Spit up and the Suburbs

Any time a new mom moved into Almería, Alyssa enjoyed a moment of renewed hope. Maybe this time she’d make a connection. Maybe this time, the new mom would be more like her and less like them. This optimism was quickly dashed in most cases, but perhaps with Shauna Newport it would be different. 

It was early in the school year, just days after the fateful BTS night, when Alyssa met Shauna. “What am I doing wrong?” the petite redhead asked no one in particular as she attempted to navigate AES’s mobile sign-in app outside the main office up at the school. Alyssa was there bringing Penny her lunch she’d forgotten in the fridge. And since this unfamiliar face was clutching a “Cars” lunch bag that said “Preston” on it, Alyssa assumed this mom had endured a similarly-frazzled morning.

“It’s confusing at first,” she assured the fellow workout clothes-clad mom, whom, she couldn’t help but notice, was suffering from a case of eyelash overextension similar to MDR. But no matter; Alyssa showed Shauna how to work the app anyway, despite being slightly distracted by her Miss America makeup before 9 a.m. 

Soon, the bubbly redhead was brightly introducing herself as having just moved to the area. Then, upon delivering their kids’ lunches to the main office attendant, they walked together back toward the parking lot, and Shauna explained that she had two children, had already met a lot of “really nice people,” and loved Almería so far. They stood by their cars (she drove an on-brand refurbished, bubblegum pink Bronco) for several minutes to commiserate on topics like their mutual love for Starbucks, and how mild the weather had been lately.

Alyssa enjoyed the brief conversation and admired how outgoing and friendly the newcomer was. She left the encounter hoping she’d run into Shauna again and they could chat more. The first part came true. Alyssa saw Shauna nearly every morning at school drop off for the rest of the year. The second part never happened though. Because soon, Shauna got absorbed by the mom mafia, quickly realized that Alyssa had no social capital to offer her, and didn’t even so much as say hello in passing by the end of her first week.