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Part 4 - May 4th

I raced back into the hotel and got into the elevator. It was 7:46 and my mom would not stop calling me.

I think she thought I was dead.

I reached the room, only to realize that I didn't have the key. I knocked on the door and caught my breath. Within a few seconds, the angry face of my mother appeared.

"Where have you been?" she asked, giving me a death stare. 

"I was outside, chill," I replied, entering the room.

"Do you know how many times I've called you?" my mom said, her tone deadly. "This is the second time in two days that you've done this."

"Mom, I'm nineteen and I go to college." I responded. "It's not a big deal." 

"Emilienne-"

"Mom, I know, I should tell you, but I thought I'd be back before you woke up," I said, entering the room and plopping down on the bed.

"Absolutely right," she replied. "As along as we're with you, you tell us where you are."

"Even when you're at the conference?"

"Emili," my mom said. "Do you really want to start an argument?"

I sighed. 

She gave me a stern look before walking away toward the vanity in the room.  

I watched her as she finished applying her makeup. After a few minutes, Atticus came out from the bathroom, dressed in dark blue jeans and a polo shirt.  

"Oh, Emili, you're back," he said.

Yeah. 

With the amount of times my mother was calling me, I had to be back. 

I nodded my head. Grabbing my phone, I scrolled through my messages, pretending to text someone.

I was so lonely.  

"Em," my mom said, startling me. "It's time to go."

"Kay," I said, getting up. The three of us exited the room, Atticus closing the door behind us. 

"Los Angeles," Atticuus said behind me. "What a wonderful place." 

I shok my head with annoyance. 

                                                                    **************************

"Em, what do you want to eat?" My mom asked, placing her menu down. 

I was focused on watching a cute brown haired boy in the corner of the room with a woman who I guessed was his mother. 

"Emili?" My mom asked, waving a hand in front of my face. 

"Huh?"

"What do you want to eat?" 

"Um, I don't know."

My mom glared at me. "Look at the menu." 

I shook my head and picked up the menu, wondering who the brown haired boy was. 

"Hi, I'm Jewel," a waitress with close cropped blonde hair said two seconds after I had picked up my menu. "What can I get you today?" She looked straight at me. 

I had just picked up my menu. 

I skimmed the menu and ordered the first thing my eyes came across. 

A salad. 

"Uh, yes," I stuttered. "I'll take the Garden Salad." 

"Do you want ranch with that?" 

"Sure." 

Atticus and my mom ordered. 

"Your food will be right up," the waitress said, collecting our menus. 

"Thank you," my mom smiled at her. 

As my parents waited for the food by talking about stocks, I glanced over at the boy yet again.

He stood up and walked over to his mom. He grabbed the chair she was in and rolled it away. She was in a wheelchair.  

He walked past my table and smiled at no one, keeping his eyes ahead of him, the light causing his teeth to shine. 

Why were boys in Los Angeles so interesting?