“Hey mom.”

Delia looked up from her cooking book. She always read those in the living room after lunch. “Hey sweetie!”

“Can I… talk to you? Only for a second?”

“Of course!”

Ash smiled nervously. He sat facing his mother as she closed her book and put it aside. “Yes? Is everything okay? Is school good?”

“Oh, sure sure, things are great.”

“Then…?”

“I—well, it’s something personal… It’s about Misty.”

“Oh.”

Delia paused for a little moment. She then asked, “Is it about dating that girl?”

“Yes—I mean, no. I don’t even know…”

“Sweetie, you do know that dating doesn’t give you enough time for studies, right?”

Ash cursed under his breath. At the moment, he knew he sought the wrong person. “High school is a very sensitive period, and you have to be careful. Maybe your friends are dating recklessly and going here and there, but you don’t have to be like them. You don’t have to be like Gary!”

“Mom it’s not what-”

“Girls come with success, sweetie, you will only find the right girl after you finally get your own career and be totally independent! Even in college, most girls want to pass time, and this is certainly not good for studies as well. Wasting time on nonsense and passing by rela-”

“Mom, enough, I got it.”

Ash got up quickly. He figured out he had to leave the house soon before his mother started lecturing him again. “Are you sure you understand me very well?”

“Yes, mom, I do.”

“That’s a good thing then,” Delia picked up her book again and said, “don’t forget your homework.”

Ash flashed one more last smile before heading in fast steps to the main door and leaving the house. He let a huge sigh and thought deeply about the next less insane person he was going to seek.