CHASE HOME
"Earth to
Courtney ..."
Courtney snaps her head around quickly,
her dark hair whipping around and landing across her face. She brushes
it away, using the moment to stall just a little bit and gather herself.
"Are you all right?"
Helen asks.
"You looked about a million miles away."
"I'm fine," Courtney says, bringing
her hands back together on the kitchen table and focusing her eyes upon
them.
"Which I take to be Courtney-speak
for, 'Something's bothering me.'"
Courtney shakes her head, still not
looking at her mother. "It's nothing."
Helen bustles around in the pantry
for a few seconds. She emerges holding a granola bar and unwraps it before
she says anything else. "Is it
Jason?
I thought you two were supposed to
be out tonight."
Courtney remains quiet.
"You know you can talk to me about
these things--"
"I'm fine!" Courtney snaps.
Taken aback, Helen crinkles the granola
wrapper in her hand. She moves to the trash can and disposes of the wrapper.
Then she begins heading out of the kitchen.
She pauses just before she crosses
the doorway. "I won't push. But I'm seeing you get very defensive, and
that tells me that you think you made a mistake tonight."
Leaving her words to work on Courtney,
Helen exits.
Courtney drops her head onto the
table with a sigh. Her mother's comment swirls through her mind, weaving
itself deeper and deeper with each round. And eventually it begins to take
definite shape.
Maybe I overreacted.
And before she realizes what she
is doing, she is out of her seat, grabbing her car keys off the kitchen
counter, and heading out the door.
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