2.

“So, what brings you to Jackson?” Mitch asked after a good ten minutes of silence. Driving to my place would be a three-hour drive, not that far in my opinion, but it was odd I happened to run into a handsome stranger who offered me a lift to my mother's place where she was drunk instead of where she said she would be, picking me up with all of my possessions.

I should be used to it by now, maybe that was the reason I accepted this stranger taking me home in his car, with all the risks that it involved, or maybe it was the weird feeling I had from the first moment I laid eyes on him. 

“I'm from here, just moving back, enrolling in my old high school, and living with my mother for a while,” I said, “the usual stuff.” My face was a neutral mask, something I had perfected over the years, Just like my tone was neutral, even people who would know me wouldn't know what I truly felt.

“Nice, what school were you thinking about?” Mitch asked kindly, not even a second distracted from the traffic.

“Murrah high, I used to go there a few years back,” I said, knowing next week I'd have an interview to decide if I would enrol.

“No way, I go there,” Mitch said with his perfectly shaped eyebrows raised. I hated it when guys had these perfect eyebrows and long, thick eyelashes and even good skin without any effort for it.

“Yeah, well, we just might see each other,” I said jokingly, of course, he went to the one school I wanted to enrol in.

“I'm not even sure if we would have anything together, but who knows, I just might see you around indeed” of course, I didn't believe it, he would be way too cool to be seen with me. Me being back would only make me a target by Pierce's new girlfriend and her friends, and if that wasn't the case rumours about why I was gone would do the job too.

He seemed friendly enough, I had no idea why but I felt like I could relax around him. His car smelled nice, he drove smoothly, and he followed the navigation exactly except for when he could cut time since he knew his way around Jackson, unlike me.

He was the kind of person I would admire from a distance, avoiding allowing him close enough to make me fall for him, since I knew how that would end, just like how it ended with Pierce. No, I wouldn't allow that to happen again. No one would hurt me like that ever again. Besides, I wouldn't be surprised if he broke many hearts already, looking the way he did and being nice, at least so far to me.

“So, you do this often, picking up girls seemingly in need” I joked.

“Only very pretty ones,” he laughed and I could still hear the smile in his voice when he continued, “no, to answer your question, I don't I just happened to be there to drop off my parents actually,” he said. “They hate parking at stations so whenever they have to go for a few days I have to bring them.”

“Fair enough, kind of you to still do so” I replied to his explanation. Again I looked outside, three hours wasn't a long ride, car rides always relaxed me so to me it wasn't too bad, but it did feel a little awkward to sit in a car with a stranger. An inhumanly good-looking stranger.

“So we're here, would you be okay with it if I carried your baggage to your front door at least?” Mitch asked once we arrived and he had parked in front of my mother's house. “Ladies shouldn't have to carry heavy baggage” he added with a playful smile on his diamond-shaped face. It made him look dangerously attractive, even in the dark. 

“If it makes you happy and makes you feel all masculine, sure, thank you” I added to not sound rude and maybe even a bit playful because of my teasing tone, I was honestly a little surprised. This stranger has been nothing but a perfect gentleman to me, for no apparent reason. I wasn't used to being treated this way honestly.

As he stepped out he ran around the car to open my door first, I waited for him to grab my baggage from the trunk and walked up to the front door of my mother's house. 

The garden was kept neat while I was gone, the house was made of brown bricks and a grey roof, it was a nice house honestly, only because my father had left it to her with the money he left her. The brown door had windows in them, allowing me to see the vague glow through the hall from the light inside. 

I rang the doorbell, again a silence between Mitch and me, yet no butterflies, no nervousness, just a calm feeling while we waited in silence for my mother to open the door. 

“I have to warn you,” I said, “my mother is drunk so I feel like I need to...”

“No need, we can't choose our parents,” he said calmly, “just glad you arrived safely home, especially knowing this I couldn't in good conscience allow you to get in unwanted situations, the world is a scary place to live in for women” he added and right then my mother opened the door. Her bleached blonde hair fell to her elbows, her make-up was fine except for the lipstick which was mostly off because of the drinks she had. 

“Ah, finally Jade,” she said, “and who is this?” she wanted to know while her words came out slurred, she looked at Mitch, interested in if he was my cab driver or if I had a friend she didn't know about. “How much for the drive?” She asked eventually. 

“No need to pay me, ma'am” Mitch took the word, “just wanted to help out and brought her home safely, I need to go and do the same for myself now so if you'll excuse me I need to be on my way,” he said, before he turned to me he smiled at me to encourage me.

“Good luck with your moving here, welcome in Jackson, and good luck at your interview, don't be a stranger if you get in,” he said before he walked back to his car and drove away. 

“Always lucky huh, I remember back when I was a pretty girl” my mother slurred while I got my bags and boxes to my room. I walked through the living room, climbed the stairs, and found my square room with a grey floor. The white walls in this house were awful, too sterile for my taste, but tomorrow I could take a bath in my own bathroom, in my bathtub, and forget about the last few years for a while. 

As I came downstairs my mother poured me a glass of whiskey. 

“Welcome home, my mom slurred, let's drink that today you're home, today you're a free woman.”

“Yes, mother,” I said and drank the glass empty, after that glass I took another one, disappointed today she couldn't be the parent I wanted her to be so bad. After two glasses I went to my room, to cry myself asleep.