past mistakes

Surprise, surprise

We all quietly watch tv in the morning. The mood in the air is exhaustion, although I'd say I feel great. Refreshed, even. 

I scroll through Instagram just to catch a glimpse of how it went. I notice Jack's presence in a lot of girl's photos.  He looks to have been everywhere last night. 

I guess he was peeking at my phone and saw himself because he grabbed it and threw it to a couch perpendicular to ours.

"Jack! What the heck?" I yell in annoyance. I don't understand what the point of that was.

Kendall covers her ears, I'm assuming from my shouting. Jack leans closer and mumbles, "Don't look at those stupid pictures."

A curious grin appears on my face as I quietly say, "What did you do last night?" I get up to grab my phone with my eyes still on him. I'm trying to read his expression but it is masked by his exhaustion. 

He grabs my wrist and waits a few seconds, for dramatic effect I think, before saying, "Could you just not go Instagram for a few days?" I don't like how serious he is being. 

I shrug, "Yeah, whatever." Then I grab my phone quickly before he can grab my arm again. I stay off of it, keeping my word so far. 

In the afternoon, we go out to the pool to swim for a bit. Leo came over too, stealing Kendall's attention from me. I was forced to hang out with Jack the whole time. 

It got colder once the sun went down, so we called it quits around 9. I wrapped my towel around myself and went inside. The towel was still not enough to stop my body from shivering every few seconds. 

The hot shower was exactly what I needed. I debated whether I should go back downstairs, but since I hear Leo's voice in the living room, I figure I probably should. 

Jack is down there with Leo. I sit on the couch perpendicular to them and listen in on their conversation, which apparently stopped right as I got down.

"Why'd you guys stop talking?" I ask as I pull a blanket over my legs.

"Conversation ended, I guess." Leo says as he shifts on the couch. They both keep making this weird eye contact that I hate because they are clearly nonverbally communicating. 

"What's the plan for tomorrow?" I ask in an attempt to end their eye contact.

Leo's face freezes as he quickly asks, "What?" Immediately after that, his face retorts to its usual self and he replies, "Oh, I don't know. I have to go to lunch with my family."

I nod and look at Jack for an answer. He's still eyeing Leo. 

"Nothing, I guess. We'll just hang out here." He slouches further.

Kendall comes out of her room, thankfully ending this weird silence. She rubs her eyes and mumbles about how tired she is. I feel the same so I take that as my opportunity to get out of here. 

In the morning, everyone wakes up early. As I'm walking down the stairs, I hear Kendall whisper-yelling, "Tell her!" 

My eyebrows furrow as I try to figure out what is going on in the couch area. Kendall's yelling at Jack about something, but she is actually controlling her volume, which is very unlike her. 

I see them both looking at me. I can't tell if it's guilt or panic that I see in their faces. They kind of look like they just broke a cookie jar and see their mother walking towards them. 

"Tell me what?" I ask loudly. I kind of just assumed they meant me. 

Jack sighs, "The other night, I kinda told people that we were hosting a party tonight and now everyone thinks I'm joking when I tell them it's off."

"What?!" I yell with anger in my voice. My jaw couldn't be dropped lower. 

"I'm sorry Wendorf, I wasn't thinking. But you're the one who forced me to go to the party." Jack defends himself. I roll my eyes.

"Are you kidding me? Tell them no. Don't let them in." I ramble. I don't even know how to react. My brain is racing a million miles an hour. 

Kendall interrupts, "MC I have tried telling people not to come but it seems like they are all talking with each other too. Like if they all come, then we have to let them in."

"I don't care, this isn't my mess. My mom is going to kill me." I cover my face. 

"Come on. I get being a little cautious, but technically you're not breaking any rules because you're not leaving the house." Jack stands up after he utters this atrocity of an explanation. Of course he try to make me feel like I'm in the wrong. 

"How about you explain that to my mom when she is yelling at me?" I spit at him as I walk back to the stairs.

"Come on MC, can we talk about it?" Kendall pleads as she follows me.

I close my door, wishing that I still had the lock on it now. I panic and run to my closet. This used to be like my only safe space from my parents. 

I hear my door open and some footsteps coming in. It takes a few seconds for the person to open the closet door. Kendall sighs and sits on the floor next to me. Her expression is softer than it was downstairs. 

"I'm really sorry and Jack is too. He was being stupid, and he has been trying to fix this. You can read the texts we've sent. Either they don't respond or they send laughing emojis." I look over at her, seeing her hazel eyes despite the dark lighting. 

I sigh before getting real words out. "It really sucks because this is my fault. I forced you guys to go to the party." I stare at the floor in front of me, inspecting the pieces of dust laying there. 

"You were being a good friend. It's still our faults." 

I lean onto her shoulder and mutter, "Can we please not get caught?"

I feel her whole body lift up. She whispers back, "We will try our absolute best."