Chapter 8. Never Be Real

She hasn't said a word about it since I just told her about it. "Mom? You ok?"

"What are you in the world?" After she yells, she gets up on her feet right away. Oh, I see. This Mark must be your boyfriend, right?"

I guess you could say that I did have something happen to me." I told my mother, "Yes, this Mark is the one I'm going to marry." Even though she was rude, I was nice to her. For some reason, I felt like I was more grown up and sure of myself.

"You can't tie the knot! You're 17." Oh man, that made me laugh so hard I was about to pee my pants.

"No! You have no right to say such things to me! You haven't been in my life for the better part of 15 years. It's getting hard not to cry." I love Mark. Besides that, he loves me. Dad doesn't mind. Oh, for God's sake, he, Mark, and I all think the same thing! Mark is in charge of making sure I'm happy, and he really cares that I'm happy. "Why aren't you happy for me?" is the question.

I can almost hear he