Scream

My eyes fluttered open and I waited for my vision to clear, when it finally did I noticed I was in a room I had not seen before. The walls were white and plain and the bed beneath me was large at a king size and held black sheets. I instantly grew fearful and my breathing got hard again. I opened my mouth to call out but a loud cry was the only thing that escaped.

I heard footsteps and my eyes widened. I moved towards the wall so that my back faced the corner and I grabbed the pillow and placed it in front of me. The door swung open quickly and Max rushed in.

“Are you okay?” I sighed in relief and nodded at him.

I placed my hand on my heart to somehow slow it down to a normal pace again.

“Shit sorry, did it scare you waking up here?” I nodded again.

I furrowed my brows together and pursed my lips in a questioning matter.

“You’re at your dads,” I tensed at the answer.

“I mean… Johnny’s,” he corrected and I nodded relaxing a little.

It was odd how easy he understood me after only just meeting him. I looked around the room and twiddled my thumbs in my lap.

“You wanna see your aunt?” I looked back at Max and nodded.

He motioned for me to follow him and I did. I followed him down the long hall; at the end of it was a wide window that viewed the ocean, we were on the beach? Right before we reached the window there was stairs on the side; taking them he lead me down and when we reached the bottom I could see the kitchen straight ahead and the living room off to the left.

Johnny and Cathy were talking quietly at the table. By their body language I could tell Johnny was annoyed and irritated while Cathy was angry and worried. They still hadn’t noticed us yet because they didn’t look up.

“If she ever tells me she wants to live with you I’ll let her; I won’t come in between a father and his daughter but until then there’s no way.”

“What?!” Johnny’s fists tightened and banged against the table lightly causing me to jump in my spot.

Max rested a reassuring hand on my shoulder and squeezed it lightly.

“Look at how she’s reacted to you so far! You made her faint!” Johnny huffed before leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms across his chest.

He looked like a child and the thought made me want to laugh but I was too scared to. Finally I walked towards them and they looked up. Cathy smiled lightly and Johnny stared at me curiously before tugging on a forced smile himself.

“Are you ready to go?” Cathy asked me and I nodded.

“Well Johnny thank you for dinner.” Cathy took my hand and led me out.

“Wait!” I turned to see Johnny race after us.

Distress and fear were shown clearly on his features.

“Will I…” he paused not knowing how to word his thoughts. “Can I see her again?” The question was directed at Cathy but he looked at me with another question in his eyes.

I just started back unsure of how to react to his gaze or question. His eyes held so much emotions; curiosity, anger, sadness, hope.

“It’s up to her,” Cathy sighed and looked at me.

I slowly tore my gaze from Johnny’s and towards my aunt’s she awaited my answer and all I could do was shrug. At the corner of my eye I seen Johnny’s shoulders fall and the hope slowly drain his eyes.

“Jasey,” I looked to Max how held up my notebook for me.

I walked over to him, letting go of my aunt’s hand, once there I took it and looked up at him. His eyes held some intense comment that I couldn’t read. When he noticed my confusion he sighed and shook his head.

“Jace we should get on our way.” Cathy said and I nodded at her before turning back towards Max.

In an instant I wrapped my arms around him in a tight hug and he returned it. We stayed like that for a moment before I let go and turned towards the exit. I caught a glimpse of Johnny; he looked defeated and hurt. A part of me felt bad and wished I could comfort him, give him a for sure answer if I would see him again or not, hug him goodbye; I couldn’t do any of those things however. I wasn’t sure why but the first day I had met him, the reaction he had to me caused me to be this way towards him. I wished and hoped he’ll change it because he was the only one that could. I went back to my aunt and she said goodbye before pulling me outside.

Few Hours Later

I was lying in the bed with Carey snuggled at my side; we had to share beds. The nap I took when I fainted was pretty long so I wouldn’t sleep for about another hour or two. My throat itched with thirst so I lightly pushed Carey away and got up to head to the kitchen. I heard soft mumbling and saw a low light coming from the kitchen.

Everyone should be asleep… My heart started to pound as I thought this.

What if someone broke in? Not again… I tried to calm my breathing as I slowly went to the end of the hall; there I peeked my head out and saw Aunt Cathy at the kitchen table with a lamp beside her. I let out a low sigh of relief as I watched her on the phone. She had lots of paperwork scattered in front of her.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” she sighed and I remained in my spot as not to interrupt her.

“I could lose the house, my sister used to help with the bills but…”her voice broke and she was close to tears.

“We could lose the house.”

So this was about money? It was because I was here, if I was out of the way she wouldn’t be having this much trouble. I bit my lip at the feeling of crying that was rising and took a deep breath before rushing back to the room. I grabbed my notebook and opened it to the page Max had written on.

While I slept he took the liberty of writing down his and Johnny’s number. He said I could text it or something. I then headed to Chris’s bedroom and quietly went to the side of his bed. Right where I knew it would be; his cell phone. I quickly grabbed it and rushed out of the room. Taking it back to mine I sat on the ground as I punched in the numbers.

I stated to text Max and I hoped he was awake.

Max: Who’s this?
Me: Jasey on my cousin’s phone.
Max: Hey! What’s wrong?!
Me: I’ve decided I’ll live with Johnny but there has 2 be some rules.
Max: Rules, what kind?
Me: 1: He has to help my aunt with bills.
Max: Ok, easy.
Me: 2: I can visit my family whenever I want.
Max: Of course.
Me: 3: & last, he can’t ask me what happened to my mom…”