I woke up to light shining on my face. How long have I been sleeping? I felt well-rested but it couldn't have been more than an hour if it was still light outside. Didn't I fall asleep around six though? It should've been dark out.

I looked down and saw that I was laying on top of Daniel. I tried to get off of him without waking him. He stirred a bit but didn't wake up.

I reached for my phone on the nightstand and saw I had missed a couple of missed messages from my mom. I checked the time and it was 9:29. Shoot! I looked again and saw it was 9:29 am. As in the next day! Shit! She's gonna kill me!

I ran into the bathroom and took off the sweatshirt Daniel gave me so that I could put my dress back on. I noticed I had a hickey on my neck and shoulder. Shit! Now she's really gonna kill me!

Okay, I need a plan. I'll go to Chloe's to flat iron my hair and say I burned myself. Then I'll initiate "Operation Storyline."

"Operation Storyline" is something Chloe and I made up the first time she got caught sneaking into her house late. She told her parents she was at my house and we fell asleep. Her parents said they would call me to ask about it, but Chloe got to me first. She texted me a storyline to tell them so she wouldn't get in trouble. The next time we saw each other, we made a whole operation for these situations. It was foolproof. Even if we couldn't get to each other before our parents could, we both had go-to excuses written down in two notebooks that we basically memorized. I'd never even needed to use "Operation Storyline" before, but God was I grateful for it now.

I put my hair in a messy bun and pulled my dress up. I reached for the zipper when I felt hands pulling it up already. I looked in the mirror and saw Daniel pulling it up.

"You okay," he asked.

"No. I'm preparing my will in my head."

"Ooh! Those look bad," he said pointing to my hickeys.

"You think? Don't do that anymore," I said, irritated.

"Sorry," he wrapped his arms around me from behind. He kissed the back of my head.

"I have to go." I threw his hands off of me and walked out of the bathroom. I paused and turned around to look at him. He was leaning against the doorframe.

"I'm sorry for being rude," I said half-assed.

"That didn't feel genuine."

"That's as genuine as you're going to get right now." I continued walking.

"Hey, Lydia."

"Yes?" I turned around once again.

He held up my bra. "I know you like giving me a show, but I don't think this could fit me, so I have no use for it."

I got flustered and tried to hide my smile. Quickly, I snatched the bra out of his hands.

"Bye Lydia."

"Whatever."

.

.

.

I plugged in the flat iron. "Okay, so we went shopping at the mall. I couldn't find anything I liked, which is why I have no bags. We got tired, came back to your house, and watched a movie but fell asleep."

"What's the movie," Chloe asked while writing down everything I had said.

"A Quiet Place."

"Got it. You ready for 'the call'?"

I nodded my head. "While I'm on, start doing my hair."

I dialed my mom's phone as Chloe sectioned off my hair to be flat-ironed.

"Hi, Mom."

"Lydia! Where the hell have you been? I've been worried sick. I was just about to call Chloe."

"I'm so sorry. We fell asleep last night and just woke up. I didn't mean for this to happen, but it won't happen again. We were just so worn out from walking around the mall."

"Where's Chloe?"

"She's right here." I handed Chloe the phone and Chloe handed me the flat iron.

"Hi, Claudia," Chloe started. "You know it was an accident... I get that... Completely understand... She'll be home in thirty minutes... Bye love you."

She handed me back the phone. "I'm sorry Mom. Are you mad?"

She sighed, "No. Just get home quickly please, I want to go shopping and I need your help."

"Okay, I'll be home soon."

I hung up the phone and me and Chloe high-fived. "Operation Storyline" was a success.

I tried to remember if Daniel had used protection and I couldn't remember. Lydia you idiot! "Do you have plan-b," I asked Chloe.

"Um, let me look. If I don't, you can just take one from your mom."

"Obviously not. I don't want her to know I had sex. If she knew she'd ask questions that I don't want to answer." I sat down on Chloe's bed.

"I found one anyway." She handed it to me and a bottle of water. I downed the pill. "So you need to tell me all of the details. You slept over there so it had to be good!"

"There's nothing to tell. It was just sex."

"Sex that put you to sleep. It has to be long and good if it tired you out."

I laughed. "I don't know what to tell you."

"Did you ask him to do it rough?" I looked down and nodded and Chloe screamed. "How was it?"

"Different, but good. I got sore though. But we took a hot bath so it's gone now."

"Oh, my baby's growing up," Chloe hugged me. I just laughed. "Scale of one to ten, how nasty?"

"I don't know."

"One being the bare minimum of roughness, ten being slapping, choking, murder, the whole SHA-BANG!"

"Um... 6.5 I guess."

"Wow! I'm so proud of you. I'm shocked you could do that."

"I shocked myself, to be honest."

.

.

.

"What do you think of this one?"

I looked up from my phone to see my mom in an emerald green hem shift dress with a stringy back, a floral pattern, and a low v-cut. "Um... it's cute. But, I just don't think it's right for this date. You want something sexy, but also some mystery to leave him wanting more. I'll take it though," I smiled. My mom decided to go on a date with a coworker and she wanted a new outfit that "showed a different side of her" as she put it. I was assuming she wanted something that screamed sex, but sophisticated.

She rolled her eyes and went back into the fitting room. When she came back out she was in a brown, one-shoulder, cut-out mini-dress.

"Now that is perfect!"

"Really!"

"Yep! It's so perfect that I'm willing to borrow it from you when you're done."

"Fine. Let me put back on my clothes and then we can check out."

"Okay," I went back to looking at my phone. I felt a tap on my shoulder. I looked back to see Victoria. "Oh! Hi, Victoria."

"Lydia! I thought that was you. What are you doing here?"

"I'm shopping with my mom."

"Oh ok. I just wanted to apologize for how I acted a while back. I was just having a bad day and took that out on you," her words sounded genuine, but her smile screamed, "back off bitch."

"Oh, that's fine. It didn't hinder my sleep." I slipped a bit of attitude in there hoping she couldn't detect it.

"What have you been doing lately?"

School, dance... your ex-husband. "Oh nothing, just focusing on school and dance," I smiled, wanting this conversation to be over.

"You sure your mind hasn't been on other things," she took a sip of the drink she was holding.

"Nope. Has yours?"

"It has actually. Like how I'm convinced Daniel is cheating on me." Was she implying that she knew about us?

"Oh," I said sitting up. "I'm sorry about that." I don't give a shit. Go away!

"Are you sure about that?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing! You know, you look like you're gaining a little weight. Maybe you should hold off on the cookies and candy."

I raised my eyebrows and was about to say something smart before my mom walked out of the dressing room. "Oh excuse me, Ma'am," she said to Victoria. "Can I get this dress one size smaller please?"

I tried to hold back a laugh as Victoria looked at her. "I don't work here."

"Oh sorry. Do you two know each other?"

"My name's Victoria. I'm her English teacher's wife." Ex-wife.

"Oh. Nice to meet you. I'm Claudia, Lydia's mom."

"Oh well, it's nice to meet you as well. Lydia is lovely."

"Yeah. You know after seeing your husband I didn't think his type would be someone so stick thin. Hon, you gotta eat more. Hourglass figures don't grow on trees," she patted Victoria's shoulder. "Well, I guess they do since Lydia and I have them. But not everyone's meant to be pretty." My mom's small laugh and careful gesture to play with Victoria's hair were laced with passive aggressiveness.

I stifled a laugh as Victoria's face contorted into a forced smile. "Anyway, I should probably go. It was nice seeing you, Lydia." I forced a smile and she walked away.

I wondered how much my mom had heard. "What was she talking about before I got here?"

"Nothing important. Just dance."

"Is she usually that rude? Why would she even comment on your weight like that?"

"She usually isn't. She was just probably having a bad day." My mom just nodded so I assumed she didn't hear what was said before.

"Well, let's go check out," she smiled at me."