just like any other day

"Dad! I want my own place!" Nora didn't mean to be so demanding. Did they have to rely on his Dad's friends? She paced the guest bedroom at Greyson's. She hoped people didn't think they were anymore than  friends.

OK, she'd kissed him. But it wasn't anything...it could have been. Nora was living at Greyson's parents.

"Honey, its just..our money..its all tied up." Her Dad told her.

"All tied up?" She squinted as if that was the real problem. "We're broke, aren't we?"

She felt a little dizzy from the realization, but she'd known long before now.

"Its all Mom's fault, isn't it?" She was the one who had to have the latest everything and all those trips to Europe. She'd left her Dad and was filing for divorce.

"Now, Honey, don't say that." Her dad was talking to her like she was a five year old.

"You, don't care about us." She knew it was true. How could they ever leave them with people they hardly knew?

When she was ten she'd had a crush on Roman, who was her first kiss. It felt like reliving a really lame Disney comedy. It wasn't nearly as spectacular. She had never really liked him since then. Especially, when he started bragging about how many girlfriends he had at school.

He hadn't really changed.

"All right, I will get a job." She gritted. "I'm the only one who cares about Joel. I wouldn't leave him. Not like you and Mom."

She hung up before her Dad could say anything. She already knew what he had to say.

little surprises

Syreeta knew where her friends were. They were over at Vada's.  Not that she was particularly upset about no invite. She wasn't that close to any of them. She felt way out of her element these days.

Maybe if she'd stuck with Sawyer, she'd be in with the other happy couples. Not that she wanted to wallow in her mishaps of relationships. There were other things to do. Like studying. There would be papers due soon. She needed to get busy and have it done.

In her head, she was dreaming how fantastic the English teacher would talk about her paper on great African American women writers. How she got the paper in, a week before it was due. Of course, she was staring at a very fat book from the library that she couldn't even manage to turn the page.

It was making her tired.

Thank God, the doorbell rang.

She trotted downstairs to get it. After all, her mom was on the phone with her best friend and her Dad was doing something out in the garage.

It was Clive and he had a kitten.

She blinked. Before she knew it, the little furry creature was in her arms, attaching its-self to her sweater.

"I can't keep it." He looked so sad. She had to say yes.

"Clive?" She winced as if that was the worst idea ever.

"Her name is Chloe and we just don't have food for her. She's hungry." Oh, he would have to have a sad story. She handed him the kitten.

 He was probably more hungry than the kitten. She went to the kitchen to see what was in the fridge. She got out the mac n' cheese from supper. She warmed it up for him.

"Thanks." He smiled as if he was happy to see she wanted to help.

She wanted to tell him no, but how could she with those sad eyes of his.

She fed the kitten some milk.

"We don't have any kitty litter." She informed him

"Oh." He shrugged.

"We'd have to go to the grocery store or some place." She sighed as if he was making this difficult.

He didn't have an answer for her because his mouth was full of cheesy noodles.

He was kind of funny. She held in a laugh. Actually, she liked watching him eat. What was the matter with her? No, no..she found herself shaking her head no. She couldn't be falling for him.

"What? We could walk over to CVS." He dug out a 10 dollar bill from his jean's pocket.

Syreeta set there at the dining table hugging herself.

"I love Chloe. I just don't want anything to happen to her at my house." He got up to wash his dish.

She looked at him wondering what other mysterious things he might bring up.  He bundled up the kitten in his jacket.

"Well, come on, we have a cat now. And I won't make, you, do everything." He held out his hand as soon as she grabbed her coat.

She took his hand. It was much softer than she expected. Actually, it was warm and such a comfort.

the long winter

Vada had her first get together. Well, it was only a homemade pizza party. Henry's dad made homemade soda for everyone so they weren't out much. Although, Joel had decided they needed hot chocolate after he found the Keurig machine. He didn't seem all that bothered that his sister wasn't staying at Roman's at the moment.

"I guess she's OK with Greyson." Joel thought Grey was an OK guy. His parents let Nora have the guestroom.

"But what about you?" Vada winced with concern. "How do feel being their with Roman?"

"I dunno." He attacked the hot cocoa with the Ready Whip and handed her the mug. "We just don't talk. I don't really say anything to anyone."

She knew he'd never end up in Foster care. But he still must have felt lost.

"We'll try to hang out as much as possible." Vada shrugged. She knew she couldn't ask Henry's Dad to pick him up in the middle of the night. Besides, Joel was in a rich neighborhood. "Have you told your Mom or Dad about any of this?"

"I think Roman's parents called Mom, told her Nora was being difficult. Of course, her answer was, how about come to France. Don't think that was what Nora was going for."

"France." Vada sighed thinking that would never ever come up in her life. But she didn't really have to go to France, either. A part of her thought Joel's sister was really level headed, or was that what she wanted everyone to think?

Vada's Ready Whip mustache made Joel laugh. Of course, he took care of it.

selfish much

Sky didn't have much to bring with him. He was still in awe of the room that he could call his own. Of course, his roommates looked at him as if it couldn't be possible. Him moving so quickly, but he had a feeling they'd find someone to crash on the couch soon enough. Or maybe someone's girlfriend would move in. Somebody would be paying them rent in a week or two. It just wouldn't be him.

He put down his guitar and duffle bag. Tried out the old bed. It was firm. Just a little bit of a squeak. Of course, he'd get used to it.

Just then Mitch came to the door, his boyfriend hanging back.

"So what do you think?" Mitch wanted to know.

"Perfect." Sky smiled. He'd seen Derrick from time to time. Although, he was pretty sure Derrick didn't know him even if he should. He understood Derrick as a musician. Still, he guessed he should introduce himself. Maybe he'd remember battle of the bands from years past.

"Well, come and eat." Mitch motioned. No way could Sky pass up pot roast and real homemade rolls. He ate like he might be getting ready for a journey to the arctic. Before long he was smashing a roll in his mouth with butter and the roast on the roll. He even ate his carrots dripping in brown gravy along with spoon fulls of mashed potatoes.

"We were thinking we needed a new base player." Derrick said half way through dinner. He mentioned the guy who played with them would be working through the summer at camp.

"Hummm.." Sky contemplated this in thought. "Well, there's this long haired dude that's fantastic." He grinned then, remembering how he played in the parking lot on a cold fall night after a concert, last September where the locals played. "I bet he'd be perfect."

"But what about you?" Mitch looked at him as if this was the reason he was doing all this.

"I dunno. I don't really like audiences." He sighed. "I-I just like playing for myself."

The Evolution of Mitch by elliewriter on Polyvore