Tangerine Dreams

Five

We walked home in silence. I was still nervous about getting in trouble, so I had no idea what to say. We made it to her house first and she gave me a hug then ran to her door. I waited until she was inside and walked over to the front door, where the lights were still on. I had turned my phone back on and looked at the time. It read 10:20pm. I was screwed. I slowly opened the door and was immediately rushed with questions.

"Where the hell have you been Freya Elizabeth." I hated my middle name.

"Out." I huffed.

"You are in big trouble! You had Meagan and I worried sick. You told Charlie he was full of shit?!" My dad started ranting.

"Yea I did. I don't need your help with relationships! YOU PROMISED TO NEVER RUSH ME!" I yelled.

"It's been four years! She isn't coming back! I'm sorry that I'm worried my daughter will never get a boyfriend or friends for that matter because she's too busy writing in that damn journal."

"Excuse me? YOU have absolutely NO right to talk to me like that! My mother died, on my birthday. That's a traumatic experience! Sorry I can't move on like you did when you divorced her! How many girlfriends was it before Meagan? Like six? Classic." I huffed.

"That's not fair Freya."

"What's not fair is having my dad and his wife meddle with my love life! I don't like Charlie, and I never will. What's not fair is losing time with my dad because he couldn't stay with my mom, only to lose my mom and live with my emotionally distant father who only cares about having a perfect family." I know I went to far, but so did he. I turned back to the door and left.

"Freya! Get back here!" He shouted. I ignored him and ran next door. Jamie opened the door.

"What's wrong Freya?" she asked.

"Uh could I stay here tonight? If not it's fine, but I just fought with my dad..." I tried to explain.

"Say no more. Come on in. Kirsten just went upstairs." I nodded and made my way to her room.

"Hey? Did you need something?" she asked as I walked in. I ran over to her and threw my arms around her crying.

"Everything alright?" I shook my head, and she took that as her sign to hold me tighter. She held me while I cried for what felt like forever.

"Do you want to talk about it or go to bed?" She asked.

"My dad tried to set me up with someone from school tonight, that's why I was at the fountain. I ran off from them. Then after you went inside, I opened my door and he bombarded me with questions. H-he said I needed to m-move on from my mom and stop writing in my journal. He told me he was worried about me getting a boyfriend and making friends." I explained. She hugged me again.

"Well, you definitely deserve time to grieve over someone you were close to. He's not being very fair to you. I'm sorry love." She said. Love was what my mom called me....

-

We fell asleep soon after that. Kirsten insisted I stay as long as need and that Jamie wouldn't mind, but I knew I'd have to go back next door. I woke up the next morning and noticed she was still asleep. I slowly got up and grabbed my backpack. I looked at my phone and saw that it was 6:30. I had some time to go to the park. I grabbed my shoes and slowly walked to the bedroom door and down the stairs. Jamie was sitting in the kitchen.

"Thank you for letting me stay last night..." I smiled.

"Anytime sweetie. You can stay again tonight if you need to. Where are you off to?" she asked.