Your Heart on My Sleeve

Talk to Tinkerbell

     Being grounded wasn't as bad as I thought. Of course I'd been grounded before, but when you were grounded for three weeks, you automatically started preparing for ultimate boredom. Of course, I wasn't as good at sneaking out as I thought I was. Tessa was waiting for me when I got back, and she was even more pissed when she figured out I was drunk. She knew I drank, but she thought I'd gotten over it. I was nowhere near doing that. I had a bunch of bottles hidden in my closet along with the hard stuff. Tessa would never find it. 

     The only bad thing about being grounded was it gave me time to think about things I wanted to forget. Insane boredom made me root through the boxes I hadn't bothered opening because I'd assumed that I'd be kicked out soon. Some of the stuff was too hard to look at. There was a picture of me when I was younger. I was smiling at the camera with my mom and dad beside me. Mom was holding Stacy.

     'Get the door off!' 

     'The hinge is stuck!'

     'Someone get an axe!' 

     Water everywhere. Bubbles, and foam. Where was the seatbelt? 

     I shook my head and tossed the picture aside. I reached down and pulled out a little blankie. It was pink, with little hearts all over it.

     The seatbelt unbuckled. Why was the water red? Lily? Mom? Dad? The water is so close to the roof. What's happening?

     I threw the blankie away and reached down searching for something else. In my haste to find something different, I yanked out a dirty teddybear. 

     'Hurry with that axe!!'

     'I've got it!'

     What's that sound? Why's the car shaking? Mom? Dad? Lily? Where's Lily? She was right there. Is that her little teddy? I'd better grab it just in case. She'll want it later. 

     'I've got you, son.'

     Thank goodness. Air. Why is our car underwater? Am I crying? What's going on? You're not Dad. Where's Mom? Did you tell Lily I've got her bear? 

     'Is there anyone else?'

     'We've got them out, but...it's just him.'

     Are they blind? I have a sister, one mom, and one dad. Of course it's not just me. Wait. Why isn't Lily screaming for her teddybear right now? Mom? Dad? Where are you? Where's Lily? Why is a stranger holding me? Why am I wet? I want Mom. What's with all those flashing lights. Will someone stop talking and tell me what's going on? This is scaring me!

     The bear gazed up at me sadly. Lily's little teddy. I looked back at the picture. She was smiling in Mom's arms, and holding her bear. She called it Freddy. Only she couldn't say her 'r's so it sounded like Fweddy. Fweddy Bear. That's how she said it. Her little Fweddy Bear. I straightened the bow, and shoved the bear, the blanket, and the picture back in the box and kicked the box under my bed. I grabbed a bottle from my closet and took a good swig from it. I ran my hands through my long fringe. Usually it was slicked back, but since I hadn't bothered this morning, it was tickling my cheeks. Tessa said I looked like a hockey player with hair like that. She wasn't wrong. Messy, dark brown, long fringe? Yeah, that was a hockey player style. 

     I took another drink, and then stood up to go to my desk. An overwhelming wave of nausea made me flop on my bed. This was not a good day. 

--------------

     What should I tell Mom? She was going to ask. Should I tell her about the party? Am I crazy? She'd go ballistic. She'd say I wasn't ready. But what do I tell her then? Do I say it went good? Maybe I should just say I couldn't find him. Yeah. I'll go with that. No I shouldn't, because I did actually find him. I'll just say he was with too many shifty looking people. Yeah that's it.