In My Shoes Read Free

sure I
showed up to class, but I was definitely on auto-pilot. Not like I
was in a love-lost coma, but more like participating while in deep
thought.
    I headed home, still on auto-pilot. I didn’t
own a car, so usually I would get a ride from Mike. Today, I just
walked. I lived about four miles from the school. I could take the
bus, but I’ve never been a fan of the bus. Four miles wasn’t that
far, especially when you had thoughts to process.
    It’s not like I’ve crushed on every girl in
school, or even every pretty girl in school. I’m somewhat picky.
Nicole is beautiful, but that’s not the main reason I was attracted
to her. She is very smart. She is one of the top students in the
classes we share. She’s serious, but she never seems too serious.
When she laughs it’s contagious. Today seemed completely out of
character for her. Or was it me. Either way, I wasn’t sure where to
go from here.
    I wandered for the better part of an hour
before I arrived home. My mom wouldn’t make it home for a few
hours. She got off at five o’clock and I would usually have dinner
ready for her on Thursdays. There aren’t a lot of things that I can
make, but there are a few. Actually, my mother appreciates just not
having to worry about coming home from work and cooking. I try to
cook for her a few times a week. Tonight was spaghetti. I needed to
start boiling the pasta at five thirty to have it ready by the time
she got home, and I needed to have my homework done by then. After
dinner, I wanted to go straight to bed. I don’t usually go to bed
until about ten or eleven o’clock, but I was ready to put this day
behind me.
    My mom walked in the door at about five
forty-five. She always greets me with a smile, but I can still tell
when she’s tired. She looked exhausted.
    My mother is pretty, but she is very simple.
I don’t mean that in a bad way. She just chooses not to be flashy.
She always dresses appropriately, but she doesn’t own anything
fancy. She usually wears little to no makeup. She has brown eyes
that have bags under them today. When she’s tired, they tend to
look half open. Her hair has gradually darkened over the years,
from a dirty blonde, to almost a medium brown color. She wears it
almost shoulder length, and usually parted on the left, combed over
her right and tucked behind her ear. She doesn’t eat much, mainly
because the budget doesn’t allow it, and her exercise routine
consists mainly of running around the office she works at as an
administrative secretary. All things considered, she’s in pretty
good shape. She and I have the same straight nose, but I can only
imagine I look more like my father.
    “Dinner’s almost ready. How was your day?” I
asked her.
    “It was good, but it seemed like it was never
going to end. One of the secretaries under me called in sick, and
we were already spread thin with the project we were working on. My
boss seemed to be in a particularly bad mood today, but he was in
meetings this afternoon, and I didn’t have to be there. So I was
able to use the last half of the day to catch up. I’m starved,
though. I worked through lunch.”
    “You need to stop doing that,” I said. “You
don’t really eat enough as it is. Didn’t you take a sandwich with
you? You don’t even have to heat that up!”
    “I know. I’ll do better, but I just get
caught up in things and the time gets away.”
    I looked at her, feeling more like the parent
than the son at the moment. “It’s just that, it doesn’t sound like
anyone there is looking out for you, so you need to make sure that
you do. I’ve only got one mother. I want to keep you around.” She
didn’t say anything after that. I tried to lighten the mood by
giving my sincerest smile. She smiled back and started eating.
    This was not a normal conversation for us. I
wasn’t in the habit of telling her what to do, and I’m not usually
this much of a downer. I mean, it’s not like I’m wispy, or say a
class clown,