I hop into my mom’s car. My dad was standing with my grandparents behind me. My dad was crying. My mom was crying, too. They were fighting again. I didn’t like it when they fought; it made me unhappy. But I got into the car anyway, and my mom started the engine and backed out of our driveway. I ask my mom why dad isn’t coming with us. She tells me that I’ll see him again later. Her voice is soft and soothing, but she never took her eyes off the road.

  ………………………………………

  I hop into my mom’s car and see her smiling at me. She closes the door behind me, hops into the driver’s seat and waves good-bye to my grandparents. She still refuses to look at my dad. I wonder when they’ll be on speaking terms again. I mean, considering they’re not even on looking-at-each-other terms at the moment, I think it’ll probably be a while before they’ll even start saying hi to each other. As my mom backs out of the driveway, I buckle my seatbelt, excited for the upcoming weekend.

  ………………………………………

  I open the door to my mom’s car and sit in the back seat. My grandparents weren’t there to see me off - they were inside the house, eating dinner. I had already said my good-byes.

  My mom backs the car out of the driveway and asks me where my dad is. I tell her he’s at work. He’s always at work, and I never really see him. My mom tells me not to be too hard on him, he’s a really important doctor at the hospital and he’s busy helping sick people feel better. I pout and cross my arms.

  Suddenly, my mom tells me to check under my seat. Reaching toward the floor of the car, my fingers find themselves around a new toy, straight from Toys “R” Us! I grin and laugh and look forward to playing with it as soon as I can. In the rearview mirror, I can see my mom smile.

  ………………………………………

  Waving good-bye to my stepmom, I hop into the front seat of my mom’s car. My mom asks me where my dad is. I tell her he’s at work again. She asks me how my grandparents are doing. I tell her we visited them that wednesday, they’re doing fine. She says that’s good, and as we back out of the driveway, my stepmom slowly turns and walks back into the house.

  As soon as we hit the main road, my mom starts asking me about my stepmom. Is she nice? Does she treat you well? Does she hit you? She was asking questions faster than I could answer them. I tell her to slow down. Yes, she’s nice. Yes, she treats me really well. No, she doesn’t hit me. My mom breathed a sigh of relief. But at the same time, I could see a tinge of disappointment in her eyes, too.

  I tell her not to worry - if anything bad happens at my dad’s house, I’ll come to her first. She smiles and tells me I’m smart to do so. I grin. It feels good to be praised.

  ………………………………………

  I pull open the door on the passenger side of my mom’s car. I hop in and close the door, but I can still hear my parents arguing outside. I put my earbuds in and play some Taylor Swift song I downloaded the night before. I can’t hear them arguing anymore. I wonder why my parents started fighting in the first place. I mean, Taylor Swift fights and breaks up with people to make good music. But I doubt my parents were trying to do the same.

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  My stepmom finally stepped in and managed to calm my dad down. My mom was still fuming, but now there was nobody willing to argue with her. Angrily, she excused herself and got back into her car next to me. I asked her if she was gonna be okay. She told me to be quiet, so I did. But in my head I knew that I couldn’t be quiet ‘cause I’m already Justin.

  We quickly backed out of the driveway and drove off in a hurry. My mom drives fast when she’s angry. It’s kind of scary. I held on to the grab handle above the passenger door. When my mom saw how tightly I was holding on, she got even more angry; I didn’t understand why. Everything I was doing seemed to be making her mood worse, so I just shut up and sat still until we got back home.

  …………………………………….

  Rubbing my eyes, I dragged my feet the entire way to my mom’s car. My mom came out to greet me, asking where my stepmom and my dad were. I told her they were inside taking care of my little brother. She said we should get back home earlier so that I could go to sleep earlier. After all, I had to wake up extra early for a Science Olympiad competition the next day.

  My mom helped me load all of my competition materials into the car. I told her my protein models were really delicate; they were made to bend easily. She handled them with more care than I used to shape them.

  We backed out of the driveway. She asked me if I had forgotten anything. I told her no, I think everything I need is in the car. She said if I forgot anything, she would drive me back here to get it. I said thanks, but I think I got everything.

  We reached the main street. My mom turned on the radio and asked me about school and my friends and the book she knew I was reading. She knew I was nervous about the competition, and I knew she was trying to take my mind off of it. It worked.

  ………………………………………

  As I walked toward my mom’s car, I saw her boyfriend in the front seat. My stepmom, standing behind me, was just as surprised as I was. He stepped out and they shook hands and became acquainted as I loaded all my stuff in the trunk of the car. It wasn’t a lot of stuff; I was gonna come back here Sunday night, anyway. I closed the trunk and hopped into the backseat of my mom’s car. My mom had joined in the conversation; they were all smiling and laughing. I was glad; my mom’s boyfriend was a nice guy. I had been worried about how he would be received by my family.

  They finished talking and got back into my mom’s car. We backed out of the driveway, waving our good-byes all the while. My mom’s boyfriend asked her if he could turn the radio to the classic rock station. My mom didn’t really like listening to it, but the two of us did. She said sure, but only if she could turn it back to the classical music station later. I didn’t mind, either way. I liked both.

  My mom’s boyfriend asked me about my school life on the way home. How are your grades? Do you get a lot of homework? He talked to me calmly and patiently, intently listening and waiting for me to answer him without interrupting me at all. We talked the entire way back, first to a raucous background of metal and rock, and then to the soothing sounds of Chopin and Mozart.

  ………………………………………

  I watched as my mom’s car pulled up in the driveway. She stepped out of the car and greeted me, and then my dad. They started talking about what they did that week, smiling and laughing like two old friends. My stepdad got out of the car on the other side. He joined in their conversation and the two welcomed him with warm smiles. My stepmom came out of the house to see me off, too. And behind her was my little brother, curious to see what all the commotion was about. I was happy. They made me happy.

  I hopped into the driver’s seat of my mom’s car and gripped the steering wheel. I felt nervous. What was I nervous about? I had made this same trip so many times already. That’s right, it was the same trip as before. The same road, the same car, the same distance. But then I looked at all the people standing before me. My mom, happily talking about her work with my dad. My stepmom and stepdad playfully joking around with my little brother, who was howling with laughter. It’s going to be the same trip home I’ve taken for the last fourteen years, I thought. But it wasn’t exactly the same.

  My mom and my stepdad got back into my mom’s car. I slowly backed out of the driveway and with a trembling hand, I waved good-bye. Seeing my apprehension, my mom laid a hand on my shoulder.

  “Don’t worry, Justin. You got this.”

  My anxiety disappeared.