you, Mom!"

She hugged me back tightly. "I think you've earned it, but," her expression became serious and she pushed me back slightly holding my arms," you will have to make sure you take good care of it. Norma's car is kind of old, but she has taken really good care of it. And we can't afford to pay for major repairs, so you'll have to learn how to maintain it. And you'll have to get a job to pay for your gas and stuff."

I nodded excitedly as she was talking. " I promise! Thank you so much!!! Can we go driving around to get applications tomorrow?"

She laughed. "Ok, as soon as I get home from work tomorrow, we'll go drive around for a couple hours. Now, go get ready for bed. It's getting late."

"Ok," I hugged her again for a long time. "I love you, Mom. Thank you. Good night." I kissed her on the cheek before I stood up and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face.

By the time I came out of the bathroom, my mom had already turned off the tv and gone to her room to get in bed. I changed into my pajamas and climbed into bed right away. I can't believe it! A car. I tried to remember what kind of car Norma had, but it didn't really matter. I would finally be able to take my driving test and get my official license! I really did love my mom. I decided I would get a job and work hard to get her something really nice for Christmas to thank her. It took me a long time to fall asleep because I was trying to think of something my mom really wanted or needed. When I finally drifted off to sleep, I slept deeply and well.

The next day at school, Finnegan met me at my locker before my first class.

"Hey, my parents seemed pretty impressed with you. Sorry if my mom got weird about the tea divination. She does something like that all the time. At least she didn't try to read your palms." He leaned against the wall while I took out the books I needed.

I put on my bag and held my books close to my chest. "Oh, that's ok. Actually, it might be kind of cool to have my palms read. It wasn't that bad. Your parents are really nice."

He smiled and walked with me to class. "Yeah, I guess." We walked silently the rest of the way to class. When we got to the door of my classroom, we stood there for a minute, and I noticed that students passing by or going into the classroom were looking at us. I blushed and looked down awkwardly.

"Ok," he said, trying to be casual. "I guess I better get to class too. I'll see you at lunch?"

"Ok," I meekly replied. He left and I didn't even watch him walk away. I just went in and sat at my desk, smiling to myself. Before the bell rang, I saw Jennifer and Miley, the cheerleaders Cheyanne was friends with now, a few desks away look away from me, as if they had been watching me. The bell rang, and they leaned their heads together to whisper something to each other before the teacher got up to stand at the front of class. I was self-conscious about it for the rest of First period.

As soon as class was over, I hurried out of the room and went straight to my next period. I had forgotten my Math book and my folder with my assignments and everything. The teacher was giving a new lecture, and told us to turn in our assignments at the end of class. Several students worked during the lecture to finish their assignments instead of taking notes. I focused on my notes. When the bell rang, I waited for all the other students to leave before I approached the teacher's desk.

"Mr. Thomas, I forgot my assignment in my locker. Would it be alright if I brought it to you before I went to lunch?"

Mr. Thomas looked up from the stack of assignments he had already begun grading, and seeing that I was one of the students who rarely caused trouble, absent-mindedly nodded and waved me away.

I hurried to my locker to grab my assignment from my folder and put my notes away. Then I hurried back to the classroom to drop it off. When I got to the cafeteria, the lunch line was really long. While I waited in line, I looked around the cafeteria to see if I could find the group of black crows that were my new friends. I didn't see them, but I saw Cheyanne already sitting and laughing with Jennifer and Miley and some other cheerleaders. I wondered if they were talking about Finnegan walking me to class. Maybe they were planning some way to ruin my newfound joy. I had heard stories of cheerleaders bullying other girls by making fun of the way they dressed or how fat they were, and even going as far to tease fragile new relationships between the nerdier students. What did it matter to them who other students were interested in? Just because they were popular or had athletic bodies. They already had a lot of influence, but did they have to be so mean about it and belittle the dignity of others? I hoped that wasn't what they were planning for me, but now that Cheyanne was in that group, I couldn't be sure she wouldn't single me out. Especially since I didn't accept her lame apology yesterday. She even thought I said nasty things about her, which wasn't true at all. I only stated the facts about what happened. No matter how we left things, I wouldn't let my new friends plot to take revenge on her. I just wanted to let it go.

I tried to stop thinking about it. I had gotten through the lunch line and, when I came out with my tray, I saw Ashley and Kimber standing and waving at me. I walked over to sit with them.

When I got to the table, Ashley scooted over and patted the seat between her and Kimber. Finnegan and Weston were sitting on the other side of the table across from them. I thought maybe they were just trying to be nice and acknowledge me as part of the group now.

"Hey, Elise! My mom said I could have a sleepover this weekend. You and Kimber can come over and we can have an anime marathon. You have some catching up to do." Ashley was smiling, and while she sounded excited, she had a sort of crazy look in her eye.

"I'm in," said Kimber. "I want to repaint my nails too. We can paint yours if you want, Elise." Kimber laid her hands out on the table to show her chipped black nail polish spattered on her short fingernails.

"I'll have to ask my mom. I can't come on Friday though. My mom invited her friend over for dinner. She's buying her friend's car for me, and I get to test drive it Friday," I announced.

"Hey, that's awesome!" Finnegan congratulated me. Weston reached across the table to high five me. "Yeah, cool," he said. I weakly high fived his hand and smiled.

"You don't have a car yet?" Ashley looked incredulous. "Well, that's cool that you're getting one anyway. I was hoping you could come Friday after school, but I can come pick you up on Saturday if you can come. Here, put your number in my phone so you can text me your address." She handed her phone over to me, and I did as she asked.

"Here, give me your number too. Now we'll be able to text each other anytime," Kimber also passed her phone to me.

While this was going on, I caught Finnegan glance over and smile. Weston had went back to telling Finnegan about mastering his skateboard move.

It was nice to be involved with them. I was glad they welcomed me, but I still felt a little out of place. I decided to try to find some black clothes when I went thrift store shopping with my mom for my birthday. I might even try wearing some eyeliner like Kimber and Ashley.

Through the rest of lunch I studied their outfits. I didn't really like how Kimber's clothes were too tight and showed her pudginess, but I liked the way Ashley paired black jeans with a black tee shirt and a black and white checkered jacket. Her shoes even matched the black and white checker pattern. She wore two belts, one loosely draped on her waist and one actually through the loops of her pants. Both were black, but the one holding her pants up had large metal rings across it, and the other had metal studs across it.

We talked about what anime they wanted to show me until the end-of-recess bell rang.