Tell Your Mom
(If You're Feeling Sinister)



Tell your mom there's a boy who says he likes you, and you like him, too - but you're still not too sure what that means, or what he means to you.

Tell your mom you've known him for years, and he's hung out with the crowd that you've hung out with - but you don't think he fits in well with them, and so you suspect he hangs around so that he could be close to you.

Tell your mom he used to be oblivious and wouldn't bat an eye to look at you - but something must have happened (you don't know exactly what yet) and now from time to time you catch him looking at you, and there's a twinkle in his eyes.

Tell your mom you and him are getting to know each other better, and that in every meeting he always surprises you, how he listens to you, how he remembers, how he finds common things that you both like - but you don't know if this is who he is, or he is just absolutely smitten by you.

Tell your mom the boy says lately he always dreams of you, and he likes to hum the songs that you like to hum, too - but you don't know whether all this is true, or he's just making them up to impress you. Or he's just being friendly and funny and nice, because that's what friends do.

Tell your mom the boy is a bit shy, and sometimes when he's nervous he says things in a funny way you could not really understand - and so you laugh along at his jokes out of politeness, and wonder if he noticed it, and change the topic to save yourselves.

Tell your mom he is new at relationships, he's never had a girlfriend and couldn't tell what to do next most of the times, and sometimes you feel he's the girl in this relationship (or whatever this is) - but you think it's all fair in the modern age that the girl calls for the date and picks up the tab.

Not all of the time, of course. Tell your mom you're not interested in dating a bum.

Tell your mom you and him have been exchanging gifts for birthdays and special celebrations, he sends you his favorite books, you send him your favorite mixtapes, and secretly you wonder whether he is communicating a message through the title of his books (and whether you are secretly communicating a message through the title of your songs.)

Tell your mom you and him have been spending time together, doing stuff together, sometimes with mutual friends, sometimes oh well just the two of you (make to look like a coincidence) - and you get to see each other under open, less flattering environment, and really make a connection.

Tell your mom that sometimes you and him talk about work, or about people at work, or about stuff from work, and the conversation would turn sour really fast - but the boy has learned to avoid such pitfalls, and spices it up with silly quizzes and 'Top 3 Movies to Bring, Stranded in an Island'.

Tell your mom you feel good about this boy, despite all the things you say you suspect or worry - that maybe there is a glimmer of hope in this one, because you can tell he is honest and thruthful and he respects you for who you are and what you have to say, and he understands what to expect out of a mature relationship.

Tell your mom the boy has not said anything yet about 'us' or where all this is heading - but you think he's just taking this at a natural pace, letting things to take place on their own, and enjoying the journey as much as the destination, just as you would.

Tell your mom you have a feeling that the talk is going to happen soon, but you have no idea how soon is soon, or how you would handle it - and so you think it would be best to just let it happen.

Tell your mom not to tell Dad, because you think it's the boy's job to do so, to tell Dad about himself and you and the future - so that you and Mom could watch him dance and sweat a little.

Watch your mom's face glow as she tells you with a sly smile, "Well, aren't we feeling a little bit sinister?"

Tell your mom, It's a choice that the girl has to make, but the job is still the boy's to take.

Author's notes - I was trying to write a scene in another short story, got writer's block, and couldn't finish it, not one bit. Spent hours tonight looking at the damn thing, but couldn't finish it. Frustrated, and then just plain gave up.

So, I pulled out a piece of Notepad and started free-writing my way out of the writer's block. Put on the random MP3 playlist on the laptop and just chillax.

A song called 'Let's Talk About Spaceships' by Say Hi To Your Mom (indie rock from Seattle) was playing, a great song, about a socially awkward young man trying to have a decent conversation with a girl he likes - and BAM! Dapat idea baru!

This is the final product.

Compared to my other stories, 'Tell Your Mom' is pretty slow and boring, but I think it's funny (not haha funny, though) and I don't want to go without an update for 3 months, so - I publish it.

This entry started off with just the first line ("Tell your mom... what he means to you") and the final line ("...but the job is the boy's to take"). The rest in the middle were thought off later, while listening to more Say Hi To Your Mom.

The "If You're Feeling Sinister" part is a tribute to the Belle and Sebastian's album.

Don't stay up too late tonight, okay?