good girl • (lrh)

28

A•V•A

Today I've decided to spend some time with my mom, considering she's leaving in a just a few days. This morning, I left Luke's house soon after waking up. We ate breakfast together, then I was off to my own house again.

Now, I'm sat in the living room, waiting for my mother to get dressed so we can go out today. Finally, after nearly 15 minutes she appears in the living room, dressed in a simple red dress, her lipstick matching the shade.

"You look beautiful." I speak softly as my mother approaches and her lips twitch up into a smile.

"Not as beautiful as you," she teases, grabbing her purse from the couch beside me, "let's get going, I've got a few places I wanted to go." My mother insists and I nod.

Soon enough, we're driving down the road in the direction of the mall.

One thing about my mother is, she loves to go shopping. I don't necessarily enjoy it, but it's nice to spend time with her either way.

My mother parks her car and we enter the mall near the food court, the smell of many different types of food invading my nostrils. I'm not quite hungry yet though, as I just ate a few hours ago.

"Where do you want to go first?" I finally ask my mother, glancing over at her.

She thinks for a moment before answering, "I was thinking we could get our nails done like we used to?" My mother beams and I nod.

"That sounds really fun, actually."

When I was younger, we would go get our nails done together ever few weeks. I miss doing that if I'm honest, it was quite fun after all. I always loved picking out the colors and designs.

Soon enough, we near the nail salon in the mall and my mother asks the woman at the desk if we could get our nails done. The woman leads us to the area with the nail techs, the pair of us sat side by side.

"What we're you thinking?" My mother asks, turning toward me now.

"Hm?" I tilt my head to the side, not understand her question.

"What color?" A chuckle falls from her lips.

"Oh!" I laugh awkwardly, glancing at all the colors they have available. My eyes scan the different shades until they fall upon one I take a liking too.

"This one!" I point toward a baby pink shade, a smiling covering my lips.

I glance at my mother, awaiting her approval. A smile covers her red colored lips.

"Let's get the same color, yeah dear?" My mother suggests.

I nod my head softly.

"I would like that."

After a few minutes of waiting, the nail techs come over and begin working on our matching nails. My mother chats with her nail tech, but I'm more quite myself, listening to them talk among themselves.

Once the nail techs have finished their work, my mother pays them and we head on our way.

"Thank you mom, that was really nice." I speak softly, glancing at my mother as we walk past a few shops.

"It was, wasn't it?" My mother chuckles, pausing for a moment. A expression covers her face that I cannot quite read, but I attempt to brush it off for now.

My mother and I visit quite a few shops, looking at all kinds of things. My mother bought herself a few things, while I didn't get anything. I don't have any money at the moment, and I don't feel right asking my mom to buy anything.

Finally, we approach the food court just as I find myself growing hungry. I sigh, remembering I didn't bring any cash with me today.

"Let's get some food dear, I'm starving!" My mother exclaims.

"I forgot my wallet, but you can get something." I laugh awkwardly, hugging myself.

"Oh, don't be silly Ava. I'm your mother, I'm not going to let you starve." She scolds playfully, patting my shoulder.

"Let's get some food, then we can talk for a bit." My mother says, guiding me toward one of the food stands.

She seems to order for the both of us, knowing what I want. Once we've got our food, we sit down facing each other.

"Thank you, mom." I smile, glancing between her and my sub sandwich.

"Of course, dear." She smiles, taking a bite from her own sandwich.

The pair of us eat our food quietly, enjoying ourselves as we rest from walking around. Once we've both finished, my mother looks at me, the expression unreadable, just as it was earlier.

"So dear, let's talk about Luke." My mother says softly.

"O..okay?" I take a small sip from my cup of soda, attempting to stay calm. I thought we had already talked about him somewhat the other night. I didn't know what else there was to say.

My mother takes a breathe before speaking, "I know I sheltered you a lot Ava, but you're an adult now." She looks at me intensely and I nod my head. "I understand that you have feelings that you may not understand right now, but I need you to know something." She pauses, calming sipping from her soda, "it's okay to find Luke attractive, and it's okay to have feelings for him." She smiles, "he's a lovely man, Ava. He's been very kind to our family since moving into our neighborhood."

I let out the breath I didn't realize I was holding, "so you're not upset?" I question, biting my lip.

My mother shakes her head, "of course not, dear." She chuckles, "I've always known about your little crush on him, ever since he moved into that house, you've had your eye on him." I blush at her comment and she chuckles, "I don't blame you, Ava, he's an attractive man, isn't he?"

I nod softly, taking a sip from my own soda now.

"I love you mom." I say genuinely, smiling at her.

"I love you too, dear."

My mother and I sit in the food court for an hour more, chatting about all kinds of things. She tells me things I never knew before, things about my father and when she first met him, things about herself when she was my age.

My mother was the exact opposite of me, popular, even troubled in a way. Honestly, the way she described herself, reminded me of my friend Elsa.

Finally, my mother and I head on our way home, enjoying some music in the car. Once we arrive home, we hug and go our separate ways, her up to her bedroom to chat with Charles I assume, and myself to my bedroom to rest.

Today was a good day.