The Beginning, Middle, but not the End

Day 6,192 (September 29th)

I'm in the study rereading my favorite book again. A quiet knock interrupts my reading and examination of the poetry. I look up to see my mom and dad in the doorway. I fold the corner of my page and set it down on the desk. "What's up?" I straighten my back.

They look at each other, then at me. What are they hiding? Mom speaks up, "We're going to the supermarket, and we want you to come with us. We want to cook something new but you have to pick it tonight."

"That's weird," I shrug and stand up to put my book back on the shelf.

Mom turns around but dad stays, "What's weird?"

"We don't normally do this sort of thing."

He laughs, "Well change isn't always a bad thing. Now, hurry and get ready so we can go! My stomach is growling, we might have to stop for a snack."

I walk rather quickly to my room and put on shoes. Mom is getting her purse and car keys while dad waits by the door. I sit on the steps while we wait for her to finish getting ready, "Can't I just text you guys what I want or something?" Dad shakes his head. "Please?"

He reaches out his hand to help me stand up, "You're going. There's no backing out. Besides, you could use a little fresh air." I stare into his green eyes, outlined with pale and freckled skin. I feel my lower lip start to quiver, I really don't want to go. "No puppy dog faces! You're going and that's final," He then follows Mom out the door, leaving me defeated and forced to tag along.

He stays behind to make sure the door is locked. We all get into mom's car and begin our journey to the grocery store. I sit in the back in silence, staring at the scenery as we pass through. Mom makes small talk with dad, nothing too significant.

After driving for a long and dreadful 40 minutes, I get restless. Where are we going? The supermarket was only about ten minutes away, it shouldn't take this long. "Where are we going, again?" I ask in confusion.

"The supermarket," Dad responds.

I look around again, "Isn't that about 30 minutes back the same way we came?" Dad stays quiet, as well as mom. What are they doing? After another 15 minutes of waiting, we finally exit the highway. Dad whispers to mom, and they giggle. Why are they being so weird? We pull into a parking lot that belongs to a restaurant I've never been to.

"I'm pretty sure this isn't the supermarket."

Dad laughs, "I told you I wanted a snack beforehand."

"Alright, well why are you guys being weird?"

Mom chimes in, "We're your parents. We're supposed to be weird."

We park close to the restaurant, but also behind it. I wasn't planning on having to sit and eat a nice dinner with my family and actually have to hold a conversation for a reasonable time. I don't have anything to talk about. All they seem to want to talk about is whether me and Dallas are on good terms or not. It's kind of annoying how often they bring it up, although I guess the more annoying thing about them asking is that I give them the same answer each time, which is no. No, me and Dallas are not speaking, and I don't really want to. I don't know what I'd even say to him.

Mom and Dad lead me into the building. As we enter through the doorway, the smell of burgers and something that I can't quite put my finger on fills the air. They talk to the waitress while I admire the glass windows. They look like hundreds of little ice cubes stacked on top of each other. There are hundreds of reflections of myself in the little glass cubes.

Dad taps my shoulder, "Jo? We're this way." I follow them to a table and sit all while avoiding eye contact as much as possible. After the waitress seats us and gives us all the menus, I look up. There must be a mistake, why are we seated at a large table? A small army could sit here and still not be crowded.