Encased

2. Life

I plop down on my couch, tired from helping Sammy with his swimming. I shake my wet hair out, while turning the TV on. I go through the shows and feel Sam hop onto the couch beside me.

"Hey Sammy, need help with something?" I ask, boredom taking over.

"Duh! I wouldn't be here otherwise! C'mon, I want you to teach me how to play basketball!" he sais, shaking my arm.
I smile and give him a shove.

"You were just swimming, aren't you ever tired Sammy?" I ask, shaking my head a little bit. He jumps up and stands with his hands on his hips.

"Never! Now teach me the game of basketball!" he declares before pretending to woosh off. Just then mom and dad hustle through the door, talking about work that day.

"Hey mommy!" Sam yells before giving her a hug then giving dad one.

"Hey squirt, how was school?" dad asks, while picking Sam and throwing him over his shoulder while Sam shreaks in delight. I just chuckle a bit and return to flipping through the TV channels.

"Hey darling, the mayor of the Abode has informed me of a summer volunteering opportunity that he says you would love." mom tells me, catching my attention. A request from the mayor? Must be a pretty big deal then.

"What would I be doing" I ask, curious at what he wants me to do. Mom smiles and sits down beside me before answering.

"Well, you will get to go down into the unused levels and just poke around, clean, I don't know just hang out. Also, he said you can get a friend to help." mom says excitedly. So, I get to go below the actual Abode community and see what's out there? I will have to stay in the Abode but maybe I can find a way.

"So, should I tell him yes? Of course, you will have to be responsible and actually do work but this is all you are going to do all summer. Yes? No?" my mom rambles, I just stop her by raising a hand and start to answer.

"Yes, I want to do it. Can I have Sarah help me?" I ask. Sarah is my best friend. She is tall, but chubby so not very athletic yet she is still stunningly beautiful. She's a musician and plays at all the concerts and events. Well, most of them.

"Oh that is just great honey! I will tell the mayor you chose Sarah and you can start at the beginning of summer vacation." she sais, giving me a hug and then going over to the table to see what Sam is working on.

I walk to my room and once I'm there I call Sarah's room. *ring, ring* *ring, ring* and after the second set of rings she picks up.

"Hello?" Sarah says,

"hey!" I cheer.

"Oh hey Alex."

"Hi, so we got an official volunteer offer from the mayor. You have to help me with it! We get to go into the unused levels." I explain, really wanting her to say yes. But what I don't tell her is that this is my way out of these confining walls of the Abode.

"Really? Wow... Um the band wanted me to practice with the level four band but, the unused levels? How can I say no to that? This sounds awesome!" she sighs before I answer.

"Yes! This is going to be awesome! Bye!" I squeal, hanging up before plopping on my bed and listening to music. I lay back and let myself slip into relaxation and happiness.

That is, until Sammy jumped on top of me and almost cracked one of my ribs.

"Ugh, Sammy, get off!" I groan as I try to push him off. With a final push I manage to got him off of me and I fill with relief cause he will probably leave now.... Maybe.

"Please teach me how to play basketball!" he whines, thinking that will work.

"It's almost dinner, mom and dad are home, and you have homework." I state before guiding him to my door, annoyance crawling under my skin.

"Fine! Tomorrow?" he asks hopefully, I just laugh and close my door.

I remember my math homework and get it out, hating it but doing it all the same. Frustration bubbles up inside of me after each passing question that gives me a hard time. Stupid math!

The clocks tick for six o'clock and I know it's dinner. I sigh in relief and finish up my question before heading down to the dining room.

"Hey darling" dad sais when I arrive, giving me a kiss on the top of my head.

"Hi dad, how was work?" I ask, as it is the polite thing to do. I never understand what he does at work but I ask every night anyways.

"Great! We made a huge breakthrough.... Blah blah blah... Blah blah blah.... Isn't that exciting Alex?" He asks, happiness radiating from him.

"Oh wow, that's awesome. Good job dad." I say before going to help mom set the table. I lay down all the spoons and then all the forks on the left side of the plate. Once mom has all the plates, knives, and napkins down Sammy helps her bring out the food.

Dad sits at the end with mom on his right and me on his left and Sammy beside mom. We scoop out our assigned portions of food and eat, chat, and sip at our drinks.

When were all done I clear off the table, putting the dishes into the dishwasher. Once everything is cleaned up, I go to get ready for bed before checking my volunteer position for tomorrow.

I log into my account and scroll down to June 15th... Ah ha! There it is. Huh, lifeguarding. Not bad. Hopefully I won't have to save anyone though. I don't know if I could handle that stress.

I log out and shut my laptop before putting my PJ's on and getting ready for bed and preparing for the next day. I guess this was my prismatic life, one chore to another. No mishaps, or fluxes in schedule. So straightforward and perfect. But not for me, for me it was too strict, too perfect, fake.