Home Early

"Who was that girl?" Donna Granger asked her son, Joey, as he passed her in the driveway.

"Huh?" he responded, as articulate as ever.

"That girl on the street," she said, rolling her eyes. Why did teenagers have to make this so difficult? "The one you were talking do. I saw her when I drove by. She was pretty."

"Nobody. Just a girl from school," Joey muttered, not even bothering to look at her as he shuffled past. Donna caught a glimpse of his face—closed off, unreadable.

And then her sullen son let himself into the house, leaving her outside alone. She sighed. It was a warm day in May, too warm to be stuck in the office all afternoon, so she'd cashed in some bank time and headed home an hour-and-a-half early. Hank, her husband, wouldn't be expected home for a couple hours, and with her Juniper, her daughter away at college, she had thought it would be the perfect time to connect with Joey. He was growing up so quickly, just about to graduate from high school, already eighteen. It wouldn't be too long before he decided it was time to move out and start his adult life, and so Donna wanted to take advantage of the time she had left.

Of course, she hadn't factored in the teenage factor.

Sure Donna wanted to connect, but did Joey? It didn't seem so. Maybe something happened at school. If so, it would be a dice roll whether or not he would open up to her. He was so stuck in his own world that he didn't even ask why she was home so early!

As she walked into the house, Donna considered the girl on the street. She bet that was what was bothering Joey. Girl trouble. The girl certainly had been pretty. Far too pretty for her son. She loved him dearly, but pragmatically speaking he wasn't going to be able to get a girl like that unless he suddenly found a way to unlock a secret hidden charming personality. Joey was shy, guarded, sometimes came off as aloof. But not in the cool, mysterious way. In the "Don't bother me, you'll forget me soon enough" way. In the looks department, he had yet to find his full potential. Or maybe he had, and Donna should lower her expectations. Skinny, messy hair, slumped shoulders, bad dresser. Donna caught herself wishing, once again, that Joey would care enough about himself, his appearance, his future, his own damn life, to make the smallest change. It was infuriating. Couldn’t he see? His life would be so much better if he would just take some initiative!

So for Joey to be talking to a girl like that, Donna was sure he was setting his target too high.

The kitchen was empty when she walked in and filled the coffee maker with decaf grounds, changing the filter, and turning it on. Joey often would have a snack after school, she had deduced that by the dishes he often left out that she discovered when she got home from work, but that day he'd either quickly grabbed something and headed upstairs or he'd foregone the snack entirely. If Donna was going to connect with him, she'd have to find him first.

The boy had never had a girlfriend. He wasn't entirely a loner. Just the night before, some of his friends had taken him out for his birthday, but all of them had been guys. No girls. The year prior she had briefly wondered if he was straight, if perhaps she had misread the situation, but then she'd overheard him talking on the phone with one of his friends, describing a woman from a movie they'd just watched together, and that had put that thought to bed. Joey was absolutely interested in women, he'd just never done anything about it.

Or maybe he had but had failed miserably.

She bet that was it. The girl on the street. Joey had taken his shot, but it wasn't good enough. He wasn't good enough. Not for a girl like that. Donna knew. In high school, she herself had been one of the hot girls. She remembered how boys would practically throw themselves at her. She never blamed them. The looks she had as a mature woman, beautiful face atop a body that definitely still drew attention her way, had been around then as it was now. Her large breasts had come in early, her hips had always held sway, and her waist had always been skinny. And of course, Hank's favourite feature, Donna's legs had always been long, slender, and sexy. Sometimes Donna would try to be kind to the boys that asked her out, the boys who didn't have a chance in hell with a girl like her, but usually she didn't even give them the time of day, telling them to get lost.

A girl like that, like the one Joey had been talking to, was exactly that kind of girl.

The sound of the coffee percolating shook her from her thoughts. Joey, her son, would need a friendly ear, would need comfort. The coffee could wait. Changing out of her work clothes could wait too. What couldn't wait was Joey, who she was sure was sitting alone in his room, broken hearted. She had come home early to connect with him, and this was her chance.