My Living Nightmare

“Alex, wake up, it’s time to go.”

“Go away, I’m sleeping.”

What has the world come to when a person can’t even get a decent sleep in her own home?

“Alexandria, seriously, wake up. I’ve been at this for almost ten minutes already!”

I groaned and buried my head even deeper into my pillow. So, so soft…

“Alex, if you don’t wake up now I’m calling your mother-”

“’k…”

So where was I? Aah, that’s right, the purple bunny was about to find the mystical gold carrot at Mount Rushmore.

“That’s it! You are getting up right this instant, Alex, and if you don’t like it why don’t you just cry me a river?”

And that’s when the unspeakable happened… five FBI agents burst into action just as the bunny, whose name happened to be Gary, was about to do the tango with the carrot-

“Ahhhh!” I screamed as the comfy bed disappeared from beneath me and I found myself lying in a heap of disorderly blankets and pillows, looking up at Camille’s annoyed face from the floor.

Honestly, I’m the one who was pushed off my bed and she’s the one looking annoyed. What is wrong with the world?

“You pushed me off my bed?” I asked her incredulously.

“Yes.”

“You’re cruel.”

“And you’re late. C’mon, the Rivera’s are waiting for you. They’re having breakfast downstairs.”

“Oh shi-”

“Language!” Camille said sharply.

“Oh hell, I thought it was just a dream. A nightmare. I’m only sixteen, it should be illegal. And moving in with them… dad wouldn’t even leave me in a room alone with Sapphire’s brothers and now he’s marrying me off! Crap, Sapphire. I’ll have to tell her. And soon. Maybe in the next few years. God, she’s going to kill me… Do I have to go?” I finished lamely, sighing when I realized that I would never know how poor Gary’s story would unfold.

“Okay, first of all, get off that floor and make up your bed. Secondly; I know that this is hard for you, and I know that you’re really angry right now, but Alex, your parents mean well. If you look at it from their point of view I’m sure you’ll see that it’s not just them marrying you off to some random guy. He’s from a wealthy, respected family. He attends Bridgewood High and he’s relatively good-looking, not that I was looking or anything. What more could you want?”

“A choice; a say in all this.” I got up and walked over to my closet. That wasn’t Camille talking. That was my parents. I knew what she thought of this thing. I could see it in her eyes. She thought it was total B.S.

“Morning,” I said, walking into the kitchen and finding everyone sitting around the table. Barely acknowledging the chorus of “good morning, Alexandria” and “morning Alex” I went to the cupboard and took out a bowl and a box of cereal. Then I found a carton of milk in the fridge. And then I tried to get a spoon out of the drawer. And I failed. Just like I failed every single morning.

“What idiot builds a stupid drawer so freaking high up? That’s it, I’m suing him.”

I mean, seriously, drawers are supposed to be low down so that we average height people can reach them. Not high up in the air so that only The Great Khali can.

“Here, let me get that for you.”

Sean surprised me by handing me a spoon. He didn’t even have to stand on his toes like me. Tall people…

“Thanks,” I murmured, taking the spoon from him.

“Not a problem,” he said, walking back to his seat at the table.

I followed behind him and took the seat the furthest from everyone else. I ate quickly and silently, scarcely tasting what I was eating.

“Coffee?”

“I don’t drink coffee, mom,” I told my mother. It must be the millionth time that I’ve had to remind her.

“Well then how about tea? Or orange juice? Don’t worry; there are no pieces in it,” she pressed on.

“No thanks, mom.”

“Are you sure, Alexandria? You’re looking a little pale-”

“I’m fine, mother.”

My mother exhaled noisily before turning to Christine and nodding.

“Alexandria, we know how you feel-” Christine started to reason with me but I cut her off before she even got the chance. I was in no mood for parent talk. Not only did I get woken up at an ungodly hour, not get to find out whether Gary would retrieve the mystical carrot, have to listen to another lecture from Camille of all people, and deal with stupidly built drawers, but now I had to take notice of another parent speech on how ‘We know how you feel’ too?

“You know how I feel? No offence, but you know how I feel? Let me explain to you why I doubt that, and let me start by asking you a few questions. Where you ever called to your father’s office in the middle of the day only to be told that you would be getting married to a complete stranger?” I was in a bad mood. They had chosen a bad time of the month to tell me all this. “Were you ever told that you had to have dinner with a few of your father’s work acquaintances only to find yourself having dinner with your future in-laws?” I continued. “Did you ever have a very ugly argument with your ‘fiancé’ and storm out of your home, drive without even knowing where you were going to and end up at a park you haven’t been to in years, where you got onto a swing, spoke to yourself, and convinced yourself that jumping off a swing with your eyes closed was a good idea, only to realize later that it wasn’t? Did you ever get back home, find out that you would be moving out and transferring schools, get hit with a swinging bag and make up with your husband-to-be? All in one day? If the answer is no, don’t even bother with the ‘We know how you feel’ speech,” I finished. “And once again, no offence. Bluntness is my theme of the day.”

I got up and put my dirty dishes in the sink. Just as I was about to turn around I suddenly felt dizzy and had to put a hand out onto the island to steady myself.

It passed quickly though, and I hoped nobody noticed anything. I doubted anyone had, because when I returned back to my seat everyone still looked shocked by my monologue. Everyone but Sean, whose blue eyes were locked onto mine, an unreadable expression in them.