CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: ELICIA

                                    

                                          
 "Treadway." My mom acknowledged his presence as she passed a salad bowl to him on the dining table which he awkwardly accepted.  
"Good evening mam." Treadway greets my mom back with a hesitant smile.  
I could see he was so nervous so, l held his hand reassuringly under the table and he relaxed a little.  
"Good to have you here and please call me Carol." My mom smiles at him.  
"Thank you for having me, Carol." He says formally and I had to try so hard to control my laughter from how awkwardly he was behaving.  
I loved that he was embarrassed and he was trying to impress my mom.  
In order to be embarrassed, a person has to care about the other's opinion first so this showed that he cared about my and my mom's opinion.
"No need to be so formal you can call me Carol." My mom says smiling trying to be a bit accommodating so he wouldn't be so on edge and he nodded.  
"So what do you do?" my mom asks.
"Mom, please. " I plead with her not to get all personal with him.  
"No it's okay. I am currently working at Plaza Café to raise money for my college tuition." He answers truthfully and l am glad he seemed to be fine talking about it.  
"That's wonderful. It's good to know there are still teenagers who value their future. What do you want to do in college?" My mom goes on to ask.  
"I am in between medicine and research science, I haven't decided yet and besides I haven't gathered up enough so l still have a long time to decide."  
"I will be going to College next year." He added.
"Oh, that is wonderful. Research sounds great but so does medicine, it really is a tough decision. What do you think baby?" My mom asks me.  
"I think medicine is a good option, he gets to have you as mentor." I say referring to mom.  
"Yeah, he definitely will. Back in my days I was the top of my class." My mom says smiling and we all join in.
Dinner went very well and l was glad he still wanted to pursue his dreams despite what he had gone through.  
He was one strongest person I have ever met and that made me love him more.  
After dinner I cleared the table and he helped me load the dishes in the dishwasher.  
He bid his farewell to my mom and I walked him to the door.  
"Bye, see you tomorrow at work." He said and gave me a kiss on my forehead.
"Stay the night." I say surprising both him and me.  
"What if your mom finds out, she won't be so kind next time." He says trying not to embarrass me but me being stubborn I insist and he ended up giving in.  
"Wait here let me check if she has gone to her room." I whisper and he nods.
"Mom are you sleeping already?" I ask as I approached mom's room.  
"No, not yet I want to rearrange my closet so probably a bit later."  
"You wanna help?" she asks.  
"Just for a bit, I am tired today." I say and smile.  
"Let me go and switch off the TV. and lights. I will be back in a few." I say and go downstairs to sneak Treadway into my room.  
After safely sneaking him I go back to mom's room to help her.  
I spend less than 30 minutes helping her; I wish her a goodnight and head back to my room.
"l am going to work early in the morning tomorrow baby so if l don't see you before l go l will just see you after work." Mom informs me as l was leaving.
"I will just see you in the evening, you know how l hate mornings." l say laughing hoping she would just agree with me.  
"Okay then," she says and hugs me.
"Goodnight sweetie."  
"Night night mom."  
As soon as I get in my room, I spot Treadway flipping through my photo album.  
I had not removed any of my pictures with Madison, Jeremy and Jason from high school so he was staring at a picture of me and Jason in swim suits looking all lovey-dovey.
"That's Jason." I say as l move closer to where he was sitting, at the edge of my bed.  
"I thought as much." He says and flips to the next page.  
"That's Jeremy, my best friend." I say looking at a picture of Jeremy giving me a piggyback ride.  
"I wanted to introduce you to Jeremy, if you want." I say a bit hesitant.
"Of course, I would love to." he says smiling at me and I do the same.
We sit side by side as we go through my photo album.  
"We should sleep it's pretty late." I say and as soon as I start removing my blouse to change into my pajamas he turns around to give me privacy and I change.
After changing he asks if I have extra blankets so he could sleep on the grey couch that is in my room and I refuse saying we can just sleep on my bed.  
"I don't want your mom to hate me El, I can't. What if she comes in while we are sleeping?" he says panic engulfing his face.
"She won't, I will lock the door." I reassure him but he still didn't think it was a good idea.
"But----," I cut him by placing my lips on his and kissing him.  
The kiss is light, sweet and innocent; I could feel his fear through the kiss so I decide to let it go and let him sleep on the couch.  
"Goodnight El, I love you."  He says as he is about to sleep and l blush under my sheets murmuring a 'night night'  
The next morning, we both wake up to go to work, my mom left very early in the morning so I really had no worries of sneaking him out through the window in the morning.
Work in the following days was really good and he walked me home almost every day as well.