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Aiden’s mom smiled at us as we moved by her. Aiden didn’t. His face was a mask of anger, hurt and pain. I had done this to him. I could see it on his face.
“Mom, that is Aiden.” Suddenly I needed to talk to her. “I don’t know why he hates me.”
She glanced over her shoulder at him. “Cal’s friend.”
I nodded. “I think his Dad hurt him. He didn’t have that bruise around his eye after the fight with Cal on Friday and he didn’t come to the dance last night.”
Mom moved in beside me and put her arm around me. “Honey, it isn’t your fault. It isn’t your fault either that he, or Cal are at odds right now.”
“I just want to fix things,” I said.
She nodded but didn’t give me any advice for how to do that. “Can I ask Cal to come over for dinner?”
“Sure honey. We’d like to see more of him. Maybe Dad would relax about the two of you dating.”
I rolled my eyes a
t her which made her laugh. She wasn’t so uptight about that as Dad was. I texted Cal about dinner tonight. He agreed he would be there at six on the dot. I was excited. I wanted this to last like he did. I couldn’t imagine the heartache if we broke up and I didn’t want to either.
I saw Aiden several times before we left the store. Each time was the same. Across the checkout lanes, he was frowning at me while his mom paid for their groceries. Mom was paying for ours while I tried to avoid Aiden’s glare.
I glanced at Mom wanting her to hurry. Escaping Aiden was my priority right now. Mom was chatting away with the lady behind the register. At this point, we would walk out of the store together if she didn’t hurry it up.
The last of our bags was in the cart. I grabbed hold of the handle, itching to push it out of the store. Mom signed her name after running her credit card.
“Three hundred dollars later, we’re ready to go until next week,” she groaned. “That’s what happens when you have a growing boy. Luckily, you weren’t twin boys,” she teased me.
I laughed half-heartedly. Aiden’s mom was almost ready to go too. Mom walked ahead of me out of the store. I hurried trying not to run over her. She was searching for her sunglasses and her car keys. I didn’t want to look back and see where Aiden was. Then I felt the crushing pain in my heel, and I knew he had rammed their cart into me.
I glanced over my shoulder trying not to cry.
“Aiden, what is wrong with you,” his mother said, her voice soft and low. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart. Are you all right?”
I nodded.
“I wasn’t paying attention,” he mumbled. “Sorry.”
He wasn’t sorry at all. Mom stepped back to me. She looked at my heel that was scrapped and bruising. She sighed. “It’s okay,” she said smiling at Aiden’s mom. My mother was good at putting on her game face.
“He must have been looking at your lovely daughter. I’m so sorry. I’m Carla Todd.”
Mom shook her hand. “Kat Gardener.”
“You must have some classes together if you’re from White Oak Creek?” Carla Todd said to Aiden.
“She’s Cal’s girlfriend,” he said but the stoniness in his tone was obvious at least to me.
“Oh, that explains it.” His mother was oblivious to Aiden’s anger at me. We were all waiting for her to explain herself. “Why I haven’t seen Cal in a while. He’s such a sweet boy.”
I wish I could say the same for your son.
“My Aiden is the klutzy one. Just look at his face.”
“Mom,” he jerked away when she tried to reach up to him.
“Bicycle accident. Always trying to be a daredevil, this one is.”
I liked his mom, but I realized that whatever was wrong with her made her unaware of her surroundings. Her situation at home or that Aiden’s father was hurting him.
