I'm not mad — Halsey

CYNTHIA'S HAND SHOOK AS SHE WAITED FOR her mother to walk into the restaurant. After literally everyone in her life told her to give the older woman a chance, she decided maybe she should. The Sari girl knew she would regret not doing it, even if this turned into a complete and utter shit show.

"Hi, sweetie." Penelope rounded the corner, and as she bent down to take a seat, leaned over to kiss her daughter on the cheek. Cyn quickly jolted back, making both of them clear their throat lightly.

This was going to be awkward.

"Hey." Cynthia spoke plainly, nervously sipping on her water.

"You didn't order anything?" Penelope questioned, letting her hand graze against the menu as she read it.

"Not even the least bit hungry." The Sari girl answered, looking up in the air. "So, what did you want to talk about, mother?"

"I would like you to consider letting me take you every weekend, to my new home." The older woman smiled. "It's nice, and big, even bigger than our old one."

Cynthia narrowed her eyes in disbelief at the woman she once called "mom", she didn't know if it was because she was older now, and had become her own person but, she was seeing Penelope in a whole new light than she once did as a child.

"So, while dad and I are living with Bianca in a one bedroom, you're living it up in a mansion." The Sari girl laughed annoyedly, before speaking again. "That is so nice. I am happy for you, really."

"Well, I didn't exactly buy it." Penelope lightly cleared her throat, knowing the next part wouldn't be received quite well. "I live with my fiancé."

"Oh, great. It's dad part two, except in this situation, you're the goldigger." Cynthia let her fingers tap the table lazily, her leg shaking rapidly back and forth.

"He's a very nice man, and I would love for you to meet him, Cyn. He has done a lot for me, and he encouraged me to come back into your life." The older woman explained, not making the situation any better in any way.

"So, you're telling me you only came back because your boyfriend told you." The Sari girl accused plainly, as the waitress came to the table.

"Honey, that's not—"

"Can I take your order?" She asked, taking out her writing pad and a pen.

"That's not what I was saying at all, he just encouraged me toward it all." Penelope was grasping for straws at this point, knowing that anything she said would come out wrong. "There wasn't a day I didn't think about you."

"I'm uh—... i'm gonna give y'all a minute." The waitress raised a brow, and awkwardly walked away, still going unnoticed.

"Well, it looks like things are going to stay that way cause, even after this little talk, I still don't see any reason to be around you anymore." Cynthia pushed herself up from the table and took a deep breath. "I went a year without a mother, maybe it's better if I keep it that way."

She walked off and left Penelope there, stunned, and tears pricking at her eyes.

"Can I take your order now, m'aam?"

BIANCA'S ARMS WERE FOLDED ACROSS HER chest as she listened to Johnny come up with excuses for why he didn't tell her Ali came back in town. He even slipped up that they spent an entire day together, and if she didn't know any better, she'd say it sounded like a date. Old her would have told herself that they weren't official so it shouldn't matter but it did.

It mattered a lot.

"Nothing happened, she's just an old friend that I hung out with." The blonde man explained with a sigh, running a hand across his face.

"It's not that you were with her, it's that you didn't tell me. How could you not understand that? Especially with how obsessed you are with your past." Bianca took in a deep breath and shook her head. "You made a mistake, just own up to it, Johnny."

"Fine, I should have told you, are we good now?" The Lawrence man asked as he leaned his shoulder up against the wall.

"You are really think in the head if you think that's all it's going to take to forgive you." The Sari woman replied with a scoff.

"Carmen forgave your brother, aren't the two of you synced up with your periods, or something? Wouldn't you make the same decision?" Johnny's words took her aback but, honestly, coming from him they were less than surprising.

"Carmen is a lot more understanding than me, and my brother didn't go on a date with Penelope, he seen her so they could talk about their child. Do you have a child with Ali? No, right?" Bianca could practically feel her blood boiling, cause she knew he still wasn't fully understanding her anger.

They were not even officially together, yet, there was already another woman she had to worry about, and it was driving her crazy.

"You're an adult, Johnny. It's time you start acting like one." The woman shook her head lightly, and walked off, leaving the front door wide open, and Johnny running a frustrated hand through his hair.

"Looks like someone's in the dog house." Theo commented lightly as he waltzed in with his book bag, shutting the door behind him.

"Yeah, like you're gonna be if you don't mind your business." The Lawrence man replied, reaching into his fridge to grab a beer.

"Just want to help." Theo shrugged and threw his book bag on the ground. "But, if we aren't talking about your life I might as well talk about mine."

"Oh, goody." Johnny said dryly.

"You already know that i've been dating Sam for a few weeks now, and i've met her parents, and her brother, blah, blah, blah but, I just feel like she's too good for me, y'know? What can I give her that some rich guy can't? I don't even think my grades are good enough to get into a college, and I have no idea what I want to do in my life." The Antonetti boy explained, his voice full of frustration.

"Sometimes, guys like us get girls who are probably way too good for us. We just have to do what we can to keep em." Johnny stared down at the table where a earring of Bianca's rested gently. "You'll figure it out kid, I know you can. I'm going to bed."

Theo watched as Johnny walked away from him, and he seen the possibilities for how he could end up. While he was grateful for everything the Lawrence man had done for him, he couldn't help but be scared that he could be just like the blonde man in 30 years if he didn't get his act together. He had been trying but, he needed to try harder.

Whether it was in karate, or anything else he decided to do.

AUTHORS NOTE —
There's literally only like 7-8 chapters left in this book and I still have absolutely no idea what I want to name book two.

Any ideas?

Hope you enjoyed!