Wondering Minds

Chapter 10

I've been staring at my phone for about ten minutes, building up the courage to call Braden. I clicked on Braden's number and then clicked on the call button. The phone rang only for a second before he picked it up.

"About time you called me back, I was worried about you." He says.

"I know, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ignore you... I needed time to myself to think."

He doesn't speak for a second, "Understandable. Um... I'm sorry for calling you so many times." Braden clears his throat.

"It's fine, you were worried about me, that's really sweet." I could tell he was blushing on the other end.

"I'm having a little get-together today at five p.m. if you feel comfortable to come."

"Okay, I'll think about it," I said.

He doesn't say anything else and then hangs up the phone. I put my phone next to me on the couch and then flip through the TV channels.

Mom comes out of her room, "Who was you talking to?" I continue to flip through channels, "Nobody."

"You can just tell me if you were talking to Braden. You should invite him over so I can meet him. She takes a drink of her energy drink.

"No, Mom... We're not even together, why do you want to meet him?" I said with a confused look.

"I'm already hanging out with his Mom today, we're going out for lunch today."

"Mom! Why are you going out to lunch with the lady who caught me making out with her son?!"

"To get to know her better, she seems very sweet," Mom says while grabbing her purse. "And I'm glad to see you out of your room today, that therapy session must be really working."

I gave her a fake smile as she walked out the door. I grabbed my phone to quickly text Braden, "Do you know our Moms are going out to lunch together?" I sent the text.

Not even a second later he responds, "What?! No! Why are they going out to lunch together?"

"I don't know," I responded.

Out of nowhere, somebody is knocking at the front door. "Who's that?" I thought.

I quietly got up and took a peep out the window. "Ryan?"

I opened the door to him standing there, "Um..."

"I know this is weird, but can I talk to you?" He says.

I look around like it's some sort of prank he's pulling. "Please?" He begged. I agreed and I let him in.

I sat on the couch and he sat beside me, "I'm sorry I came over here unannounced, I just really need to talk to you about Emma." Ryan says.

My heart drops when he mentions Emma, "Whatever it is, I probably can't help you." I pointed to my faded black eye and slightly red eye.

"Oh yeah, I forgot." He sighs. "So... Y'all not friends no more."

"I don't think so."

"Can you give me advice instead?" Ryan says desperately.

"Sure."

"Okay, I feel bad for disappearing when Emma said she was pregnant. I was scared...I wasn't ready but now I am since everybody at school knows now... I finally built the courage to tell my Mom last night and it was a positive reaction."

"That's good..." I said.

"Now I'm trying to tell Emma but she won't listen to me. Do you have any advice?"

I try to think of an appropriate answer, "Um-"

I get interrupted by the sound of a knock on the door which scared the both of us. "f**k, it's probably my Mom," I said rushing to the door. Ryan decided to hide behind the couch.

I opened the door to see Braden, "Oh! Hi!"

"Hi!" Braden says with a bright smile.

"What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to come say hi since our Mom's are on a lunch date." We both giggled until we heard something get knocked over in the living room.

I turned around to see Ryan picking up the lamp. "Why is Ryan Trim here?" Braden says a little angry. "We were just talking, he needed advice."

"Talking? He's the one that caused all of this." Braden walks in and then comes face to face with Ryan.

"Are you deciding to step up and become a man?"

"Look, man... I'm not here to fight you, especially at Luna's house." Ryan says.

Braden calms down a little, "Whatever bro..." He sat down on the couch and then Ryan sat down on the other couch. I closed the door, walked over to Braden, and then sat down next to him. "We're going to hurry this up because my Mom could be back any minute," I said to Ryan.

Ryan nods in agreement. "Um... I think you should give her time, like how she gave you time, she'll come around. If she doesn't come around, she might decide to get an abortion."

Ryan starts to freak out, "What?! An abortion!"

"You should've stepped up when she told you," Braden says with an attitude. Ryan gets defensive, "Stay out of this bro! Let's say that you got Luna pregnant you'll do the same thing I did."

"Hell no! I would actually be a man and take care of my child...Unlike you."

I sat there too shocked to do or say anything. Ryan stood up blazing with anger, "We can take this outside."

"Okay then... Let's go!"

I quickly jumped up, "No! we're not fighting. Ryan, it's time for you to go." I grabbed him by the arm to the door while Braden taunted him with a smirk. Ryan walked out the door angrily, I watched as he stomped down the street.

"What the f**k was that?!" I said as I turned around to look at him.

"What do you mean? I hate that guy... We never got along, ever since third grade."

"You should've put all of that aside and helped the poor guy," I said.

Braden doesn't say anything. I sighed and went outside on the porch. I stood there taking in the scenery and fresh air.

Braden comes out of the house, "Are you mad at me?"

"No... Do you ever feel like you're missing something in life?" Braden thinks for a second, "Sometimes." He looks down as his face frowns.

"What's wrong?"

Tears streamed down his face, "It's nothing..." He takes his right hand and wipes his tears.

"Come here..." I grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the grass. I sat down in the grass and then Braden sat down next to me.

I scoot closer to him, "Tell me...It's better to let it out than hold it in."

He takes a deep breath and then lets it out. "I know this might sound stupid but I feel like I can't be loved."

"What? Why?" I asked while grabbing his hand to hold it.

"Well... I smoke weed, I drink, I fight, I might have anger issues, I'm just a mess up." More tears fall down his face.

I wiped his tears with my thumb, "Don't say that, you're loved-"

I get cut off by my two cars pulling into the driveway, "f**k! It's my Mom!" I hopped off the ground.

"Is that my Mom too?!" Braden says while dusting grass off of him. I start to panic, "Maybe should run!"

"They already saw us," Braden says pointing. Both of our parents stepped out of their cars, "I knew you were over here, you didn't answer my calls." Braden's Mom says. Her curly black hair and her light brown skin glistened as she walked towards Braden.

Braden takes a look at his phone, "Oh... I didn't hear it." Braden's Mom glances at me, "I see why you were making out with her, she's very pretty." I smile nervously at her comment.

"Mom..." Braden says annoyed. My Mom comes over smiling, "You must be Braden..." Mom looks him up and down.

"Mom...Please stop..." I said.

"Come inside, we're going to talk to y'all," Mom says.

We all walked into the house, "Y'all can sit right here," Mom pointed to the couch. Braden sat down and I sat down next to him but not too close. Both of our Moms stood in front of us, "Okay, we wanted to talk to y'all because it's clear that y'all two are dating." My Mom says.

"Oh...No..." I covered my face with embarrassment.

"Why are y'all lying to us?" Braden's Mom asks.

"We're not lying, we're not dating," Braden says confused. "Okay, y'all don't have to tell us but hopefully y'all are using protection every time."

"Oh my gosh... I'm done, I'm not about to talk about this, Mom." Braden stood up and then walked out of the house. I sat there too nervous to even move an inch. "Well, it was nice meeting you, Luna." She hugged my Mom, grabbed her purse that was sitting on the other couch, and then left.

Mom sat on the couch next to me as I quickly jumped up, "You're embarrassing Mom..." I start to walk to my room.

"Luna! Come back! We're curious about y'all"

I didn't say anything back as I closed the door to my room.