West was running the vacuum cleaner when the phone rang. He quickly turned the vacuum off and started to push around papers on his desk till he found his cell phone thought it had stopped ringing. Opening it, he found it was a text anyways, he grinned without looking at the ID he could still tell who it was. Celeste was the only person he knew who made a point of typing out each word and using proper grammar. Where are you?

He leaned back against his desk, and started to respond. “West, are you done with the vacuum?” His mother, Jane, yelled from the lower floor. She was the one who had gotten sick of the mess in his room and threatened to throw out everything, and go through everything to see what wasn’t needed. At seventeen, West really didn’t want his mother finding his collection of Hustler mags in the box under his bed, nor the condoms in his sock drawer. No, it was much easier just to suck it up and clean his own room than to have his mother see that.

“Naw, just... taking a break!” He hollered back while typing, @ home u?

“You’ve had a month long break!” Jane yelled. He could almost see her standing at the bottom of the stairs hands on hips with a scowl on her face. “Finish up, I’ve got things to do today too, you know.” West rolled his eyes, and waited staring at his phone.

As soon as it started ringing, he pressed the button and the message appeared. Look outside. He turned and pulled open the dark blinds to see Celeste, cell phone in hand, leaning against her father’s car. He couldn’t help but grin as he waved, she smiled and waved back. His phone rang again, this time a call. He dropped the blind to answer it. He heard her tinkling voice. “What are you doing?”

“Cleaning my room.”

He could hear the smile in her voice when she responded, “very manly.”

“Shut up,” he responded laughing lightly. “My mom made me.”

“Momma’s boy.”

He laughed again, “you’re so kind.”

“Can you come out?”

“No, are you kidding? My mom will kill me if I don’t get this room spotless, or worse clean it herself.”

Celeste laughed, “seriously? What are you hiding up there?”
“Nothing.”

“Then you wouldn’t mind me coming to take a look?”

He whipped around pulled up the blind and looked back out the window to see she was approaching the house. “Celeste, don’t do it!” He got a beep in his ear and looked down to see she had already hung up. He cursed and exited his room taking the stairs down two at a time, but he didn’t beat his mother to the door.

“Hello, what can I do for you?” He heard his mother ask.

“I’m Celeste, I’m a friend of West’s, is he around?”

“Celeste?” West came around the corner and walked past his mother, “what are you doing?” He muttered.

“Don’t be rude,” his mother scolded, “come on in dear, Im’ Jane.  Can I get you something to drink?”

Celeste smiled, “sure, a glass of water would be nice, it’s quite warm outside.”

His mother smiled back, “it sure is, come on into the kitchen.”

West watched his mother disappear into the kitchen and grabbed Celeste’s arm as she went to follow him. She looked down to his hand on her arm and raised her eyebrow, “what? Were you ever going to introduce me to your parents?”

“Celeste...”

“Don’t ‘Celeste’ me!” She whispered harshly, “we’ve been dating for nearly a year!  We live like three blocks from each other, there is no reason for me not to come over. We could see each other more often...”

“West, Celeste?”

They both frowned, they knew that together, their names sounded a little strange. “Coming mom,” West responded knowing now that Celeste was there, there was no escape.

The three sat down at the island bar stools each with an ice water. “So, um... mom, could I clean my room later, since Celeste drove all the way here.”

“Actually I live within walking distance, but I thought we might go do something so I drove just incase.” Celeste looked over to West and widened her eyes and gave a sharp nod of the head toward his mother. West returned a look of agony. He remembered when he introduced his previous girlfriend to his parents. It wasn’t something he wanted a replay on.

West faced his mother, she was focussed on Celeste with narrowed eyes. “Mom...”

“Yes West?” His mother replied but she didn’t take her vulture eyes off his girlfriend.

He inhaled deeply and let the words rush from his mouth, “Celeste is my girlfriend.”

His mother’s head whipped toward him, “your girlfriend?” West nodded nervously, he looked over to Celeste who had a mild look of confusion. “Your girlfriend,” Jane repeated, her lips becoming a tight straight line and West tensed up. “You know how your father and I feel about dating as young as you are.”

“Mom, I’m seventeen!”

“You are my little boy!” Jane stood placing her hands on her hips. She might have a petite frame, but she stood at six two, a former model. Her signature was the her glare of her piercing grey eyes that had scared him since he was a toddler. West opened his mouth to speak, but his mother put up a hand and he closed it again. “Don’t you try to argue the rules in this house. Besides, couldn’t you find someone better looking?”

West dropped his head in his hands. Celeste was beautiful and West loved everything about her. She was a bit on the short side standing at five four, her chocolate coloured hair was short since she’s shaved her head a year ago when her little sister started chemotherapy. She had a wild fashion sense and didn’t bother with trends, she liked what she liked, and that’s what she wore. Her eyes were a intense blue, and her face was dotted with freckles. When he seen her lopsided grin for the first time his stomach flipped and he just knew she was the one. Now this was happening and he couldn’t imagine why she would want to stay with him when his mother was stark raving nuts.

“Excuse me!” Celeste was now standing, pose mocking his mother. “Just who do you think you are?”

“I’m Jane Ashwood. West’s mother, and I’m the one who decides what is best for him!”

“Mom!”

“He’s almost an adult!” Celeste argued, “he decides what’s best for him!”

“He is a child, and that means I make the decisions!” West’s mother was livid, he half expected her dyed red hair to catch fire. Hearing the front door open West felt the urge to hit his head off the island.

“What’s with all the screaming there Jane?” West heard his father’s voice as well as the shoes being kicked off his large father’s feet.

“Did you know?” Jane asked livid walking to the doorway of the kitchen to look at her husband, “West has a girl friend!”

“What?”

“It’s true, the girls in our house right now! She isn’t even pretty!”

“Mom!” West was now too on his feet, “that’s enough, I love Celeste now could you possibly calm down and we can talk about this as adults?”

“You aren’t an adult, you can’t even keep your room clean, how could you possibly think about having a relationship.”

West looked over his shoulder at Celeste who had a look that was a mix of insult and confusion. Obviously, this wasn’t at all what she had been expecting. If she had just listened, and took him serious when his parents were pretty crazy on the entire ‘no dating’ thing, this may never have happened.

“Son, you’re too young to be with a girl, besides I know how it is being your age,” his father interjected, “men and women want different things at that age, women want meaningful, lasting relationships, and we want sex.”

“Dad!” West really wanted to just cover his ears and shut his eyes and wish it all away, but that wouldn’t help his poor girlfriend who was now stuck in the middle of this.

Jane pushed past her husband, and West could hear her climbing the stairs, “if he can have a relationship, he should be able to keep his room clean,” West could hear his door hit the wall in his mothers fury. He dashed past his mother, and rather than be left Celeste followed tailed by his father.  “Look at this!” Jane was pinching a pair of West’s boxers off the floor holding them up for all to see.

“Mom!” He was cut off by his boxers being thrown in his face. He quickly ripped them off, he knew where they’d been. His mother was like a whirlwind once she got started. West turned to his father for some sort of support, but the beefy man had his arms cross and was glaring at his son. When he turned back she was reaching under his bed, “Mom no!” Alas, it was too late. His box of Hustler was there for all too see.

Jane snickered holding one up and West felt his cheeks heat up. “Guess you don’t need that girl after all.” Jane kicked the box, “those best get to the trash, where they belong.” Riffling through his papers on his desk, she found nothing to her interest, “of course you’d have nothing here, a good son would be studying, have college brochures.  You? You have... drawings.”

“I told you...” West let his words give up. Telling his parents he wanted to be a comic artist the first time hadn’t ended well and he didn’t see it going better with his mom on a roll.

“What else are you hiding in here?” Jane asked. “I always tell people, my son is a good boy, he wouldn’t have any of that stuff, and here you are with an entire box of... uh!”

West felt Celeste’s hand fit into his and he turned to her, she forced a slight smile on her face and he felt a bit of his panic ease up. She was quite possibly the only girl in the world that would put up with this.

“Are you doing drugs?” His mother finally squealed.

“No Mom,” West smiled over at Celeste, her hand in his made him a little calmer.

“Are you having sex?”

West choked on his own saliva, “Mom!” He turned and could see the open box of condoms in her hand. “Really you went in my sock drawer, you want to rip up my floorboards too?”

“Did you have sex with her?”

West’s jaw dropped in absolute disbelief, he convinced himself he must have heard wrong. This simply couldn’t be happening.

“Yes,” he turned to see the impish grin on Celeste’s face, “and honey, that ain’t his first box.”

It was his mother’s turn to look shocked. “Oh God,” West slapped his hand to his face dragging down. He didn’t know if Celeste’s comment would make his mom stop, or make her wrath worse.

His father cleared his throat, “I’m going to...”his father pointed to the stairs and made his escape from the war zone.

“Get out!” Jane screamed, “get out you corrupting harlot!”

“Gladly,” Celeste screamed back. She kissed West square on the mouth just to make his mother angrier. Celeste grinned, grabbing his hand and dragged him to the front door. “So that went well,” sarcasm laced her voice, she turned to him when he didn’t respond. The poor boy in shock of the events. “Don’t worry, I still love you.” Though she did make it clear, she would never go back there again.