Would You Believe Me If I Said I Didn't Need You?

I exited the plane, and walked through the boarding gates to see my mother waiting for me. I would have run up and hugged her, but there was a line of people in between me running.

However, when I saw her I hugged her and didn’t let her go. It had been a long summer without her, and I’m sure she had an even tougher summer than I did.

Firstly she had to deal with the emotional aspects of Dad cheating with a woman the age of his daughter, and had to deal with losing her husband. Then, she was living in a tiny apartment with her best friend, feeling like she was imposing.

She had no other choice though. Dad was the breadwinner in the family. He was a high paid professional at a big company. Mum still worked, but she was a supermarket check out operator before the split. She had no savings, and finding a job that required no skills would be hard. She had no money this summer.

Then, when she had a job (She got a job as a florist) she had to save. She needed to save up for bond, and things we’d need like furniture and the alike. Luckily she got a good deal, she found someone who was moving overseas and was willing to sell their furniture at a very low cost.

Sure has been tougher than my summer. I stayed in my room alone most of it, but it required little to no effort at least. Mum has been slaving away this summer. And it has paid off; we can now begin to rebuild our lives.

We didn’t talk much in between grabbing my luggage and walking to the car. However, as mum began to drive away conversation started.

“I take it you remember T.K. and Matt?” Mum asked me.

“Of course. I used to see T.K. regularly at school before he moved, and I remember Matt from summer camp when I was twelve.” I shrugged.

“So, you’d want to see them again, yes?” Mum asked.

“I guess. It’s not on the top of my list though, seeing T.K. wouldn’t be too bad but Matt and I never really bonded, we have no real reason to catch up.” I replied.

“Great! That’s good to hear because T.K. and Nancy are at home right now, they’re helping me get your room ready, and move some furniture in. Matt couldn’t make it, he has band practise.” Mum explained.

“Cool. It’ll be awesome to see Nancy and T.K. again.” I grinned.

Small talk was made on the remainder of the trip. She was telling me about her new job, apparently she was really enjoying it. She was also telling me about the apartment she was renting, the area and what shops were nearby.

We then pulled into the driveway, and I hopped out. I got my luggage out of the boot, and rolled it up the stairs, onto the fourth storey where our apartment was located.
“We’re HOME!” Mum shouted, smiling a big grin.

A few seconds later two figures bounded in front of us. One was Nancy, who looked almost the same as she did two years ago. Same hairstyle, same fashion sense and no extra wrinkles or anything to show aging. She looked glowing though; you could tell she was happy. I was willing to bet she was now so delighted to be able to see both of her sons on a regular basis.

T.K. looked a little different now. I last saw him when he was thirteen, he was now fifteen. Whilst his facial features looked the same, it was easily seen that he had grown even taller. Matt was always quite tall, but I bet T.K. could rival his height now. Not only was he taller, his clothing had matured in the last two years. Instead of wearing the teal and yellow coloured shirt with shorts and a hat, his hair was bare, with just a plain t-shirt and jeans.

However in the last two years I had changed a lot, as mentioned earlier. When I was sixteen, my clothing choice was beginning to slightly change but I was still pudgy.

“Wow, Scar. You look amazing!” T.K. said, rushing over and stopping right before me.

“She prefers Scarlett now.” Mum sniggered.

“Came to your senses, eh? Remember when Tai used to call you Scarlett and you’d crack it at him?” T.K. laughed.

I laughed, and shook my head (The way you shake you head when you’re remembering something stupid, not in a ‘no’ like fashion) remembering that crazy summer camp.

“So, now that Scarlett is here, Angie and I would like to propose this evening’s events.” Nancy said, a smile appearing on her face.

T.K. and I looked at each other, shrugged and then looked back at the adults.

“As you both know, Nancy and I have been working incredibly hard lately. Whilst we don’t regret this for a second and you kids are our lives, we both think we deserve a night out. So tonight is a mum’s night out, Nancy and I shall be hitting the town!” Mum said very enthusiastically, with Nancy giving a cheer at the end.

“Aw Mum you deserve it, have fun tonight!” T.K. said to his mother.

“Yeah Mum, enjoy yourself. Don’t get too hammered.” I cheekily grinned.

“That’s not the best part.” Mum beamed.

“Angie was telling me about your weight loss Scarlett, and how you managed to cook delicious meals with barely any fat content but full of nutritious value. I think Matt and T.K. could deal with some good food in their bodies for once and Angie suggested that we should come here for dinner one day.” Nancy started.

T.K. let out a loud moan at his mother’s subtle scolding of his eating habits, and Nancy sent him a dirty look before continuing.

“As Angie and I are going out tonight, we believe you kids should keep each other company. You may as well all catch up and see how life has been treating you all. Scarlett, you haven’t seen Matt since you were twelve – six years ago. A lot has happened since and I bet even a night won’t be enough to catch up. It’s also been two since you last saw T.K. that’s a while on it’s own.” Nancy stated, addressing me.

I smile and nodded. Whilst I didn’t mind seeing T.K. and Matt, I think Nancy was overreacting.

I helped T.K. a few times in school by beating up his bullies, but at the end of the day we only used to say hi to each other and smile when we passed by, we weren’t really friends.

And Matt, well Matt and I weren’t exactly the chummiest of people. We were civil towards each other, but that was it. He thought I was annoying and immature for always fighting with Tai, and I thought that he took things too seriously. Even if it has been a while, and there would be things to ‘catch up on’ it would be a little weird.

But I would go through with the idea and embrace it. Nancy is right; it has been a long time. I know I’m a completely different person to when I was twelve, and I bet Matt is a completely different person now. I shouldn’t be passing up any opportunities to make friends in this new town.