Perfect Doesn't Last Forever

Chapter Seven

Perfect Doesn't Last Forever- Chapter 7

            “You’re doing what?” Jessica asked in disbelief.  She dropped her book in her lap and abruptly turned to me, startling Drew and Callie who were napping on the couch beside us.  “Sorry,” Jessica apologized quickly before turning to me. 

            “I’m sorry Jess, but Ella and I really need some friend time.  Now, I promised I would hang out with you over break, and I will, this trip is only going to be a week long.  When we come back, I promise to spend every second of the rest of my break hanging out with you.”

            She looked at me like I’d just stabbed her, well that was overstating things, but she was upset.  “You suck,” she told me angrily, grabbing her book and storming into her room. 

            I took a deep, cleansing breath, and looked at Callie and Drew.  They looked so peaceful and it reminded me of the first month I had Hayley.  I was so afraid I would break her after fighting so hard for her and the first time I’d fallen asleep with Hayley on my chest, I woke up scared half to death that I’d smothered her or something by accident.  Life was just way too stressful.

            I waited a few more minutes for Jessica to calm down and wondered if my life would be like this when Hayley grew up.  Would we fight about her going out with friends?  Would she yell that she hated me for not letting her go out?  Would she have any siblings to fight with?  My future was so much different from what I expected it to be.  I was sitting her wondering if my two year-old daughter and I would fight in ten years.  I was so lost in my predictions of the future that I’d forgotten I couldn’t even figure out what was going to happen with my life in the next few weeks.  My brain could twist itself a million ways trying to figure out my feelings for Noah, but it could easily float into the far off future.  What was wrong with me? 

            The only thing I was sure of when I thought about the next few days was that I was ready to spend them with Noah and Ella.  I needed to be a teenager and have fun, without Hayley or Damien.  Speak of the devil, I thought to myself when I looked at my phone that had just lit up with an incoming call.  I silently looked at Damien’s name flashing on my phone and debated if I should pick it up.  Civility wasn’t coming easily after Damien’s stunt yesterday and I didn’t want to risk yelling at him through the phone and waking Callie and Drew up, so I just screened his call.  He could call my parents later if he was really interested in when I would be picking Hayley up. 

            I’d been reduced to leaving my problems to my parents to solve.  Shaking my head, I made my way to Jessica’s room, slightly ashamed of my actions.  “Jessica?” I said through the door.  “Can we please talk?”

            “Look Britt, I get it,” Jessica said, opening the door and letting me in.  “You need some time with Ella, but I miss you too.  Since I went to college, we’ve barely hung out and I just wanted to spend some time with you.  But like you said, we can hang out when you come back.” 

            We sat on her bed, looking at each other, expecting one of us to react, but I didn’t know what to say.  Getting my family’s approval for the trip was too easy.  After Ella eagerly agreed to go with Noah, his friends and I to Mammoth, she helped convince my parents that the trip would be completely safe.  I couldn’t help but wonder that something was wrong.  Ella was happy to leave Brian and my family was happy to let me go.  “Why are you so understanding?  I mean don’t get me wrong, I am so happy that you understand, but I don’t get why.”

            “Britt,” she said calmly, taking my hand in hers.  “I know that you stressed yourself so much this quarter with school and Hayley and all that Damien drama and you need a break.  I get it.  I was hurt at first because I was really looking forward to spending time with you, but you need a break; away from all of this.  Plus if mom and dad said yes, then there isn’t really anything I can do.”