Kay and I had a little tiff yesterday.
"You know what, Sage? You're so perfect, so sickeningly perfect. Perfectly and disgustingly blond and blue eyed with legs for miles. And then you have to be incredibly smart on top of that, you're even here on full scholarship --"
"Kay!"
"...No wonder Kyle likes you..."
"Kay, wait a minute!"
"Sage, if you want to be with Kyle, be my guest. I'm leaving this stinking university."
"Listen, Kay, I'm sorry you're having such a hard time -- I know you're frustrated, but can we please just talk about this?"
"Sage, there's nothing to talk about. I've made my decision, I'm leaving!"
"Kay, just calm down! Calm down!"
"Hey, Mom, wait up!" I shouted, my voice echoing through the night air. I've still never seen anyone run as fast in a pair of four-inch heels.
I've been trying to catch up to Mom my whole life, and she's been just out of reach.
Everyone tells me she's awesome for having done all that stuff in the tombs and with the ghost hunting. But don't let the four inch heels and perfectly coifed hair fool you. She'll kick your butt and not even regret it later. I still haven't gotten over all the stuff I found in the private museum at my grandparents' place back in the Valley.
Ever since she took this job I've been a jumble of emotions. I'm conflicted, to say the least.
She's getting the superstar treatment on campus. Press corps members sit in on her classes. The other day Sylvia Cahill wrote a glittering piece in the campus newspaper.
And yet... even with all that ... she's Mom. She's my mother. I love her to death. When I look in the mirror, it's her I'm looking at -- her eye shape, her nose, her mouth -- and I'm brushing her blond hair.
I ended up crashing at Mom's that night. The next morning, we were sitting up, eating haagen dazs yogurt.
"What's going on, baby? You've barely been eating or sleeping." Mom began. "Care to clue me in?"
"It's just, you know, stress with school. I've got a heavy course load this semester."
Mom shook her head. "If anyone can handle a heavy course load, it's you, Sage. Something else is bothering you."
I eventually told her everything -- about Kyle, about the fight Kay and I had, and Mom shook her head.
"Sageblossom."
When she says my full name, I know she's getting ready to a) fuss at me or b) say something really profound and important.
"I've watched you grow up into a beautiful and intelligent young woman, one of which I'm immensely proud. I'm even prouder to call you my daughter. I've watched you grow very close to this young lady, Kayleigh, to the point where she's almost like a sister to you."
"When she started dating AJ, I had no idea it was going to go this bad. And I blame myself for it."
"You're right, you didn't have any idea, Sage. It's not your fault. Sometimes relationships don't go as well as you want them to."
Mom told me about her first love -- and it was not Dad, surprisingly enough. It was a Frenchman she'd met in Champs Les Sims named Gustave. "Gustave was everything I thought I wanted in a guy. He was intelligent, he was charming, he was -- well, French. I swore that I'd marry him."
"What happened?"
"I found out he was already in a long-term relationship with a woman called Jolene. I felt sick. I felt totally used. I felt betrayed."
"Then what happened?"
"Your father was the one who dried my tears -- and, well, the rest is history." She managed a laugh.
She continued. "To hear that the two of you have allowed a young man to come between you is distressing to me. If he's going to do that to the two of you, toy with your emotions like that, then he's not worth it."
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