I woke up. The first thing I noticed was that it was very quiet in the house. Mom was probably still asleep, and she's probably hungover too. I checked my phone to see what time it was and saw that it was already noon. "Have I slept that long?" I slowly got out of bed and got dressed.

I put a note on the table for Mom so she knew I was going to my best friend. I walked to the garage and took my bike. While cycling, I cleared my mind. The fresh air and the wonderful smell of flowers did me good.

When I arrived at my best friend's house, I put my bike against the wall. I knocked on the door and hoped he was home. Behind the door I heard someone running quickly down the stairs, probably Max, my best friend. The door opened slowly and the person behind the door studied me. When he recognized it was me, he opened the door completely and let me in. As usual we gave each other a high five as a greeting.

"How are you?" Was the first thing he asked. "It's okay, my mother is again, as usual, drunk." I said, as if I was used to it. "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that! Would you like to play some games? Then you can change your mind and you don't have to think about your mother too much." He looked concerned, I sometimes feel like he's the only one who genuinely cares about me.

I followed him up the stairs. "Come on in." he said as he opened the door to his room. Even though I've been here before, I still looked all the way around his room. I thought it was pretty cool how much stuff and games he had. I don't know for how long, but I know I must have been gaming for a few hours. "I think I better go home." I said. Since he was completely focused on his game, he looked at me as if he didn't understand what I was saying. I repeated what I said and he nodded. I got up and he followed me downstairs. "It was nice to see you again." And he opened the door for me. As I walked to my bike, he waved at me.

When I got home, I saw through the window that my mother was no longer in the sofa. It did give me some relief, because maybe she's sober again now. I carefully walked into the hallway and then went to the living room. My mother was not here. I started to get a little worried, so I yelled out loud "Mom!?". No reaction. I yelled again, but still no reaction. As far as I could see, she hadn't left a note.

I walked to my room, and took my phone out of bed. I called mom. She answered, thankfully. "Where are you?" I said worried. I heard her take a deep breath on the other side. "I'm with a friend." she said quietly. "A friend?" I said surprised. "Yeah, uhm, I have to change my mind a bit, because you know." I didn't know what to say. But I didn't believe her. "Are you really with a friend? Or are you hiding something from me?". Silence. "Mom?".

She stopped the conversation and I stared at the screen. I could not believe it. She definitely has a new boyfriend.

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𝗛𝗲𝘆! 𝗜 𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗲𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝟮, 𝗶𝗳 𝘀𝗼, 𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝘃𝗼𝘁𝗲

𝗤: 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗼𝗯𝗯𝗶𝗲𝘀?

𝗔: 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗱𝗿𝗮𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 (: