The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows
Me vs. Them vs. The World.
That afternoon, things went smoothly and I got surprisingly high and relaxed. It was surprising, you said, how natural I made it seem. I didn’t freak out, nor did I want to stop. After we finished the joint, Evan left. I don’t know why he left, I guess he didn’t want to be apart of change. Didn’t bother me, really, everything else was fine.
We ran further down the small stream to the body of water it lead to. The mini-lake wasn’t big, but it wasn’t small either. I jumped in first, followed by you. Our clothes were wet, but it didn’t matter; we were swimming in the clouds.
The rest of the afternoon zoomed by and before I knew it, you and I were laid out on the pavement as we dried off. My phone rang, which I made sure I had out of my pocket of my shorts when we went swimming. The caller was my father, informing me on how dinner was ready and to be home in ten minutes. That gave us barely enough time to get back to my house, so we booked it like a wild cat after its prey. We made it to the tree we always met at and you stopped me.
“I’m so happy you came today, El,” you told me. I smiled, wrapping my arms around your waist as your strong arms locked around my body. It was the perfect fit, you were six inches taller than I, which, being 5’5, was ridiculous. My father said I got it from my mother.. which was ridiculous.
“Thanks for inviting me. I wouldn’t have done this with anyone else, Joey,” I replied as we pulled away from each other. I gave you a smile and you patted my shoulder, shoving your hands in your pockets. “I’ll call you later,” I replied and just like that, the fun of the day stopped and I had to go back to being my reserved self at home. Act normal, talk about just walking around and how much fun I had.
---
It’s funny how I can go from being so happy and feeling so trusting and wanted to being distanced and cold and unsure about life.
When I returned home, my father had laid out dinner and Margo was sitting there, writing away at some survey in the same rag mag she was reading when I left hours ago. The dinner must have just gotten done because it was piping hot. My father, however, was super pissed that I wasn’t home in the ten-minute window that he had given me. I was gone an extra ten minutes because I stayed and let the events play out in my mind before I headed home.
“I told you a specific time, Ellenor Louise! You’re suppose to obey me because I am your father,” my father yelled. I just nodded and said a quiet apology, looking at the oblivious Margo as she finished the survey.
“So, I guess that my career, according to this survey, is going to be a hair dresser. Wow, this magazine really knows me! I wanted to be a cosmetologist when I was Ella’s age,” Margo said.
“Now is not the best time, Margo,” my father spat, rubbing his creased eyebrows. “Can’t you see I’m in the middle of something?” He added, pointing with an upturned palm to me. I crossed my arms and leaned back, looking down when Margo pouted. The poor thing, didn’t deserve to be yelled at.
“Dad, don’t take it out on Margo. Just take it out on me,” I stated.
“Ellanor, you speak when spoken to when it comes to situations like this,” dad replied. I sighed and rolled my eyes, shoving back from the table. “Where on earth do you think you are going? You can’t fucking leave when I’m talking to you, missy!” He yelled.
“Yes sir, no sir, right away sir!” I said through gritted teeth, standing up and saluting my dad before turning on my heel and heading up the stairs to my bedroom. My dad wasn’t always an asshole, only when he had a bad day at work. I guess working as a boss at a big law firm was stressful on the fifty-four year old. I would much rather hang out with thirty-four year old Margo any day. I made it to my room and shut the door, locked it, and dropped down onto my bed face-first.
I think my dad took out all his past trifles and trials from my mom out on me. Mom had left a few years prior to my seventeenth birthday, but that wasn’t a bad thing. She was a royal bitch who used most of my dad’s money on alcohol and personal issues.
I’m coming over, I texted you, grabbing a plastic grocery bag and filling it with sweat pants and an overly-large t-shirt. I would spend the night at your house all the time if it didn’t mean getting caught and grounded for a month.
And so I left.
We ran further down the small stream to the body of water it lead to. The mini-lake wasn’t big, but it wasn’t small either. I jumped in first, followed by you. Our clothes were wet, but it didn’t matter; we were swimming in the clouds.
The rest of the afternoon zoomed by and before I knew it, you and I were laid out on the pavement as we dried off. My phone rang, which I made sure I had out of my pocket of my shorts when we went swimming. The caller was my father, informing me on how dinner was ready and to be home in ten minutes. That gave us barely enough time to get back to my house, so we booked it like a wild cat after its prey. We made it to the tree we always met at and you stopped me.
“I’m so happy you came today, El,” you told me. I smiled, wrapping my arms around your waist as your strong arms locked around my body. It was the perfect fit, you were six inches taller than I, which, being 5’5, was ridiculous. My father said I got it from my mother.. which was ridiculous.
“Thanks for inviting me. I wouldn’t have done this with anyone else, Joey,” I replied as we pulled away from each other. I gave you a smile and you patted my shoulder, shoving your hands in your pockets. “I’ll call you later,” I replied and just like that, the fun of the day stopped and I had to go back to being my reserved self at home. Act normal, talk about just walking around and how much fun I had.
---
It’s funny how I can go from being so happy and feeling so trusting and wanted to being distanced and cold and unsure about life.
When I returned home, my father had laid out dinner and Margo was sitting there, writing away at some survey in the same rag mag she was reading when I left hours ago. The dinner must have just gotten done because it was piping hot. My father, however, was super pissed that I wasn’t home in the ten-minute window that he had given me. I was gone an extra ten minutes because I stayed and let the events play out in my mind before I headed home.
“I told you a specific time, Ellenor Louise! You’re suppose to obey me because I am your father,” my father yelled. I just nodded and said a quiet apology, looking at the oblivious Margo as she finished the survey.
“So, I guess that my career, according to this survey, is going to be a hair dresser. Wow, this magazine really knows me! I wanted to be a cosmetologist when I was Ella’s age,” Margo said.
“Now is not the best time, Margo,” my father spat, rubbing his creased eyebrows. “Can’t you see I’m in the middle of something?” He added, pointing with an upturned palm to me. I crossed my arms and leaned back, looking down when Margo pouted. The poor thing, didn’t deserve to be yelled at.
“Dad, don’t take it out on Margo. Just take it out on me,” I stated.
“Ellanor, you speak when spoken to when it comes to situations like this,” dad replied. I sighed and rolled my eyes, shoving back from the table. “Where on earth do you think you are going? You can’t fucking leave when I’m talking to you, missy!” He yelled.
“Yes sir, no sir, right away sir!” I said through gritted teeth, standing up and saluting my dad before turning on my heel and heading up the stairs to my bedroom. My dad wasn’t always an asshole, only when he had a bad day at work. I guess working as a boss at a big law firm was stressful on the fifty-four year old. I would much rather hang out with thirty-four year old Margo any day. I made it to my room and shut the door, locked it, and dropped down onto my bed face-first.
I think my dad took out all his past trifles and trials from my mom out on me. Mom had left a few years prior to my seventeenth birthday, but that wasn’t a bad thing. She was a royal bitch who used most of my dad’s money on alcohol and personal issues.
I’m coming over, I texted you, grabbing a plastic grocery bag and filling it with sweat pants and an overly-large t-shirt. I would spend the night at your house all the time if it didn’t mean getting caught and grounded for a month.
And so I left.