Until Tomorrow
tension
Kelly didn’t tell anyone about Jake. She didn’t talk much around her family at all, though her mother forced them to eat dinner together at seven every night. Conversations felt forced, and the tension in the air was almost tangible. There was no space for words to fill the air with everything else that was going on. That didn’t stop Kelly’s mother from trying.
“How was your lecture today?” her mother asked Becca over dinner one evening. Kelly glanced over at her sister, who had already nearly finished all the food on her plate. Kelly was restless, and had been toying with the food on her own plate with her fork for the last fifteen minutes.
“Okay, I guess. My Renaissance Lit professor isn’t exactly my favourite person in the world,” Becca said, a small smile on her face. Kelly thought back to when she and Becca were eleven, and her sister had told her that she was her most favourite person in the whole world while they sat side by side on the swing set in the neighbourhood park. Things were so different now. Her sister could hardly even look at her. All Kelly wanted was for things to go back to the way they had been before she left.
“Can I be excused?” Kelly spoke up, interrupting her mother and sister. They both looked over at her, but Becca seemed to glance away immediately. Her mother raised her eyebrows and folded her hands on the table in front of her.
“Of course, dear. Do you have plans tonight?”
“No. Wouldn’t matter if I did. I’m on lock down, remember?”
“Kelly.” Her father interjected, his stern voice cutting. “Don’t talk back to your mother like that.”
“I’m sorry,” Kelly muttered, before going to her room. She shut the door softly behind her and sat on the edge of her bed, resting her elbows on her knees and bringing her hands to her face. She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, trying to think back to a year ago when everything had gone wrong.
Her hands began to shake and her heart rate accelerated as she thought back to the night one year ago when everything had changed. It was still crystal clear, painfully preserved in her memory and sure to haunt her forever. The decisions we make in life are just the beginning. It’s what happens afterwards and how we react to the new situations of our own making that really define us.
“How was your lecture today?” her mother asked Becca over dinner one evening. Kelly glanced over at her sister, who had already nearly finished all the food on her plate. Kelly was restless, and had been toying with the food on her own plate with her fork for the last fifteen minutes.
“Okay, I guess. My Renaissance Lit professor isn’t exactly my favourite person in the world,” Becca said, a small smile on her face. Kelly thought back to when she and Becca were eleven, and her sister had told her that she was her most favourite person in the whole world while they sat side by side on the swing set in the neighbourhood park. Things were so different now. Her sister could hardly even look at her. All Kelly wanted was for things to go back to the way they had been before she left.
“Can I be excused?” Kelly spoke up, interrupting her mother and sister. They both looked over at her, but Becca seemed to glance away immediately. Her mother raised her eyebrows and folded her hands on the table in front of her.
“Of course, dear. Do you have plans tonight?”
“No. Wouldn’t matter if I did. I’m on lock down, remember?”
“Kelly.” Her father interjected, his stern voice cutting. “Don’t talk back to your mother like that.”
“I’m sorry,” Kelly muttered, before going to her room. She shut the door softly behind her and sat on the edge of her bed, resting her elbows on her knees and bringing her hands to her face. She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, trying to think back to a year ago when everything had gone wrong.
Her hands began to shake and her heart rate accelerated as she thought back to the night one year ago when everything had changed. It was still crystal clear, painfully preserved in her memory and sure to haunt her forever. The decisions we make in life are just the beginning. It’s what happens afterwards and how we react to the new situations of our own making that really define us.
♠ ♠ ♠
Okay so this chapter was short and shitty but the next one is just fucking tragic and it almost broke my heart writing it so.