we have no control | morgan

[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

Dark shades shielded gray eyes from the summer sun as Joshua stepped out of the house, the comforting warmth enveloping him. Though spring was his favourite season, being a Fire gave him an inherent love for the hottest months of the year. It was also an excuse to break out one of the over two hundred pairs of sunglasses he owned. No one wanted to be the asshole wearing them at night or indoors.

It was nice to not see his breath as he exhaled, opening the garage door and approaching his three year old Aventador. The drive to the crowded Tim Hortons downtown was relaxing, his favourite music playing and no traffic clogging up the roads. He was fairly patient and not apt to road rage unless someone else started something but that did not mean he enjoyed being held up. He would be early to the appointment that he'd made, wanting to make a good impression by being there no matter when the woman showed up. An old teacher of his had pulled him aside in the staff room and asked if he would be doing anything in particular over the summer and, when Joshua shook his head, had told him about a student of his that needed a little help with summer classes. He had forgotten to ask for a name but had given the teacher a date and time convenient for him near the beginning of the summer holidays. He trusted the man had passed it on.

The air-conditioned interior of the coffee shop was stark in contrast to the heat and humidity of the outside air and Joshua found himself adjusting to it as he stood in line and examined the menu. I'll need to get something. He had chosen Tim Hortons because he figured it was a good place to meet someone that you were unfamiliar with. Safe. The line was fairly long during the afternoon hours as everyone was on break from work and so he had enough time to consider his options. Joshua himself did not have work during the summer, as he was employed at the Academy and they were out for the break. It was a welcome relief from his previously hectic schedule.

Upon reaching the counter, the Fire graduate fished a bill out of his wallet and set it on the counter in preparation for the order. "I'll take an extra large coffee, black, two sugar. A dozen donuts—surprise me with the kinds, and, ah..." He considered for a moment and then decided against whatever had been going through his mind. "That's it." The woman manning the cash register smiled and told him the price, taking the bill that he'd previous set down and handing him back his change. He tucked it into his wallet with a mild, "Thank you," and then stepped to the side to wait for his order as the next person went up to the counter. It did not take too long before the box of donuts as well as his coffee were handed to him and he strode over to a two-seater table against the window where the sun warmed the seats. He wanted the heat from the sun. Now, to wait. Having taken off his shades upon stepping inside, he set them on the table and pulled out his phone, sending an anonymous text to the number he'd been given and telling them the table at which he sat.

[MORGAN JANE FARREN]

merrily we fall outta line

She walked, hands in her pockets. She wore cut-off jean shorts, a plain black v-neck t-shirt. She was the emphasis of casual. Her shirt settled appealingly over her shoulders, though wasn’t one of those that clung to every inch of her skin. Se’d never been comfortable with those. A bag was slung over one shoulder. She moved without a care, a powerful confident sort of stride. Sure, she had some place to be, but she would get there in her own damn time, at her own damn pace. The bag over her shoulder contained the books she would need. She was on her way to meet her appointed tutor, a new person in her life she neither wanted nor had asked for. Her lips tugged down towards a frown at the mere thought.

She would have to stop, make herself accommodating. She’d have to be polite. Whomever her professor had chosen to take her on, it wouldn’t be some lily-livered boyscout. No, she was known well-enough for the full guns to be pulled off. But then again she was a Fire, born and bred. She could only stray so far from her nature. She smirked at the thought. Her mother had made the same silly mistake – married a Fire, despite knowing their nature.

Perhaps in a smaller corner of her mind, Mrs. Farren had thought that at the birth of their children, Mr. Farren would slow down – become a family man. She had. She’d abandoned dreams of becoming a travel agent without a second glance back, without an ounce of regret. But the older Farren man had never stopped, had continued working late nights and early mornings. He’d devoted himself to his work. And his wife never gave a word of complaint. How could she? She’d known exactly who he was when she’d married him. It was the precise reason they had been so perfect. They understood that for each, their inherent natures. It wasn’t his fault she had dreamed of something different.

And Morgan couldn’t truly fault him either, not when she was so perfectly his spitting image – at least in personality. Perhaps, it occurred to her, her father spent so many hours at work because it was mind-numbing – drove all else far away. She would have liked that, just for a little bit. To be clear of all the thoughts that burdened the heavy mind. She had quite lost himself in the fantasy, passing by a bench, rounding a corner on her way to the little coffee house. She checked her watch, a speedy glance. She was due in five minutes. She didn’t change her pace. The logo loomed before her. With a challenging sort of twist to her lips, she pushed open the door, scanning the little groups clustered around tables. Before she could survey the entire room, her phone in her pocket vibrated. She yanked it out, flipping it open with an annoyed frown. The anonymous number – her supposed tutor – lit up her screen with a text. She read it, her eyes darting to the table in question. As her eyes settled on the occupant, they widened with disbelief, a tinge of fear, regret. One hand gripped her bag as she forced herself to stride forward. After all, she had a right to be nervous. She and Mr. Joshua Donovan Dale hadn’t exactly parted on the best of terms. She swallowed, standing behind the chair so obviously meant for her. “I didn’t expect you.” The words were stark, neither polite nor rude.

[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

He'd always enjoyed the atmosphere of Tim Hortons—busy but not overcrowded, the air permeated with the strong scent of coffee and the gentle buzz of mindless chatter filling the air. It was neither quiet nor loud, the perfect sort of balance. He felt relaxed as he leaned back in the slightly uncomfortable chair, taking a sip of the scalding coffee. It did not hurt as it burned down his throat, one of the many perks of being a Fire. The paper cup was warm against his hand and he held it for a moment longer before setting it down next to his sunglasses, sighing as he shifted his position to one that was more comfortable. He was patient but this chair could do with a little work.

The text sent, Joshua was expecting it to take another several minutes for the woman he was tutoring to arrive. He took no notice of Morgan as her phone went off and she pulled it out, paying more attention to the steam rising from his drink and the view out of the window he'd sat by. It was only a downtown street, nothing special, but there was something calming about watching all the people go by. They all had their own lives to be getting to, places to be. And yet here he sat, awaiting an appointment.

Turning his head when movement caught his eye, surprise registered in his expression as he blinked at a familiar face. He had not spoken to Morgan since that last awkward encounter in the front lobby of the mansion and so he had not expected to see her again for quite some time, if at all. She called attention to this and he met her gaze, his own unreadable. Carefully so. "Likewise." His tone was polite, soft with something that might be called amusement, perhaps mixed in with the surprise that was also audible. She had offended him during their last meeting but they had given one another enough space that he was more than over it. He supposed he could understand where she was coming from on some basic level. He was a scary guy, his own friends were often intimidated by him, and so though it was exasperating to think that she'd been treading on eggshells with the intention of avoiding tripwires, he could forgive and forget. Or at least forgive, as his good memory was never in favour of letting anything slip away.

She had not yet sat down and the Fire graduate wondered if she was expecting him to call the whole thing off due to their little... incident. Or perhaps it was she who anticipated leaving? He paused a moment to consider this, then decided to continue on as if it had not crossed his mind. If she changed hers, so be it, but he had came here for a reason and he did not plan to neglect it. "So you're the one he talked about? I certainly didn't see it coming, not that it's a bad thing." He lifted his shoulders in an easy shrug. "What was it that you needed help with? I'll do my best, whatever it is." He figured with these polite words he could establish a sort of neutral ground. He was holding out an olive branch, if you will, and though she had every choice to burn it if she wished, he meant her no ill will. The past was past.

[MORGAN JANE FARREN]

merrily we fall outta line

She supposed, realistically, she could have turned and walked away. In her day-to-day life, it wasn’t as if Josh was a constant. Sure, she was friends with Nell. In her own grumpy way, she enjoyed Nell’s company. But much of their time was spent at Morgan’s house with Emmy, around the school grounds, or around Maple Hollow. Since the particular unpleasant incident with Josh, Morgan had avoided the Dale household. She’d never been entirely comfortable there anyways. There was so much grandeur. She didn’t live in poverty, but she was used to a more modest lifestyle. And the mother inside of her hated seeing all the things she’d never be able to provide for little Emmy. In all honesty, in that final confrontation of sorts, Morgan had had no intention of offending the older Fire. She was intimidated by him, yes, but it was a healthy sort of intimidation that mingled strongly with admiration. And she had assumed, from what she knew of him, that he would have appreciated her honesty. To have discovered that she was putting on a façade to please him, well she thought it would have angered him. Instead she had done just the opposite. It was amusing really. The one time she had done her best to think of the preference of another, she had ended up in hot water. At least it had taught her not to bother with such formalities.

The chair was there, empty and waiting for her. And though a part of her yearned to walk away, she reached out a hand. She grasped the back of the chair, pulling it out. She took a seat, swinging her bag at her feet. It dropped with a lazy sort of thud. She still regarded Josh warily, but with a wariness no different from the suspicion she treated everyone else with. At least she was unbiased. A raging aggressive bitch, yes, but fair in her treatment. She shifted slightly uncomfortably. She cleared her throat. Josh was giving her a chance, to put it behind her. And while the angry part of her scoffed at the idea, the rare intelligent side warned her to take the gift and run. She licked her lips somewhat nervously, clearing her throat. “Well you know I missed Sophomore year due to my –“ She paused awkwardly. Josh may have known the truth of her near full-year absence, but many others didn’t and she still wasn’t comfortable referring bluntly to it. “due to my Mono. And catching up on essays and history lessons was easy enough, it’s busy work.” She waved a hand dismissively. It had been child’s play.

She’d always been a good student. She was book smart and efficient if not socially adept. She twirled a bracelet on her wrist around and around. It was worn string with haphazard random beads hanging off. Emmy had proudly made it with Nell and presented it gleefully to her mother. Morgan cleared her throat again. “But the other work, with our element, well I can’t exactly go read it in a book.” Her hand stilled. She leaned forward on her elbows. “I’m supposed to be graduating this year. Everyone simply assumes I can do what I should be able to. But I cant. And that’s what I need help with. I need control, I need to master the basic skills everyone else has had those nine extra months to learn.” She leaned back then, crossing her arms more comfortably over her chest and waiting for an answer she hoped would come.

[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

Anger made him impulsive.

Normally a fairly calm, stoic and rational man, patience came easy to him. He could wait for things without a fuss and didn't lose his temper when things didn't go exactly the way he wanted them to. Oh, he would be disappointed, surely, but he would simply steel his resolve and try again. Dealing with people was another matter entirely. People lacked the consistency of other situations. Each one was different and so their methods and motives had to be adapted to, something that even one as clever as Joshua had difficulty doing at times. His temper did not aid in this. When Morgan had admitted her façade, anger had been the first emotion to present itself and thus anger had won. It was stronger than all the others he kept under lock and key and he hated it for that.

Now, however, it was a different day and a different situation entirely. He would prefer to put their awkward beginnings behind them so that he would not have to think about what had occurred, thus riling himself up once more. Dwelling on the past was scarcely wise. Though he did not sigh in relief or otherwise show a reaction when she sat down, a sort of inward tension was assuaged. So they would try again. It might not go well, and he kept that in the back of his mind, but it was an attempt at very least. He gave a soft dip of his head when she spoke, his silent way of confirming the memory. The subtle twitch of his lip that signified amusement lasted only a moment. He was not entertained by the idea of her 'illness', but rather the ease with which she waved her hand in dismissal of the work. A like mind, perhaps? Though he did his best to avoid bias against those who paid less attention to academics than himself, he could not help but feel a respect for anyone that similarly excelled. He did not voice this respect to Morgan but it remained present in his thoughts.

The graduate lifted his chin in understanding as she went on to explain what it was that she was having trouble with. Their element, a many-headed beast. Some tamed that fiery creature with ease while others struggled to understand the difficult process of training the mind to control the flames. Morgan's troubles, it seemed, came not from incompetence but from lack of experience. He could not sympathize from his own experiences but he'd helped others enough in his time to understand that it wasn't easy. "It's especially unfortunate that you fell behind at such a critical time in elemental education," he remarked. "It doesn't seem fair that they'd expect you to just know the things it takes an entire year for others to master." The irritation that flitted across his expression was more toward the faculty of the school than Morgan herself. Weren't educators supposed to adapt to individuals? Then again, he'd never been in their position... nor Morgan's. It was a difficult subject to take a stance on.

Shaking his head to dismiss the thoughts, he went on, "But like I said, I'll do my best to help. I like to think that I'm fairly skilled myself, what with all the years I've had to practice." Rather than bragging, the way he offered a brief smile after the words suggested more of a humorous approach. It would be a shame to admit that he couldn't perform at twelfth grade level when he was graduated from college, after all! He tried not to brag about his accomplishments, proud as he was of each and every one, if he could avoid it. It was in poor taste and made him seem arrogant. He slipped up at times (he was only human) but he tried, at least. "Where do you think you'd be most comfortable experimenting with your abilities?" Being fairly flexible with the situation himself, he figured he'd give Morgan the majority of the choice in the matter. Would it make her feel a little more at ease? That was what he hoped, regardless of whether or not it worked. "We're lucky that the city's on lockdown from the mortals now, gives us a lot more options. I'm open to anything." He shrugged to further demonstrate his ease.

[Sorry for the wait!]

[MORGAN JANE FARREN]

merrily we fall outta line

She wasn’t really sure what to expect. As well as she knew Nell, Josh was a mystery to her. She didn’t understand him. And in all honesty, she had never really attempted to. She found no reason to. She was generally happiest alone. And the certain knowledge that he was stronger, far more intimidating than her, well she had a healthy respect for him. She was a bitch, aggressive, but she wasn’t idiotic. She’d never challenge. And thus far she’d seen no reason to test their boundaries. Especially since those boundaries were only now being tentatively reestablished. She pursed her lips slightly, watching him. She lifted her gaze to him with some hint of surprise at his words. She had expected him to assist her, but not necessarily to agree. She perked slightly, shifting her weight and nodding warily. “Yeah, I guess,” She shrugged. It wasn’t exactly like she’d hopped on the elemental band wagon. Honestly, she’d been more preoccupied with her academic classes. “Honestly, I don’t think they even realized until recently. It wasn’t exactly something I was spreading around.” Should her classmates, her peers, suspect of her elemental weakness – well she was opening herself up for probing, for mocking. And she valued her privacy, the respect earned by how much she intimidated others. She wouldn’t risk losing that.

She arched a brow, her lips twitching at his comment. She was almost amused. Every fire in the town knew of Josh’s prowess. He had been a legend when he was still in school. Of course some of his notoriety had come from his infamous betrayal of his alliance and elemental nature. But another good part of it came from his strength. He was far stronger than her, stronger than most she knew. And obviously he was strong enough to graduate. She didn’t know the extent of his abilities. And she didn’t ask. Somehow it seemed rude, probing. And she wasn’t one for questions – for deep emotional conversations. She enjoyed the superficial. She knew how to handle it, to twist it around to fit her needs. She cleared her throat slightly, waving a hand, “Whatever you can do, its better than me and that’s all I really need.” She lowered her hand, staring at her balled fingers. She was careful with what she did. As a pre-teen growing into her element, and even now as a senior, she had a nasty habit of accidentally setting things on fire.

She glanced around the coffee house. Honestly, she wanted to get as far away from inhabited land as possible. She chewed her lip, her brows furrowing in thought. It wasn’t that she feared being caught by a mortal – after all they were absent for the time being. Rather she feared being seen at all. Her lack of skill, the necessity of tutoring, it was shameful to her. It opened her to ridicule. She shrugged, her voice lowering slightly. She wanted Josh to make these decisions, to simply follow him. She wanted to fall back, have an escape plan. She fiddled with a bracelet, twisting it around her wrist again and again. “Anywhere really, preferably out of the way of anything of value.” She had been about to say out of the way of anything flammable, but that was counterintuitive really. She needed flammable objects in order to practice her ability. But there were some things no one wished to see set ablaze. And at this point, she didn’t know what she could do. She didn’t know what would come from her body. She was an infant, discovering how to walk for the first time. And that scared her, more than she liked to admit. It was groundlessness – weakness, insecurity. And it tasted bitter on her tongue, mocking almost. But she swallowed it away. Now was not the time for petty fears and pathetic displays of childishness.

[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

He was glad when the awkwardness did not seem to persist. The last thing he wanted was for their entire time spent together to be permeated with tension and uncertainty. Joshua was adaptable and liked to consider himself a calm, confident individual, but no one liked subjecting themselves to uncomfortable situations. He dipped his head. It made sense, really, that she hadn't gone parading the news of her short-comings about. He thought of how self-conscious he used to get about his grades before he'd come into his own, how nervous he still got when awaiting results. If those results were not the best he could achieve, he wouldn't be wanting his peers to know. Going off his own experiences, he also figured that Morgan might prefer that he didn't put too much stress on it. The last thing he wanted was to shatter the fragile boundaries they'd set about reconstructing. So the nod became his single, silent response.

He eyed her carefully. Straight and to the point. I like that. It was something he respected in a person. They might not have gotten off on very good footing but there were qualities of hers that he could admire. Perhaps not someone he'd go out and drink with, let loose around, but someone who might share the slightest hint of a like mind. "Then I can provide. What are the exercises that are giving you the most trouble? I figure we could start there and work our way up." Some would begin with the activities of least concern but his mind was on the impending graduation and how she'd need to improve more than just the little things if she wanted to graduate on time and with her peers. It would be a challenge but she didn't strike him as the type to back down from such a thing. Would she be here if she wasn't willing to make an effort? Not with me, if anything else. If she had more of a choice in the matter, she might have just walked out considering their last encounter. Maybe this would be for the better. It might resolve the odd conflict they'd had so that they could at least be civil around one another for Nell's sake. He loved his wife and didn't want to cause any problems there.

His eyes caught her bracelet as she fidgeted with it. Was she still feeling tense or was it simple habit? Observant though he may have been, he could never make certain guesses. He often caught himself twisting the wedding band around his finger when thinking, whereas his nervous habit was to clasp his hands together to prevent fidgets. And yet not all people were the same. Nothing was concrete. It bothered him sometimes to think of everything that he didn't know about others, so he tried not to think about it. Instead he focused on the conversation, simple as it was. "Mm. Good call." Thinking back to his high school days, many accidents could have been avoided if he'd had the sense to stay away from things easily burned. Like homework, for example. Bedsheets. That had been something to bring up with his parents. "Well, the Hollow's not short in its wilds, if we wanted to go that route. Park's would be a bit too public, I think... but there's always the house if you want somewhere a little closer to the city itself. We've got a big backyard and the neighbours won't ask questions. I practice out there sometimes." He generally steered clear of his wife's gardens as a rule. He was confident in his abilities but accidents happened and he didn't want one of those 'accidents' to be the burning of the hedge maze she worked so hard on.

[MORGAN JANE FARREN]

merrily we fall outta line

There were a hundred options, a hundred things she could have done. And in this moment, staring across the table at Josh, she couldn’t help but think of every single one of them. She could have been pleasant, engaged in idle conversation. There were a number of socially accepted subjects that were usually discussed. But they all seemed so trivial – so meaningless. They seemed so fake. She’d watched these conversations, watched girls flip their hair and boys shoot daring smiles. But most of these conversations had some sort of romantic connotation. And with her and Joshua, well there was nothing romantic. Even if he hadn’t been married to her best – perhaps only – friend. Even if he had been four years younger, and ten times less scary. He wasn’t her type. She didn’t go for that whole emo look he had going on. The piercings, that cynical look, the too-long black hair. She couldn’t help it – she was judgmental. And honestly, she tended to succumb to stereotypes. Some of them had this look about them, they listened to their screaming music and everything else. Of course Morgan didn’t necessarily believe all of these things of Joshua. But they crossed her mind, whether she wanted them or not.

She brought her attention back to Josh, back to his pensive gaze. He seemed to have entirely moved on. Perhaps he had forgotten their previous encounter, but she doubted it. He seemed simply not to care. She leaned back, her arms folded comfortably over her chest. She frowned slightly. What exercises did she practice? None, really. Any time not spent at school was spent at home, with Emmy. And she couldn’t very well risk losing control, risk setting something on fire. For God’s sake, she had a three-year old child. And she’d never forgive herself, never recover, if something happened to Emmaline. She shifted uncomfortably. She could do the basics, light a candle and all of that. But anything more advanced, anything that required concentration and a deft hand – she was hopeless. Her natural irritation and stubborn nature didn’t work well with calming one’s self or any form of self-control. She shifted again, her eyes on the table. “It’s control, and confidence. Honestly, I don’t practice. I can’t really.” She paused, “My parents need me at home caring for my sister, and I can’t very well risk a mistake.” He would understand, she knew he would. Plus, there was nothing to do about it now.

She looked out the window, still twisting her bracelet around her wrist. Strangely, the thing that popped into her head wasn’t Emmaline, wasn’t Fire or power or anxiety – it was Justin. She could see his laughing eyes, his stubborn set to his body. She remembered him holding Emmaline, his voice echoed in her memory. No one can say no to giraffes. Subconciously, her lips twitched into a small half-smile. He’d worked well with Emmaline, naturally. And her shy little girl had been fond of him, comfortable with him. Usually Emmaline was happier hiding behind Morgan’s leg than being anywhere near a stranger. But with Justin, and with Nell, there was an utter sort of comfort. She snapped her attention back, pushing Justin away. “I’m not sure you want to risk me at your house. But Nell brought me up to the trails, in the woods.” She shrugged, “We could practice there, or in a parking lot or something. I’ll go where you tell me to.” She wasn’t fond of the idea of burning anything valuable – like the Dale mansion. At least in a parking lot, she knew she wouldn’t ruin the cement.

[JOSHUA DONOVAN DALE]

Curiosity was a difficult burden to bear. As Morgan kept her eyes on the table and Joshua’s gray ones watched her carefully, he found himself yearning to know what was on her mind. He was a man of knowledge and, naturally, anything he did not know was cause for frustration. He could reign it in sometimes—no one man knew everything, after all—but in situations like this it remained as a constant, nagging bother in the back of his thoughts, like a fly that refused to be swatted away. Had he known her a little better he might have asked if she was all right or if she’d prefer to meet another time, but their status as strangers stayed his hand. Not wanting to stare, he took a moment to glance around the crowded coffee shop and observe the patrons who shared their surroundings. There were a few families, a few loners, a small group of friends and a long line up that almost went right out the door. A typical scene in a well-placed Tim Hortons. It was a popular haunt of many Canadians. He turned his gaze back to Morgan as she spoke again, fixing his attention on her.

The Fire elemental was glad he had a good hold on his tongue, lest he let slip the first thing that came to mind when she mentioned her little sister. Why can’t your parents look after her themselves? It was not suspicion that clouded his mind, it was an indignant feeling. He was of the belief that no teenager should be forced to constantly care for a younger sibling, thus depriving them of their own social life and opportunity to study. He’d looked after Annabel quite a bit when his parents had their hands full but they’d been good about making sure he had as much time to himself as he needed to keep up with his grades. His social life had indeed been a sparse one throughout most of his teens but that had been as much his own choice as any. Not wanting to be rude, he kept his thoughts to himself. “Would your parents understand if you asked for a night or two a week to practice without interruption?” He didn’t know her family well enough to guess at their attitude toward Morgan. “Regardless, I can see where you’re coming from. I didn’t practice around anything of value either—certainly not my little sister.” His backyard had been the usual haunt for power practice and the yard would bear the scorch marks to prove it had they not enlisted the help of an Earth elemental gardener to do some much-needed maintenance. Now he had Nell if there were ever any accidents, so their backyard was always verdant and neat.

Having no idea what she was thinking as she looked to the window, and feeling quite discomfited by this fact, Josh took a sip of the now lukewarm coffee that he’d ordered and twisted his wedding band around his finger. The cool metal was a comfort to him, a welcome distraction from his nagging thoughts. He was glad when Morgan seemed to bring herself back to the conversation, as his mind tended not to wander when it had something to focus on. He chuckled, shook his head. “There isn’t much our yard hasn’t been through, believe me.” Rather than his own experiments with fire power, Josh’s memory was one much more negative. He and his brother, a war between elements and a sharp knife. A scowl touched his lips automatically, though he was quick to wipe it away when he felt the muscles in his face move of their own volition. “The trails are heavily wooded, though I’m sure I’d have the skill to prevent any real disaster. If that’s where you’re most comfortable?” He phrased it as a question, wanting her final confirmation before they set up a time and date. “If you know of a sparsely used parking lot, that could work as well.” He was willing to work with her suggestions. Whatever made her feel most at ease—that would be important in ensuring she didn’t cause a massive blaze.

[It’s funny ‘cause Josh hates the whole ‘emo’ fad and would be very insulted if he knew her thoughts xD]

[MORGAN JANE FARREN]

merrily we fall outta line

On rare nights, she was able to ask Elizabeth to look after Emmy. And honestly her parents were more than happy to have a quiet night in with their only grandchild. It was Morgan who had insisted on taking responsibility, on being a primary caregiver. She’d been reckless. She wouldn’t be that teen mother who dumped their child on surrounding family members. And in truth she liked her quiet afternoons with Emmy, sitting on the couch watching Spongebob while she typed out some history paper. They were relaxing. It wasn’t so much that she couldn’t find someone to look after her daughter – but rather that it made her nervous being parted from the little girl. Of course there wasn’t all that much that could go wrong. But a rather accurate stereotype was the unreasonable concerns of new mothers. They tended to be anxious, to worry about not only possibilities – but impossibilities as well. Morgan ran a hand subconsciously through her hair. In the past, at times at least, Nell had babysat Emmy – especially when Morgan got saddled with a late shift at the diner she worked at occasionally. She’d been saving up to try and rent her own place, a little apartment, anything she could call her own.

She waved a hand at Josh’s words, nodding in a somewhat distracted manner. “Yeah yeah they’d be fine. They’re all for this honestly. I think they’re worried I’ll never leave home or something.” She spoke somewhat absently. Her parents were indeed thrilled with the prospect of her tutoring – but less for the educational aspect. Her parents had an irrational fear that Morgan was developing into some sort of hermit. They worried their elder daughter didn’t socialize enough, didn’t spend enough time with other teenagers, doing normal youthful things. Many nights they’d tried to pry Emmy from Morgan’s arms, urged Morgan to go out and get dinner with friends or see a movie. Most of the time, Morgan refused. She pointed out, rather sharply, that her number of friends was rather limited – mostly consisting of Nell who was married and busy living her own life. They’d leapt at the opportunity to be tutored, hoping it would force Morgan to branch out, socialize, make a few more friends. Little did they know that her tutor was her single friend’s husband. Small world. But of course, they had Justin now to entertain their hopes, to pin all their dreams upon.

Morgan pushed thoughts of Justin away. Despite her rather negative feelings towards him, he was incredibly distracting. She brought her entire attention back to Josh. She had no desire to be rude to him. She was rude in general, unpleasant and grumpy, but Josh was one of the few people whom she made conscious effort to show some form of kindness too. She reached up, rubbing her temples quickly. She realized, belatedly, that she’d never actually ordered anything to drink. But she wasn’t thirsty. She checked her watch. Her mother would likely be returning with Emmy from their trip to the park within the hour. If Morgan made it home in time, she could make tomato soup and grilled cheese for the little girl’s lunch. It was her favorite thing to have after running about the park. “Backyard, hiking trails, abandoned parking lot – any of those sound fine to me.” For once, she wasn’t going to be argumentative. She wasn’t going to take control. It was a nice feeling actually – letting someone else make the decisions. “I’m happy going wherever is most convenient for you.” She grabbed a napkin, scrawling down her home number and other forms of contact. He had her cell, but she wanted to be dependable. “Give me time and place and I’ll be there.” She bit her lip, glancing at her watch again. “I’m sorry, I really appreciate you meeting with me and helping me out with all of this. But I have to get home.”