Barely

James sat for two hours, mostly listening to his mother chat about her friend's lives. Now and then she or Sally would stand, and his heart would leap into his throat for a moment. Sally managed to save him from his panic for a moment.

"I gotta use the bathroom but, Mom, it's around 5. Jamie probably needs to get back to his friend, and we should get home."

"Oh! Wow, has that long gone by already? I've gotta go too, I'll just go in the other one and we'll head out after.", she nodded at her daughter and stood. Before James could stop either of them, his mother had already gone into his room. He held his breath reflexively, feeling his pulse all the way down in his toes as he waited for her to scream, or come running outside.

Nothing. He grew even more anxious as the minutes went by. Five minutes, he told himself. If his mother isn't out in five minutes he's morally obligated to make sure the alien woman hasn't killed her. And if she comes out fine, he's going to have to panic and find the alien woman after they leave, and keep from shitting himself in the meantime.

Four minutes later, Sally and his mother emerged at almost the exact same time. His mother had a small hand towel from his bathroom, and was drying her left arm off up to the elbow. "You know, sweetie, leaving your tub full like that can breed mold and mildew all over the place."

"O-oh. Right.", he managed to force out with a shaky voice. "S-sorry, just slipped my mind."

Both women have him an odd look. "Jamie, are you okay?", Sally asked. "You look super freaked out right now."

Their mother set the hand towel down in the guest bathroom. "He's probably just worried about his friend. What's her name anyway?"

Shit. Think. Think fast. "S-sparkle."

Both women stopped and stared for a moment. Sally asked hesitantly, "Iiiis your friend a..."dancer"?"

"N-no just a...a nickname. She uh..." His mind raced faster than he could handle, and while the blood rushed to his ears he heard himself say, "she doesn't like it though. She likes glowy colors and uh...space stuff so. So I made a bad nickname."

Sally scoffed and walked past him to the door. "Try Aurora. Like the northern lights. Might make her feel pretty instead of slutty, you know?"

Their mother chimed in, "Oooh, yeah like the princess in sleeping beauty. If you do use that tell her where you got it." She kissed him on the cheek on the way by. "Bye Jamie. Stop by soon, we hardly see you now that you have your own place."

"Y-yeah. Hey, Mom?" he forced out. When she paused he asked, "Was there anything weird about the bathroom?"

"Aside from my grown son keeping a full bath tub and a soaked beach towel on the floor? No. But that and the food almost seems like you want mold so try to be careful okay? That can cause a huge problem, you know."

"Right. I uh...I'll get a change of clothes and head out in a bit...love you guys.", he managed to say without shaking.

Sally gave an audible "Awww."

Their mother playfully smacked her arm and quickly said, "We love you too Jamie. Even if your sister is being a dick, she does too."

Sally echoed, her voice fading gently as she walked to their car, "Love you, Jamie!" Before their mother closed the door. Before James could let his heart rest, he ran into the bathroom. The tub now empty, he looked inside the cupboard below the sink, and poked his head into his bedroom. Shit. Where would she have gone?