「故事·听力」My Mom's Boyfriend Is Almost My Age. I Am SHOCKED!
My Mom's Boyfriend Is Almost My Age. I Am SHOCKED!
This is Athena, and right now she’s going to tell you about how she nearly ruined three people's lives at once.
You could say that she has the wrong attitude. Athena can be intense, stubborn and quick-tempered, but she never feels uncertain about anything – and she always know what has to be done in order to keep everything RIGHT.
There’s no way she could ever have been any different. Her mom is single, and Athena is the only support she has in her life. That’s why she tries to protect her mom from any stress or pain, including the kind that can happen in her love life. She’s young, beautiful, and very kind, and in Athena’s opinion she deserves nothing less than the best man ever.
From time to time, when she starts seeing somebody, Athena watches the man in question very closely. If he ever makes so much as a small mistake, she throws them out of their life! Seriously, this may sound implausible, but Athena really KNOWS how to do it.
But her mom’s new boyfriend turned out to be a real monster! First of all, he was only seven years older than her. Can you imagine? Seven years! When her mom introduced him, Athena was so shocked that she actually behaved herself. But as soon as she got the chance, she tried to talk to him. His name was Tom. He wasn’t scared of her at all! Even though this weirdo saw how mad she was at him, he calmly replied that they had to learn to be friends for the sake of her mom. And then he said that he was in love with her and that he wouldn’t ever give her up. Frankly, even she was a little confused, but it only made her all the more determined to get rid of him.
From that moment on, she was constantly irritated, because this guy was almost her age! And she had to somehow deal with it. Tom behaved as if there was nothing wrong, and it made her mad that he was always there, so calm and friendly, as though everything was fine!
Athena hoped that her mom would notice how bad she felt, but it was as though she’d suddenly gone blind and didn’t notice that anything was wrong. She paid less and less attention to her. On the one hand this was almost a good thing because it meant Athena was more in control of her own life. On the other, though, this hadn’t happened because she had suddenly grown up. It was all because of her mom’s new boyfriend.
Her mom began to spend what seemed like forever preening herself before she went out. And she bought herself so many new things that would've looked way better on Athena than on her. She used a lot of makeup, did her hair really cool, and all in all acted way more relaxed than she used to. And Athena thought that all of this was both gross and ridiculous.
One day, she found out that her mom and Tom went out to the same places where she and her friends went. Oh my God! She would die of shame if her friends saw her mom dressed in her hip t-shirt, holding hands with a guy who had barely even graduated from college!
And then a terrible thought appeared in her head: what if they decided to get married? She couldn’t bear the thought that somebody might confuse her stepfather for her boyfriend! That would be a nightmare! She had to do something before it was too late.
Once, when Tom came over to their house, she noticed that he was nervous. He seemed to be hiding something in the pocket of his jacket. She suspected something sketchy was going on and decided to find out what was happening. When they were watching TV in the living room, she sneaked into the closet, found the hanger and checked his jacket. Of course, she knew that this wasn’t the right thing to do, but she was doing it for her mom’s sake! She just had to know!
And guess what was there? A little velvet box with a RING inside! Athena panicked. She walked in circles trying to figure out what to do next. There was one thing that was clear to her – she had to do something!
When she went back into the room, they were sitting on the sofa, watching TV and laughing, but she loudly made herself heard and told her mom that they needed to talk right NOW. And when they left the room she insisted that her mom had to dump this guy, otherwise she would pack up her things and leave. Her mom didn’t say a word. She just went back to the living room, where she talked quietly to Tom for a long time. Athena doesn’t know what she told him, but after that he left abruptly, without even looking at her.
He never came back. And her mom ditched all her new clothing and her makeup, and became delicate again. She looked like her regular mom again. Athena was pleased with herself and with what she had done for her.
But soon she understood that her mom was actually not the same. Yes, she was her mom, nice and kind...but also very, very sad.