I expected the house to be empty when I got home.
It wasn’t.
I walked inside, dropped my bag onto the counter, and looked up to see my mom at the kitchen table, her laptop in front of her. A coffee mug sat to her right and there was a bowl of fruit to her left. She wore her headphones, and she bit her lip before she looked up.
Seeing me, her eyes widened, and we stared at each other.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
She took off her headphones. “What are you doing here?”
I frowned. “It’s after school.”
“Yeah, but you never come home anymore.”
I pointed to her computer. “You’re working?”
She turned to look down at her laptop as if she’d forgotten it was there. “Oh. Oh yes. I decided to take a day at home.” She stood, her chair sliding back, and she paused there. It was as if she
