Relationship Suicide
02
The distinct smell of pancakes made Honor smile and inhale deeply as she stepped through the front door of her home. She knew her mother was going to ask about her friend. Her friend who covered for her every time she went off to George's house. The friend that thought she was at Mark's. It was a vicious circle of lies, but Honor wasn't about to be truthful with any of them. She didn't need her friend spreading the details of her sordid secret, nor did she need a shameful break up with Mark.
She slipped her shoes off and left them in the hall, adding to the pile of shoes that was already present, before wandering towards the kitchen. The smell was intensified in there. Her dad was standing at the cooker, flipping thick pancakes up into the air, showing off his skills. It was a show to make her mother jealous, and Honor knew it worked every time.
She sat down at the counter and waited for someone to notice her, as she picked at the already chipped turquoise nail polish on her fingernails.
"Honor, honey, don't pick your nail polish, please. People have to eat at that counter," her moths asked her politely, sitting down across from her with a bowl of strawberries, smothered in thick gloopy cream.
Honor stopped immediately, knowing she'd get a lecture from her mother if she didn't. She folded her hands on top of the counter and leaned forward slightly. "Dad, can I have one of those?" She pointed towards the pancake he was currently tossing into the air and effortlessly catching in the pan.
He nodded, sliding it onto a plate and placing the plate onto the counter. Honor reached over for it and pulled it towards her. She could feel the empty space inside her stomach, willing to be filled. She knew she should eat at George's house, but there was always a risk. One of the others often came over in the mornings to eat Mrs Craig out of house and home, and it'd look a little strange for her to be there alone, without Mark. It'd be even stranger if it was Mark himself who showed up at the front door, ready to devour a box of Sugar Puffs.
Her father handed her a fork and Honor proceeded to drown her pancake in maple syrup, before stabbing into it and pushing it into her mouth, chewing happily and swallowing it down.
"So, did you have fun at Stephanie's house?" her mother asked, eying her daughter suspiciously. She had a feeling Honor wasn't always where she said she was.
"Yeah, loads. We just talked and ate Chinese and marshmellows and then I fell asleep during a film," Honor modified the lie each time, exchanging the food for different types, or changing talking for watching something on TV. She sometimes even added her other friends to the lies.
"What film was it?"
Honor rolled her eyes, stabbing another forkful of pancake and glancing up at her mother. "It was Dirty Dancing." That element was another thing that changed each time. Though Dirty Dancing was a regular, since it was Stephanie's favourite film.
"Does that girl ever watch anything else?" her father asked, sitting down beside his wife and smiling brightly across at Honor. His own plate stacked with a couple of pancakes. He doused them in syrup and her mother scoffed in disgust. Honor knew she was far too much like her father.
A buzz from her pocket brought her out of beginning to answer her father, as she plucked her phone out and glanced at the screen. One new message. She opened it. George.
I miss you. The bed's cold. Come back to me? x
Honor smiled to herself, before stabbing at the buttons, agreeing to go back to him. She then bounded off upstairs and jumped into the shower. She had all the time in the world before she had to go and see Mark, so why leave George hanging?