I Won't Call This Hell

Eyes shut, I stumbled downstairs. It was bright, and it was loud, due to what sounded like a vacuum.

"Hey!" I shouted, standing on the bottom step and throwing death glares at my brother. He didn't pay me any mind until I'd screamed his name, and thrown a shoe at him.

"What?" he asked, switching the vacuum off.

"Where is everybody, and why the fuck are you making so much damn noise?"

Jeremy didn't say anything, he just stared at me for a few moments.

"Are you gonna answer me?" I tried throwing more glares at him, but I was a mess since I'd just woken up.

"You've grown up," he said, shaking his head. "Mom took Angel and Lola out for a Girl's Day. I asked her if I should wake you up, but she said you had a lot of work to do. Dad went to play golf with his buddies."

I turned away from the kitchen sink, where I'd been splashing my face with a little water in hopes of waking me up faster. "Yea, I have the chores she gave me to do. Nothing else. I don't have any school work, at all. How can she call that a Girl's Day when she doesn't even take her own daughter?" I laid my head down on the counter. I guess she was still pissed at me for interrupting dinner.

"I got left with chores, too, so don't worry," Jeremy said. I looked up, and saw his smiling face. Of course, he couldn't go on a girl's trip, and I guess it made him feel better that he wasn't alone today.

"Does that explain why you're vacuuming?" He nodded. Then, he walked past me, and reached under the sink. Then, he handed me a bottle of 409, a rag, and smiled. Get to work.

**

"Have you called that boy back?" Jeremy asked, handing me one of the picture frames that hung on the walls.

"No," I said, dusting the frame, before handing it back to him.

"Why not?"

"I don't even know him," I took another frame from him. He gave me a questioning look.

"Sophie and I went to a concert, he was in the band, he recognized me from when I saw him at the mall. He agreed to give Sophie the band's bassist's number if she gave him mine. Sophie didn't think it would hurt, so boy called me back." I colored the short story with profanities, and explained how big of a jerk John was.

Jeremy nodded, continuing to hand me dusty frames after I handed him clean ones.

"I think you should call him back," he said.

"What? Why?"

"Lynnette, no one, and I mean no one likes to get hung up on. Trust me, I think you should call him back. He deserves it."

"How could he possibly deserve it? He called, got me into mega trouble with mom, and kept me stuck here cleaning with you."

"He gathered up the nerve to do it, Lynn, and that really is something." I could tell he was right. I could also tell what he was leaving out. He gathered up the nerve to call you, the girl who demands respect and refuses to give the time of day to those who don't give her that respect.