Screaming Hearts: Part Three

      “Borat and Stranger than Fiction.” He replied.

      “Ooo two movies, what’s the occasion?” She smiled.

      “Nothing…” He paused, “I think I’m going to tell Karie I love her tonight.” Evan was very close to his mother because she was the only parent he had known ever since he could remember. His parents had gotten a divorce when he was only two and his father moved away somewhere, and never kept in touch. 

      “Finally! You decided to take your mother’s advice at last.” Rachael exclaimed. They had talked about this before and she had tried convincing him then to just tell Karie because Karie obviously likes him too, but he didn’t believe her. He didn’t want to jeopardize her friendship over some silly crush. But now that he was sure it was true love, it couldn’t be left unsaid.

      He laughed sarcastically, “So, what’s for dinner?”

      “Changing the subject, eh? Well I ordered the pizza, pepperoni obviously, and there’s some popcorn and soda in the kitchen.” She said, motioning to the kitchen which was open to the living room.

      “Thanks mom.” He turned right into the kitchen away from the living room on his left, and noticed the shopping bag on the counter.

      A box of popcorn and paper plates filled the bag, with a six pack of root beer sat next to it. She knows me so well, He chuckled.

      He went over a mental checklist in his head to make sure they had everything they needed for tonight: pizza, soda, popcorn, movies. The movies! He had forgotten them in the car while he was carrying Karie out!

      Dashing out of the kitchen, through the living room, and out the front door he reached his locked car only to find out he had also forgotten his keys in the ignition. I’m so stupid, He groaned, Dang-it, I hope my mom still has her spare.

      He walked back across the yard and into the house, “Hey mom?”

      “Yeah?”

      “Do you still have the spare key to my car?”

      “Somewhere, I think it’s in the junk drawer in my office. Did you lock yourself out?” She smiled.

      “Yeah” He grumbled before heading to the office.

      He found the junk drawer quite easily since it was the only messy thing in the whole room. His mother was very organized when it came to her work, although that was easy since she hardly used the office anyway. She spent most of her time in the living room, claiming it was easier to write her books in comfort rather than in the stuffy office.

      Evan’s mom had a way with words, and every book she had written ended up on the bestseller list. ‘It’s an art,’ she had once told him, ‘figuring out creative ways to say different things to give off a certain feeling, just like an artist uses colors.’

      He smiled at the memory before returning to search for his keys. Half used and broken pencils filled the drawer, along with scraps of paper, some game pieces from his old candy-land game, letters, batteries, crayons, and other odd objects he wasn’t sure what they were for. With no sign of the key, he sighed then went back out to the living room.

      “It wasn’t in there.” He said, slightly annoyed.

      “Hmm…” Her expression was an exaggerated one of deep thinking that made Evan forget his frustration for a moment and laughed. “I suppose I might’ve put it in my jewelry box for safe keeping.”

      Evan turned around and went into his mother’s room, the only other room in the hall besides the bathroom, office, and library.

      It was like walking onto a beach. Her cream carpet sifted through your toes like sand as the bright blue-green of the walls seemed to wash over you like the sea. Her bed frame swirled and coiled like soft-wood seashells as it held her rippling water bed with her comforter that was alive with soft oranges and pinks and radiant turquoise. Many pillows were sprinkled atop her bed and Evan had a wave of an urge to jump on the bed like he had done when he was younger, but he maturely dismissed the idea. She also had an enormous light wood colored vanity that stood off the other side, speckled with make-up, perfume, and other stuff.

      He found her quaint little jewelry box amidst the feminine articles and sifted through her sparkling necklaces and earrings to find his key sitting on the bottom.

      Breathing a sigh of relief, he triumphantly held the key in his hands as he ran back out to his car, thanking his mom on his way out.

      He unlocked the car and took his keys out of the ignition, and paused for a moment to remember what he came to the car for in the first place. Oh yeah, the movies! He found them on the floor under the passenger seat then he grabbed their backpacks in case they wanted to do homework, although that was highly unlikely, and headed back inside.