Over the next week Jerry spent many nights thinking of his mother. Things were getting tougher in school. He was feeling more and more left out. John was still moving from girl to girl while he couldn't even get a first date. He attempted talking to Sherry one day when he saw her having her lunch alone under a tree. He went over to her and made up a story. Said he had lost the days assignment for a class they had in common. "Sure Jerry, I have it right here in my notebook," she said. He sat down beside her as she started looking through the pages. "So what do you have planned for this weekend," he asked. "Nothing special, just going to my grandparents. I really wanted to stay home, but my parents don't think I should," she replied. "What about you, any big plans?" Jerry sat there a minute thinking about making up some, but thought better of it. "No, no big plans. I'll probably work on a model I've been meaning to put together." She copied the assignment for him and he tucked it into his back pocket. "Thanks Sherry, sorry to bother you."
"It was no bother Jerry," she said. "Anytime I can do anything for you just let me know." Jerry got up and walked away. He had come so close to asking her out but then she had to go away for the weekend. Just his luck.
The week finished just as boring and uneventful as the rest of his life was. He got home that Friday and threw his books on the table. Went to the kitchen and made a snack. Then went to his room. Lying on the bed with his music cranked up loud, he thought of his sad life. He put his plate on the table beside his bed and saw the plate from the day before. He then looked around the room and saw just how messy it was. It was like he was looking at it for the first time. His mom was right, he was a slob.
Well, it is Friday, he thought. She will be tired when she gets home; maybe he should try to help out some. He got up and picked up all the dirty clothes taking them to the laundry room. Then went back and got the plates and took them to the kitchen. Saw he had left a mess in there as well, so he started on it too. An hour had passed and he realized he had cleaned the entire house. That wasn't so bad, he thought as he sat down on the couch and looked around. She sure would be surprised when she came home and saw that he had actually done something. He felt good about it.
He heard his mom drive up just then and got up and went to his room, turning his music back up. It was about 5 minutes before heard his mom knock on his door. She opened it up with this shocked look on her face. He was scared at first, thinking maybe something had happened. She came over and sat beside him on the bed, just looking at him. "Mom, what's wrong?” he asked. "Jerry.... What’s wrong? What’s wrong? Nothing's wrong son, everything's great!! The house looks great! Thank you so much. I must say you really surprised me with this. I was so tired and not looking forward to cleaning up this house.
Then I came in and saw that you had already done everything.” she leaned over and hugged him close. Jerry hugged her back and he realized how long it had been since he had hugged her. She really felt good in his arms. He hugged her tighter and smelled her hair. He felt himself becoming aroused as he remembered her bending over, and what he had imagined. He pulled away and said, "Oh Mom, it's ok, no biggie. Just wanted to help out around here more. I realized you were right, I wasn't doing anything to help. I'm going to start helping out more, I promise." Just then a loud boom of thunder roared through the house. Caused his mom to jump a little. "Sounds like a storm coming up and I haven't even thought about dinner yet. How about we call in a pizza and just relax in front of the TV with it?" she asked. "Sounds great Mom, I'll go call it in." He got up and headed out to the living room to make the call.
