Jeremy

Chapter 2 (Part 1)

My dream never really got far before the blaring sound of my alarm clock erupted in my ears. My eyes shot open, but I didn't move from where I was laying on top of my sheets, still in my clothes from the day before.    Right, Mother wants me to go out today. Dammit. I twisted to turn off my alarm and slowly drag myself out of bed.

Without changing out of my current clothes, I shoved my feet into my sneakers without untying them and threw on a jacket. With hesitation, I opened my door, which creaked louder than necessary, signaling my mother that I was awake and moving. "Jeremy, is that you?" Starting down the stairs, I called back, "Yeah." It sounded more irritated than it should've, but I guess not wanting to leave the house got to me.

Once I reached the bottom step, I peered into the kitchen where my mother already had a plate of waffles sitting for me at the table. I sat and started eating nice and slow, stalling. My mother sat with me, on the opposite side of the table, no plate, but a cup of bitter-smelling coffee. "So, what's the plan? Did you call any of your friends? Going to meet up with them?" She put too much faith in me. "You wanted me to go out and meet with friends? Mother, they haven't texted me since the beginning of vacation. You expect me to call and see if they wanna catch a movie?"

She sighed. "Well, I was hoping you'd actually go out. Not just move to another building to do what you can perfectly well do here. Plus, there's no harm in starting up the conversation yourself, you know." She took a long swig from her coffee. "How about going to the park? There's a nice walking trail. You could get a nice picnic lunch and maybe play some football in the field."

"Alone?"

"With your friends. Just call them and see if they're available. It's not that hard."

"Oh. I don't think they'll really be up for it."

"No harm in trying." Her voice goes pretty high when saying this, clearly trying to signal me that I should call them.

"Fine," I somewhat gave in, not really planning on calling them, but at least I'm going out as she wanted. She smiled at me and I returned it.

A moment later, she was back in the kitchen, washing her now empty cup. Then takes my mostly empty plate when she realized I wasn't eating the last of my second waffle. She scraped it and washed it, putting it aside to air dry. "You have fun now." That was my cue to leave. So I stood and walked straight out the door, a little wave and "Bye," to my mother.

The hot summer air hit me hard, but there was a nice breeze in the air that cooled me off a bit. As well as blowing my bangs into my face, which was quite annoying.

I could practically feel my mother's eyes on me through the window. She already knew I wouldn't call my friends. I could almost guarantee that, so I didn't even bother pulling out my phone to fake it. I just started walking in the general direction of the park. That part wasn't the worst option. A walk along the trail wouldn't be too bad.

Getting to the park was pretty simple. Just walk there. It was when I got there, that the very little excitement of some relaxation at the park slipped away. There were far too many children running around, hiding behind strangers to dodge their friends' touches for a game of Tag-You're-It. Not to mention some sophomores and juniors from the high school playing football and making out on the grass. Why'd I think this was a good idea again?

I sighed but kept walking, slower now. A child being chased jumped around me and the one doing the chasing nearly crashed into me, falling backward from trying to stop so abruptly. It may have been rude, but I kept walking. They got up right when I started anyway, so I assumed they were fine.

I'd walked the trail roughly twice in the hour I'd been there. I couldn't help but feel out of place though. Everyone had someone with them. The last day of summer must be a popular day to go on dates, family outings, and such. I definitely didn't fit in then. No one was there with me. Family, friends, and most definitely not a partner.

Maybe calling it a day and going home was the best option. Which is exactly what I did. Though, as I was walking out the way I came into the park, a girl passed me, and a familiar scent of cherry honey and fresh pastries caught me off guard, but by the time I looked up, she had started her jog and the distance between us grew. Who she was, I couldn't say. I couldn't even place the scent. Where had it come from? I knew I recognized it from somewhere, and it was itching at my skin with irritation.