Neighbors, Sitcoms, and Banana Pancakes: Page 1

That day was generally a bad one. From the moment I woke up to the time it ended. Nothing but the usual.

"Natalie- get up." My mother snapped at me, ripping my warm blanket from my body. The winter cold stung my bare limbs; I had forgotten to close the window last night. And, clearly, my mother realized this. "Didn't I tell you that you couldn't see him anymore?!" She demanded, gesturing towards my open window. The curtains fluttered as icy wind blew into my already-freezing room. She had told me... multiple times. But that wasn't going to stop me.

I sat up, pretending not to have heard her question, and rub the side of my face tiredly. "Natalie," she pressed. "Do you want me to bar your window?! Or we could move into that apartment I was talking about. I'd much rather live in town. But if that stupid neighbor boy is going to interfere with your studies it's over for you. This is the last time you're getting away with breaking the rules, do you hear me?!" How could I not, loud mouth? I grumbled inside my head. My mother did this every time she found that I had snuck outside to see Jason, and what she really meant was that this was the last time I was going to get caught. I had to be more careful next time. 

I didn't exactly see why my mother hated Jason so much. He'd never done anything wrong. I mean, maybe she thought he was too much like Dad...? I couldn't really see any resemblance. Jason was lean and had dark brown hair and really, really handsome green eyes. He had a few  freckles  here and there, and wore glasses during class. Those really nerdy glasses... I bit my lip to keep from smiling. My Dad was blond. And fat. He was a drunk- did my mom think Jason would end up the same way? 

I heaved myself from my bed, brushing past my mother to close the window. She watched me impatiently, and I realized I still hadn't answered her question. "Mom, can we talk about this later? I have to get ready for school." I mumbled, opening my closet. I dug through the rack of clothing, listening for my mother's reply. But there was none. Strange that my mother had decided to keep her mouth shut this time. 

I was quick to find a pair of sweat pants and a plain green t-shirt. I didn't necessarily look all that attractive in sweat pants but I only slept in my underwear so I was really cold and wanted to slip into something to warm me up. I might change later. 

"Your senior year is almost over, Natalie..." My mother finally said, her tone was full of disappointment. "Yeah, Mom, I think I'd know that." I replied, but not to sound disrespectful. It was kind of irritating how I never got to live my life because my Mother was constantly pushing me to be the best. At everything. All the time.

"Mom, don't you think it's time you let me grow up?" I finally sighed, turning to face her. Only then did I realize she was in tears, sitting on my already messed up bed. But what surprised me most was that she was nodding... actually agreeing with me. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, but quickly fixed my face. I couldn't let her see. I had to seem strong; adult like. But I ended up looking cocky as I raised my chin, like I was trying to be superior to my mother. Which I wasn't. To keep from doing anything else to make myself look stupid, I opened my mouth to speak again, only to be cut off my my Mom. 

"I know I've been babying you all these years, and I know you hate it. But it's because I'm trying to protect you..." Oh, jeez. Where'd she get those lines? Wait-wait. I got it. My life is really a dramatic sitcom... and everyone has scripts except me because I'm not supposed to know. That's what makes the show so intriguing. 

Yeah right. 

"Mom," I sighed, trying not to make the situation anymore unnecessarily dramatic than it already was. "I get it. I've seen this all before. You want the best for me because you're trying to help me in life. You don't want me to have the life you had." I told her, trying to keep from rolling my eyes in disgust. I really had seen this too many times before. It was actually really stupid to me. "But here's the thing: you should really let me live my own life, okay? Because tomorrow I'm turning 18; I'll be an adult. And from then I'm going to want to start making my own decisions and, eventually, move out. I have plans for my future, you know that." And so she started sobbing. 

Yikes. Here we go. 
                                                                                     

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Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing. 
"Natalie- wait." I was on my way out the door to the Chemistry Lab when Jason stopped me, resting his had on my shoulder. "Hm?" I replied, turning to face him. His hand dropped limply at his side and he grinned at me. "Baby, you're going to be 18 tomorrow." He reminded me for about the thousandth time today. I rolled my eyes and gave a small laugh. "Shut up already." I mused, brushing my long bangs from my eyes and tucked them behind my ears with one hand, my Chemistry book in the other. He chuckled softly, but his face turned serious soon after. "No, baby, I'm being serious. I'm so excited." He said, stroking my cheek softly, his soft fingers brushing across my skin. I rolled my eyes again, smacking his hand away. "Why should you be excited about my 18th birthday?" I grumbled. "I'm not even excited about it." 
"Nat, can we talk about this later?" Jason asked, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah, sure," I mumbled, shrugging my shoulders. Weirdo. 

Not only was my Mom being a total drama queen, but Jason was acting really weird. What was this all about, anyway?