Chapter 1.5

A question was all he had answered, so when Connor noticed the uneasy, cold stare from Lilee, it forced him to wonder if he had said anything wrong.

“I’m sorry,” Connor offered,
“Did I say something weird?”

Lilee redirects her staring to the top left side of her, almost as if she was thinking of a lie.

“No..just” she uttered, “has it really been 10 years? that’s a long time.”
Of course, Connor knew this, 10 years IS a long time to go without seeing his mom, but it didn’t impact him as much as people thought. His mom told him in advance she may not come back, and if she doesn’t, just know everything went well. She decided to chase her dreams of becoming famous, and live with her screenwriter boyfriend. He remembers the day she left vividly: he was eating cereal at 9 am (so it must have been a Saturday or Sunday) and watching cartoons as his mother came from downstairs dressed in all-black unlike her usual signature color: Nadeshiko pink. She looked worried, and without saying goodbye, she walked out the door and drove off. He was never sure if she knew he was in the kitchen, but he was more excited about the lack of adult supervision he was gifted for the next 6 hours before his father came home. Normally, he would have hired the babysitter next door, but of course, his mothers departure was actually a betrayal towards his father, and he was the last to know.

“Not really” Connor replied,
“I mean, it’s not a big deal to me.”

Lilee smiled.
“That’s good.” She said
“I care about you, a lot.”

"so, anyway, why are you here?"
"I care about you a lot too"