Caraphernelia

I stood outside of my best friend's front door waiting for her to open it and invite me inside. I knew it was a little late to just show up at her house, but her parents always told me I was welcome. I never thought I'd have to stay over until graduation, though. I kind of expected myself to deal with the things at home, but I proved to myself that I was strong and that I shouldn't feel any regret for my actions. I was taught at a young age to speak my mind, never hold back. I did just that, so I supposed my parents should be proud of me for listening.

"Mindy?" Lucy's hair was disheveled as she wiped her eyes. She was wearing her pajamas and looked as if she had been reading for too long.

"Hey, I need a place to stay. I kind of left my house."

Lucy's eyes widened. "What do you mean you kind of left?" She grabbed me by the forearm and pulled me into the foyer of the enormous house that she and her parents lived in. I followed her to the living room where both of her parents were sitting cuddled up to each other on the blue leather sofa.

"Mom, Dad, Mindy's here." Mr. and Mrs. Hinsley looked at me and smiled.

"That's fine, just make sure to keep the guest bedroom clean." We nodded and left the living room to go to the second floor of the house. I followed Lucy into her bedroom and sat down on her swing beside the window. I couldn't help but look out at the ocean before me. It was beautiful, especially at night when the waves would make the moon's reflection move with them. Even though the moon moved the waves move, it still seemed as though the waves moved it.

"Here," Lucy said as she handed me a pint of Cookies and Cream ice cream. She knew that I had issues with my parents, and she always listened. I guess this time she decided to stock up on the necessities.

I nodded a thank you as I took the cold carton of ice cream and opened the lid. I was surprised to see a little candle pressed into the ice cream. I looked at Lucy as she beamed from ear to ear.

"I know it's not tomorrow yet, but since you're already here we might as well celebrate our fifth year of sisterhood. Even though we've got our ups and downs, you'll always be my sister." I smiled and vowed the same vows before taking the candle out of my ice cream. "Now, tell me what happened."

I sighed, taking a spoonful of ice cream in my mouth before relaying the events that happened previously in the day. I had to think of where to start, also. I decided to start with my phobia of people and ended with running from my dad. Lucy sat cross-legged on the computer chair across from me as she ate her ice cream and listened to my story. When I neared the end, I realized that this was something that needed to happen. This was something that I needed to do to free myself from a living hell.

"Not to be mean, but your parents are dicks."

I laughed and took the last spoonful of my ice cream. "I know, and you're not being mean. You're stating a truth that my parents' friends can't even say."

"I wonder what they're doing now."

"Not looking for me. They don't care, anyway. I left for a reason, and my dad should know that because he got the entire story before I left."

"Totally deserved it."

I heard the sound of footsteps outside of Lucy's bedroom door. Laughter came shortly after followed by the voice of Lucy's mom. There was a male voice, and it was different from Lucy's dad. I looked at Lucy. "Who's here?"

"Probably my cousin, Jeremy. He's moving in with us for a little while until he can get back on his feet." Lucy held the carton of her vanilla ice cream to her mouth and slurped. I rolled my eyes at her childlike tendencies before her mother opened the bedroom door. She smiled at me.

"Lucy, Mindy, Jeremy's here. Come say hello."

I watched Lucy as she tried to get out of her chair. She all but fell as she stumbled across her bedroom floor to follow her mom. I couldn't suppress my laughter as I closed her bedroom door behind me. Lucy was acting like a drunken fool as she stumbled down the stairway to the kitchen where a man sat at the bar. His hair and facial hair were dark. His left arm was covered in tattoos; his ears were stretched with black plugs. I didn't get a chance to keep looking at him because Lucy hugged him.

"Hey, I have someone you wanna meet." Lucy pointed her arm to me; the man looked at me and smiled. "This is my best friend, Mindy White, the most kick-ass girl of the century."

My blue eyes caught hold of the man's brown eyes as he said a quick hello. He stood up to walk toward me and held his fist out. "I'm Jeremy." A smile formed across my face as I pumped my fist against his.

"Mindy," I said as I walked to the empty stool next to Lucy. Jeremy sat on the other side. I looked at him for a moment to study his features. Something about him was familiar. I didn't know what it was, but I was going to find out.