Mike was the love of her life. Or, at least he was for this month. She, like she always did with men, fell hard and fell fast. Within weeks of knowing each other my mom was spending more time at his place than at ours, and after a few months our tiny home was packed with boxes.

I was used to the routine by now. After a while she would get bored, or he would finally show his true colors and then ...

“Stay back Sam, I mean it!” I shouted across the courtyard. “I don’t want to hurt you… I don’t want to hurt anyone.” The electricity zapped across my palms. I couldn’t control it. I had let the energy build too much, I should have just left before it got out of hand. But I was having too good of a time. I didn’t want to ruin our date because of my problems, I just wanted to feel like a normal girl...

“Come on!” I muttered, stabbing the enter key a few more times. These stupid old computers never seem to work when you need them too, and I really needed them to. The reports were supposed to be in by five, and by the look of my watch it was already way past nine o’clock. Damn it, I was so late.

The reports themselves weren’t really time sensitive. They’re more of a formality, a way of showing A...