Status: Sorry to leave you hanging guys! The keyboard on my laptop is malfunctioning.
Stop Pretending That You're Sorry
58
Dinner was fun, diner food was fine. More than fine actually.
It was when we were back in the car that my phone started ringing.
[ JULIA ]
“Hello?” I sighed, unable to keep my voice free from annoyed tones.
“Hey,” It was Katie’s voice, not Julia’s that echoed through the speaker.
“Oh, hey Katie.” A smile immediately started to grow on my face.
“Julia and I are having a sleepover at Jule’s house and were wondering if you wanted to join?”
At first I was going to say no, but then I stopped and questioned myself. Sure, Julia tended to get on my nerves, but would a sleepover kill me? No, it would probably be a lot of fun. It’d been years since someone asked me to sleepover. I used to have a lot of friends at my old school, but we fell out of touch when I spent all my time caring for my father.
“Alright, sounds fun. I’ll be there soon.” That was my final answer.
“What up?” Tucci asked when my phone was once again shoved unceremoniously into my pocket.
“Can you drop me at Julia’s house?” I didn’t feel bad asking because they were neighbors, so it wasn’t like Gavin had to go out of his way to get me there. “We’re going to have a sleepover.”
We parted with a kiss and then I was left alone on Julia’s front porch. Just as I was about to ring the bell, the door burst open and a little girl with crazy, curly blonde hair smiled up at me. She was missing one of her front teeth.
Before I even had a chance to get a word out of my mouth like “Hello” or “Who are you?” she had latched her tiny self onto my shins and proceeded to attempt to climb up my body like some kind of monkey.
“Ellie, quit it!” That was Julia’s voice, and her face followed soon after, turning around the corner to come rescue me from this so called ‘Ellie’.
The little girl giggled and grabbed onto my hands using them as leverage to flip herself around. She seemed inhumanly flexible.
Katie rounded the corner as well and burst into laughter at the sight of me. I probably did look hilarious. Totally unsure of what to do as this little monkey girl climbed me like a ladder.
Julia came to my rescue, grabbing Ellie’s middle and pulling. It took a few tries but finally the little one let go of me and wriggled out of Julia’s hands. As soon as she was free she scampered off to what I remembered to be the kitchen. It’d been a while since I’d been to Julia’s house.
Julia followed after Ellie, and Katie shot me a smile before doing the same. I was correct in assuming that they had all gone to the kitchen. I followed them and found three more people sitting at the table. Two elderly people, a man and a woman. And a woman whose age I couldn’t guess but she had to be at least 30 something. She was in a wheelchair, slumped over, her head awkwardly crooked to the side. And oxygen mask dangled from her nose.
The sight of her caused me to freeze.
“Hello dear, I’m Nancy,” the older woman said pulling me out of my trance. “I’m Julia’s grandmother.”
“Um, hi. I’m Regan.”
Nancy smiled at me and gestured to the little balding man sitting next to her. “This is my husband, Jon.”
John. Thoughts of Mr. Harrington forced their way into my mind at the sound of his name. What I didn’t know at the time was that Nancy’s Jon didn’t spell his name the same as my lover.
“You’ve met Ellie,” Julia said, taking a seat between the woman in the wheelchair and the little girl. “And this is my mom.”
It was when we were back in the car that my phone started ringing.
[ JULIA ]
“Hello?” I sighed, unable to keep my voice free from annoyed tones.
“Hey,” It was Katie’s voice, not Julia’s that echoed through the speaker.
“Oh, hey Katie.” A smile immediately started to grow on my face.
“Julia and I are having a sleepover at Jule’s house and were wondering if you wanted to join?”
At first I was going to say no, but then I stopped and questioned myself. Sure, Julia tended to get on my nerves, but would a sleepover kill me? No, it would probably be a lot of fun. It’d been years since someone asked me to sleepover. I used to have a lot of friends at my old school, but we fell out of touch when I spent all my time caring for my father.
“Alright, sounds fun. I’ll be there soon.” That was my final answer.
“What up?” Tucci asked when my phone was once again shoved unceremoniously into my pocket.
“Can you drop me at Julia’s house?” I didn’t feel bad asking because they were neighbors, so it wasn’t like Gavin had to go out of his way to get me there. “We’re going to have a sleepover.”
We parted with a kiss and then I was left alone on Julia’s front porch. Just as I was about to ring the bell, the door burst open and a little girl with crazy, curly blonde hair smiled up at me. She was missing one of her front teeth.
Before I even had a chance to get a word out of my mouth like “Hello” or “Who are you?” she had latched her tiny self onto my shins and proceeded to attempt to climb up my body like some kind of monkey.
“Ellie, quit it!” That was Julia’s voice, and her face followed soon after, turning around the corner to come rescue me from this so called ‘Ellie’.
The little girl giggled and grabbed onto my hands using them as leverage to flip herself around. She seemed inhumanly flexible.
Katie rounded the corner as well and burst into laughter at the sight of me. I probably did look hilarious. Totally unsure of what to do as this little monkey girl climbed me like a ladder.
Julia came to my rescue, grabbing Ellie’s middle and pulling. It took a few tries but finally the little one let go of me and wriggled out of Julia’s hands. As soon as she was free she scampered off to what I remembered to be the kitchen. It’d been a while since I’d been to Julia’s house.
Julia followed after Ellie, and Katie shot me a smile before doing the same. I was correct in assuming that they had all gone to the kitchen. I followed them and found three more people sitting at the table. Two elderly people, a man and a woman. And a woman whose age I couldn’t guess but she had to be at least 30 something. She was in a wheelchair, slumped over, her head awkwardly crooked to the side. And oxygen mask dangled from her nose.
The sight of her caused me to freeze.
“Hello dear, I’m Nancy,” the older woman said pulling me out of my trance. “I’m Julia’s grandmother.”
“Um, hi. I’m Regan.”
Nancy smiled at me and gestured to the little balding man sitting next to her. “This is my husband, Jon.”
John. Thoughts of Mr. Harrington forced their way into my mind at the sound of his name. What I didn’t know at the time was that Nancy’s Jon didn’t spell his name the same as my lover.
“You’ve met Ellie,” Julia said, taking a seat between the woman in the wheelchair and the little girl. “And this is my mom.”