Pieces Read Online Free PDF Page B

like.”
    Sure.
    Despite knowing better, Naomi kept looking around for Jesse, as if she might spot him somewhere. Her mother looked at her sideways.
    “You’re not going to see him. He’s in Berkeley with his father. That’s two hours away, and I doubt he’s allowed to leave town.”
    “I know, Mom, I know.”
    They found her luggage on the baggage claim carousel and headed out to the car. Naomi had flown into the local airport, so home was close by. She didn’t want to go out for lunch. Her bedroom sounded like a better place to wallow. Once they were settled in the car, she pulled out her iPod and started pushing the ear buds into her ears. Her mother cleared her throat.
    “We’re ten minutes away from lunch and I haven’t seen you in five months. Do you think we can talk for a minute?”
    Naomi put the iPod away and dumped her purse on the floor. She knew her relationship with her mother was juvenile, but they had a lot of lost time to make up for. In a lot of ways, it was as if she was fifteen again, only this time with a mother who was concerned about her. It made her happy and frustrated at the same time— happy that her mother saw her and cared, but frustrated because she wanted to scream, “I’m an adult, so treat me like one!” But she knew it would get her nowhere, and she didn’t feel like an adult, so she wasn’t quite sure how to act like one. It was easier to turn on her iPod and ignore everything, but that was clearly not going to fly today.
    “So, tell me about your classes,” her mother said, touching Naomi’s arm. “How were your exams?”
    Naomi clenched her fists as she thought about how awful it had been to get through that last week of school. She had studied. Kind of. She knew she had probably failed most of the tests.
    “They were hard,” she muttered, backing away from her mother’s tender touch. “I’ll register for my next classes as soon as I get back.”
    “You’re still wanting to do film?”
    “Yes, I think so. I need to get my Bachelor’s before I start the actual program, so I guess we’ll see.” She remembered Finn’s mention of USC and the cinematography program there. The thought was like a dust bunny floating along the edges of her mind, skipping about in the breeze of everything else.
    Her mother smiled as she pulled her phone from her purse and opened it to find a number. “Will you call your father?” she asked, handing the phone to Naomi. “Tell him we’ll be at Carter’s. It’s not far from his office.”
    Naomi took the phone and pushed the call button. It wasn’t often she went out to eat with her parents, but it had become tradition every time she came home from another semester.
    “This is Jason,” her father answered.
    “Hi, Dad.”
    “Naomi, you’re home!” His voice was polished and confident. It always soothed her, somehow.
    “Yeah, Mom says she wants you to meet us at Carter’s for lunch.”
    “Mmm, sounds great. I’ll be there in a little bit, okay? Order me the garlic shrimp linguini. They usually have it on the menu.”
    “Sure thing.” Naomi winced at the mention of shellfish and said goodbye as her mother pulled into the parking lot of an upscale restaurant. Naomi would have preferred a cheap hamburger joint, but she couldn’t envision her parents in such a place. Her mother was dressed in her usual office clothes, and her father would be in a suit and tie.
    “Going back to what you said before,” her mother said, meeting Naomi’s eyes, “whatever you choose to do at Harvard, I’m proud of you.”
    Naomi opened the door and grabbed her purse off the floor. “Thanks, Mom.”
    “I mean it.” She gave Naomi a beaming smile and wrapped an arm around her as a greeter opened the door for them. “You’re going to add beautiful things to the world.”
    Naomi took a deep breath and scrunched her nose at the smell of fish and garlic. She hated fish, but she had never told her mother that. She had told Evelyn, but only