“Hey honey, how’s your day?” Claire was curled up in the sofa with a book she’d been reading the last few days.
“Hi … so …” Hazel threw her backpack on the floor and jumped onto the sofa next to her mom, “Joshua Reynolds was at the school today.”
Her mom’s jaw dropped, her eyes bulged wide like they were about to pop out, she put down her book and squeezed her daughter’s hand so hard it turned red. “Is he as gorgeous as I pictured him to be in my head?”
Hazel thought for a moment, “I don’t know how you pictured him in your head … but for a man his age … yeah, I think I can categorize him as gorgeous … although that’s a bit creepy ’cause he’s Marlon’s dad.”
Claire laughed and felt so giddy inside, she turned into her teenage self again in that moment. “Oh tell me about it … how did you meet him? What was he wearing?”
Hazel told every detail of her meeting with Josh and even told her that he said ‘hi’ and talked about a barbeque in the future. Claire was beyond ecstatic.
“Oh my God, I don’t think I can keep my cool if we ever go to a barbeque to meet them,” Claire giggled. “Is Belinda as friendly as Josh too?” she asked.
Hazel never told her mom about what happened the first time she met Marlon’s mom, or all the things that wasn’t right afterwards. Since her mom brought it up, and with the possibility that they will probably meet each other, she thought it would be good to give her the heads up.
“I think Belinda is an alcoholic.”
Claire raised her brows, “Really? What makes you say that?” her expression turned serious.
“She’s always drinking and she looked intoxicated all the time … and I’m there at day time … but … I think Marlon doesn’t want people to know, and we don’t really talk about it.”
Her mom fell silent, she was taking in the information. “She lost her son … I can’t imagine losing either one of you … it must be hard to cope, I’m not judging, I’m a mom …” she pursed her lips and rubbed Hazel’s hand, “It must be hard for Marlon too … did he ever talked about his brother?”
Hazel shook her head, “He’s very closed up when it comes to his brother and his family … I guess it’s still hard to deal with the tragedy, it’s only been months.”
“Did he dropped you off just now?”
“Yeah, we went to his house after school and did some assignments together.”
Claire smiled knowingly, “It seems like you’ve been spending a lot of time with him? How is Lee taking it?”
“He’s been caught up with his preparation, he barely has time for me now … I guess it’s good that I’m studying more than waiting around by the dance floor?” she tried to look at it from a different angle.
“Is there … something more with Marlon? Does Lee have something to be jealous about?”
“No,” she grimaced, but she didn’t sound very assuring, “No … we’re just studying together, and it’s going good for the both of us … Josh even offered help with my portfolio if I’d be interested in doing volunteer work at his charity organization … and he can help with UOG.”
“You’re not serious?” Claire was back to her giddy self.
“Yeah … I told you, he’s super nice … he’s very grateful with Marlon’s progress, he told me he’d do anything within his power to help me with college,” she giggled.
“Oh that’s great honey … I’m so happy for you,” Claire pulled her daughter closer and kissed the top of her head. “Just be mindful with Lee’s feelings, okay? You might be hurting somebody without you realizing … and be mindful with Marlon too … he’s not your average young man, I don’t think he’s lived a life you’re familiar with … there might be some issues there you need to be aware of.”
“What do you mean?”
Her mom shrugged, “Tragic death of a brother, an alcoholic mom … a super famous dad … it’s a whole different world, you may need to watch your step before entering a world you know nothing about.”
Hazel took it in, she never saw it from that point of view. Her mom was absolutely right. She never had a friend who seemed jovial one minute and sad the next minute. Marlon was the popular kid, full of confidence on one side but distant and gloomy on the other.
Other students looked at him as the guy who has it all, the money, the good looks, the fame, the girls, the cars. On the outside it was really like that. Always hanging out with the cool kids, or his friends from the city who looked like the cool kids from wherever they came from. But Hazel could see him from a different light, Marlon seemed to have a dark cloud over his head and all that glamour and big talk was just for show.
“Do you think he’s under some kind of substance too? Meaning … drugs or that kind of stuff?” her mom was curious.
She shook her head, “No … I don’t think so,” she lied.
“Max called, by the way … he said his schedule is fixed, so he’ll be home on the 6th of July,” her mother’s face bloomed into a smile when she said that. It’s been awhile since she last saw Max. “Theo is coming too,” Claire nudged Hazel with her elbow.
Hazel smiled shyly, she still blushed at the mention of Theo’s name.
“How are things with Theo? Have you guys spoken lately?”
“Not really … apart from him liking my Instagram post he didn’t leave any comment or anything, must be something to do with his new girlfriend.”
Claire laughed, “Oh … he has a new girlfriend has he? Yeah … he probably didn’t want to get into any trouble leaving comments on another girl’s social media account.”
Hazel scoffed, “Exactly … I wonder if he’s bringing home his girlfriend for the summer.”
“Why? Will that bother you?” her mom was being cheeky.
“No … just wondering … I’ve seen pictures of her … ,” she said. If Theo brings his girlfriend, it would mean that the relationship was more serious than she’d imagine. Deep down it did bother her to think of Theo that way.
“Well … I guess we’ll find out, when will Lee be leaving?”
“On the 5th …” she frowned.
“Aww … before the dance? So he’s not even going to be at the school dance? I’m so sorry honey … I hope it works out with him … he really is a nice kid.”
She hoped so too. Then she realized she was late for the phone call she promised to make to Lee on his practice break time. She ran up to her room to call him, but there was no answer. He had already started his next session. She texted him instead.