"Luna? Honey, is that you?" My mother walked out of the kitchen in a flour covered apron.

"Yeah." I gave her a forced smile. Our relationship has been extremely strained since my father left. I can't help but think that she is going to leave any day now. It doesn't help that she was in a drunken haze for about four months after he left, before she cleaned herself up. She was gone a lot then, but now she's back to being one of those baking, nosy mothers.

"How was school?" She asked, wiping her hands on a dish towel.

"Fine." I said already making my way to my room.

"Dinner will be ready in ten minutes!" She called after me. It's not even four o'clock yet.

I started using the excuse that I already ate to avoid eating dinner with her. She took that as a challenge and has been making dinner earlier and earlier.

"I'm not hungry." I yelled back at her.

"We are eating a family dinner tonight whether you like it or not. Ten minutes." She used her 'mom' voice. I rolled my eyes, but didn't argue.

Because it is still just the first week of school, I didn't have any homework, so I pulled a book out of my backpack.

I stretched out on my bed and immersed myself into a world of Plain Janes getting the guy.

After what felt like only thirty seconds later, the door to my room busted open. An angry mother was standing in my door way.

"I have been calling you for dinner for more than five minutes." She said through clenched teeth.

"Whatever." I put my book down and stood up.

She took a deep breath, but turned around and walked towards the dining room without saying another word.

Our 'family dinners' are always awkward.

I sat in my usual seat and dished spaghetti onto my plate.

"So," My mother broke the silence. "you meet any new friends at school?"

"Not really." I answered.

"You like your classes?" She tried to spark a conversation again.

"I guess." I mumbled in between bites.

"Well, at work, I started talking to this guy. He's really nice." She looked at me as if expecting that I would explode.

"Hmm." I kept my face expressionless. I've dealt with enough drama for one day.

"That's okay with you, right? I know with what happened with your father and all is a sensitive topic with you." She was trying to get a reaction out of me. There's probably not even a guy.

"Do what ever and who ever you want. Frankly, I don't give a damn." I dropped my fork on my empty plate with a loud clang.

"Language, Luna." Her voice was stern, but her cheeks were flushed.

"Whatever." I stood up and grabbed my plate and glass.

I dumped my plate into the sink. If she wanted to act like a mother so bad, she can do the dishes.

Less than a minute later, I was back on my bed.

My cellphone pinged from my nightstand where it laid.

It was a text message from Marie asking if I wanted her to call. I ignored it. I was so done socializing for the day.

The rest of my night was uneventful, just the way I like it.

*

The next morning, Marie picked me up from school. I decided to let my anger towards her go. She's my best friend and she's always been here for me. It is not right for me to be angry at her for not being angry at Jackson.

"So," She said as I got into her car. "A little birdy told me that Tate saw you and Josh coming out of a janitor's closet together. She wiggled her eyebrows. "Someone getting a little loving?"

I laughed. "Nothing happened. He just found me there sulking, and we ended up talking about our senior project."

"Well, did you want a little loving?" She started the car and started driving.

"I don't swing that way, Mimi. Sorry." I smirked.

"You know what I meant. Do you like Josh?"

"I don't hate him, but in a romantic way, I just don't know him enough to like him." I answered her truthfully.

She rolled her eyes. "You always say that. You tell a guy that you need to be friends first, and then you friend zone him."

"I do not!" I argued.

"Yeah, you do and then you act like a wounded puppy when they say that they don't want to be friends anymore." She changed the subject. "What are you going to do about the whole Jackson thing? I am not mad at him, but I understand why you are."

"I don't know. If we are going to be friends again, we're going to have to start from the beginning again. Obviously, we both changed a lot since he left. You know I have abandonment issues." I explained to her.

"I guess that's fair. Don't just close him out. He missed both of us." Her voice had a patronizing tone.

"He's secretive with his friends. It's a little weird." I pointed out as she pulled into the school's parking lot.

"They are just close. Try to be nice Luna. They are Jackson's friends, therefore they are our friends, too." She got out of the car and closed the door behind her.

Wall-e was definitely not my friend.

Speaking of the devil, Tate was leaning against the school with Connor.

Marie happily started walking towards them. I was more hesitant.

I hate Tate, and I haven't said more than two sentences to Connor. I decided to just go to my locker. As I walked through the school doors, I heard Marie yelling after me, but I pretended not to hear her.

I got to my locker and started taking out textbooks. The third day of school is generally the first day of actual lessons. I made it to homeroom ten minutes early. I opened my book and tuned out everyone around me.

I know that I'm practically sulking, but I deserve a good sulk. I don't like change. The whole dynamic of Marie and I's friendship is changing and I don't like it. I missed Jackson and Josh doesn't seem like a bad guy, but if getting Jackson back means adding three more people into my life, is it worth it?

It's senior year. Next year they will all be gone, so what's the point in making any new friends? They will leave. I think that I would keep Jackson and his friends out of my life if I could.

"The nerd is reading a book. Why am I not surprised?" A familiar annoying voice said from behind me. I lifted my eyes off the words that were playing a movie in my mind and looked up at Tate. "I'm not going to lie, I was a little shocked when I saw you and Josh. I didn't peg you for a slut, but I guess you just needed attention."

"Maybe, you should spend less time trying to stereotype me." I said back calmly.

"I wasn't stereotyping you. People are predicable if you pay close enough attention." He sat at the desk next to me.

"Well, maybe if you stopped 'paying close attention' to me," I used air quotes. "you wouldn't be wrong. There's more to people than what they look like and where they come from."

He leaned back and propped his legs up on the desk. "I was taking about behavior. For example, you feel threatened by Josh, Connor, and me. You think we are going to take your friend away. You want to be mad at Marie, but you are scared that she will just drop you. You want to make her pick between you and Jackson and us, but you are terrified that she won't pick you. By your little temper tantrum yesterday, I can tell that you have abandonment issues of some sort. Jackson leaving you screwed you up. Didn't it?" He raised a single eyebrow.

I glared at him.

That made him smirk. "It's all in the behavior, baby."

"Don't call me that." I spat at him.

"Little bitter that I can read you so easily?" He taunted me.

"What you said was obvious. I don't exactly hide what I'm feeling. Your reasoning is off though. Congrats, you can tell when I'm pouting and use common sense to figure out why, but my life isn't a book and you can't read my mind." As I finished my sentence, the homeroom teacher walked in and started calling attendance.

_____________________________

I put the cast picture to the side (or above if you are on the app) again.

Happy Holidays everyone!

I'll try to get another chapter up really soon.

If you see any spelling, grammar, or story errors, please leave a comment by it so that I can fix it. It helps me become a better writer and makes the story more readable for others.

Edited 1/30/16

VOMMENT!

Anubis xx