Free See by Jamie Magee

me.
    “ It’s sad they left their grandmother here,” I said, glancing at my mom.
    I know I think about leaving a lot, but if I ever dared to have kids, I’d want my mom around; she obviously knew what she was doing when it came to single-handedly raising children.
    “ They didn’t leave her behind….she’s the only real mother figure the boys have ever had,” Kara said, glancing over her shoulder out the window again.“Draven’s mom died when the boys were born… she had Cystic Fibrosis. Honestly, she wasn’t suppose to live past the age of sixteen, but she did; I think she lived as long as she did because she didn’t let anything stop her. She made sure she saw the world during the times she felt the strongest. That’s how she met Evan. I know mom grieved for her long before she died. Even though I was little…I remember thinking if I ever met a man that was half the man Evan or your dad was, I’d be lucky.
    “ Wow,” I mumbled. Too scared to look out the window again, I now knew that Draven and I have something very painful in common: we only had the memories of others to know a lost parent.
    When I glanced out the window again, I saw that the Hummer was backing out. My mom was walking in. Before Draven pulled away, he looked through the front window and smiled slightly. I tried to smile back, but I was paralyzed once again by his attention.
    The waitress brought the food just as mom sat down.
    “ Sorry, girls; I didn’t mean to be so rude,” she said, sliding in next to me.
    “ How did that phone call go?” Kara asked.
    I looked at her like she was crazy. Who cared about the phone call? I was more interested in the conversation she’d had with Evan.
    “ Perfect,” mom said, looking at Kara.
    Kara nodded, then looked down. I had the feeling I was being kept out of some loop, and I didn’t like it.
    “ I’m going to go ahead and drive back tonight, though,” mom said, breaking a piece of bread off to go with her salad.
    “ That’s a long drive to make at night, mom. Just stay,” Kara said.
    “ My sleep schedule is off a little anyways,” mom answered, looking at me and raising one eyebrow. I knew she wasn’t mad at me; she was just teasing, so I shrugged my shoulders and started to eat.
    “ I’d rather fly out Sunday night than at the break of dawn on Monday. I need to make sure I have everything packed.”
    “ Where are you going on Monday?” I asked.
    “ The new offices in Boston are almost ready to open. I’m just going to stay close to there so I know for sure everything is done right,” Mom answered.
    Once we finished our lunch, Kara looked at Mom. “Do you want to go ahead of us?”
    Mom nodded yes and pulled a credit card out of her wallet and laid it on the table. She kissed the side of my head before she stood.
    “ I’ll call you if I decide that stopping for dessert will be a good idea,” Mom said to Kara.
    A smile beamed across Kara’s face, and she nodded, telling my mother to go. I scooted to the side of the booth and watched my mother walk out; she was already on her phone.
    “ What are the two of you up to?” I asked Kara.
    She shrugged her shoulders as she handed my mom’s card to the waitress. “Why do you think we’re up to something?”
    “ I always know when the two of you aren’t telling me something,” I said, standing and waiting for her to sign the slip.
    She didn’t answer me. The waitress brought her the slip and a pen; once Kara had signed, she stood up and walked past me. I shook my head, tired of being ignored.
    “ I’m not blind; I can see right through you. What are you not saying?” I asked when we got in the car.
    She hesitated as she pulled her seatbelt across her. I knew she wanted to say something, but she didn’t; she just fastened the belt and turned the car on. As she backed out, she said, “You’ve been talking a lot about ‘seeing’ today.”
    “ What?!” I said, totally confused by that comment.
    “ Earlier, you