Let's Not Ask Why It's Not Right

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Rewind! You’re getting married! And you’re only telling me now!?” I said, trying my hardest not to yell at my mother in the diner.

She gave a nod and returned to eating her lunch, “It’s getting cold. You better eat.”

“I don’t care if it’s getting cold! You can’t just drop something like this and not talk about it Mom!”

“We’ll talk about this later. Just eat your food,” she said, giving me one of her glares.

“Fine,” I muttered.

God, she’s so…ugh! So she has the time to go out, get engaged and not tell me but she won’t even come to my Parent Teacher conference? That is so like her. I’m probably priority number fifty. Right behind wondering if she turned the stove off when she goes out.

I glanced down at my sandwich. I wasn’t really hungry anymore. I just agreed to shut up just to not cause an argument between us.

“I’m not hungry anymore. Can we go?” I asked, running my hands through my hair.

“Of course,” she said, leaving a tip on the table before we went back to the car.

We drove in silence for what seemed like forever until I piped up. The deathly silence between us was killing me.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked, taking my earphones out.

“I did tell you Kaitlin.”

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” I corrected myself.

And this is where one of lame excuses would come in. She was either going to be ‘too busy’ or the ‘timing wasn’t right’. I just know it. I swear she has used every single excuse under the sun against me.

“I was meaning to tell you but-”

“But what?” I cut her off.

“But the timing wasn’t right.”

Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner. I knew she would use that.

“I’m sure it was. When’s the big day?” I asked, faking an interest.

“Next month-”

“HOLY SHIT MOM! ARE YOU PREGNANT OR SOMETHING!?” I yelled out of shock, causing her to swerve the car slightly before regaining control.

“Kaitlin Avery Mitchell! How dare you suggest such things!” My mother scolded.

“Right. Sorry, it’s just that’s soon. A little too soon considering I haven’t even met the guy yet. How do you know I’ll like him?”

“I know you will. You both like sport!” She smiled.

“Mom, I liked sport when I was five. Not anymore,” I informed her.

“Oh…”

“Yeah. Oh…” I mocked.

My mother didn’t know one thing about me anymore. I was still that daggy five-year-old that carried around a blanket wherever I went in her eyes. Can’t she see I’m a teenager and I don’t like sport. Okay. I take that back. The only sport I like is when people get hurt. But even though she doesn’t really know me, I still love her. She’s the only family I have after all, except until she gets married then I’ll have a step-father.

The rest of the ride was in silence except for the screaming of Oli Sykes coming from my iPod until we pulled up in a driveway. We got out of the car and a tall, brown haired man came out of the house, greeting my mother with a kiss. He must be ‘Tim’.

I stood there awkwardly as they almost had their on make-out session. Ugh. I was about to yell out something about getting a room until they disconnected.

“You must be the smart, young Kaitlin that I’ve heard so much about!” He smiled, coming over to hug me.

He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me, I slightly patted his back due to the awkwardness of this situation.

“Yes sir, that’s me!” I nodded.

Am I going to complain about being typecast as being smart? I don’t think so. I needed all the help I could get with being smart.

He pulled away and introduced himself as Tim. We played what seemed to be 20 questions from me, but 61 questions from him. Tim asked the usual questions I’d expect. “What music do you like?” “How old are you?” “What’s your favourite subject at school?”

We managed to bring in everything from the car in under fifteen minutes. I came inside from the car, the last box of my stuff in my hands when Tim started apologizing.

“Sorry Tyson isn’t here. We would have gotten this done a lot quicker with his help but he’s off with his friends,” he said.

Tyson? Is he some sort of new room mate that Tim shares with? Oh, I know. Tyson is Tim’s brother. Yeah, that’s it.

“That’s okay. I’m sure he’s having fun,” Mom smiled.

Hang on. Mom knew Tyson. Okay, this is getting strange.

“Tyson?” I asked, an eyebrow raised.

“Oh, that’s right. You haven’t met him yet. Tyson’s my son, only a little bit older than you I think,” Tim nodded.

Son? Oh shit. I guess I’ve got a step-brother. Probably some really lame geek. Tyson sounds like a geek name. Trust my mother to forget to mention that not only is she getting married, but I’ll have a step-brother. I gave a small smile and a nod, taking my last box up to my new room. I set the last box down and looked around the room. The walls were pained a rich maroon color and a bed was made up nicely in the corner. I sighed and shut the door.

I guess this wouldn’t be too bad.