Out of Place Read Free

favorite workout shorts with the words BEAST MODE printed on the butt and thigh. They were highly motivating even if somewhat comical.
    Coming d own the wooden stairs, a few more voices became audible. She turned the corner into the large open kitchen and saw everyone was stirring. Her mother, Erica, a still stunning blue-eyed blonde in her early 40s, reached out to her with open arms.
    “Em my, how’s my new graduate?”
    She hugged her mother. “Feeling good.”
    Erica stepped back and looked her daughter up and down. “I can’t believe you’re an adult now.”
    Emily rolled her eyes. “Mom, I’ve been an official adult for almost a year now.”
    “Yeah, but now it seems so official.” Erica waved her hand. “Oh, you’re making me feel so old. Before long I’m going to be the mother of a twenty-year-old.”
    Her father, Roland , a skinny ginger-head with a reddish-blond goatee that he always kept perfectly trimmed, sipped a glass of orange juice. “Morning, kiddo. Ren was just telling me about your change of plans.”
    Emily thought for a second. “Oh, yeah , we might be going to Virginia Beach instead. We’re waiting to hear back from Tyler, but I think she’ll be okay with it.”
    “ Fer—sho,” Ren replied. “She don’t need to work, being all rich and stuff.”
    Roland poured a fresh glass of juice and handed it to Emily. “You’re going to be smart about this, right?”
    “Of course , Dad, we’re always smart.” She winked at him.
    “I suppose you are.” He took a bite of his breakfast bar. “Why’d you change plans?”
    Emily raised her head towards Ren. “It was her idea. But it’s nice there. Remember we were there a couple years ago for that tourney?”
    Roland nodded. “Oh yeah, you played at that crappy rink with the horrible ice.”
    “The ice was okay until the Zamboni broke during that second game and they couldn’t clear the ice between games.”
    “ Ugh, that was horrible to watch,” he replied.
    “It was worse to play on, trust me. It’s no fun pushing the puck through slush and tripping over ruts for sixty minutes.”
    Ren’s phone alerted her and she looked at the screen. “It’s Tyler, she’s in. So we got all three on board.”
    “Sweetness ,” Emily replied. She looked at her mother. “Mom, can I ask a favor?”
    Erica gave her the mother-eye. “You can ask.”
    “Well, since we’re going to be there an extra two days, longer drive, we could use some extra space. So, wanna swap cars with me for the week?”
    Erica crossed her slender arms and gave Emily that look only a mother can give. But after a few second of Emily using her patented please mommy face, Erica softened. “I suppose, but I expect it to be cleaned and full of gas, just as it is right now, when you’re done with it.”
    “Awesome. Thanks , mom. My car has a full tank of gas, so you’ll be set for the week.”
    Erica cleared her throat. “And?”
    Emily looked at her. “And what?”
    Erica raised her brow and tilted her head.
    “Oh yeah.” Emily went over to her jacket, and took out a twenty dollar bill, and handed it to her mother. They had a rule. If Emily used her car, she had to not only clean it, but fill it with gas and buy her mother lunch. It was an agreement they made after Emily used their old car, and her friends spilled some food in the back, which she never cleaned up. It eventually attracted a mouse that ran up her mother’s leg one day while she was driving. She nearly crashed off the road. So as punishment, all future uses of her parents’ cars included this agreement.
    Erica plucked the twenty from Emily’s hand. “Why thank you. I think I’ll go to the sushi bar with Holly.” She plunged the cash into her jeans pocket and danced out of the room like a true goofball.
    Emily rolled her eyes and started digging up something to eat.
    After a short breakfast, Emily and Ren headed upstairs to pack. It was a bonus to have such a cool set of parents. Her mother had a