Unlikely Conditions

Chapter 15

Meadow pulled the sheets over her head as the sunlight beemed through her window, hitting her eyes. She groaned as she buried herself under the covers only to suddenly be disturbed by loud banging on her bedroom door.

"You better not still be asleep in there!" Her mom yelled from outside her room. Meadow crawled out from under the covers with a heavy sigh, yawning as she lay on her back. She turned to look at the empty space beside her, all the memories of last night flooding back to her. She sighed heavily as she pushed herself up in the bed. She turned her body, throwing her legs over the edge of the bed before slowly climbing to her feet. She pulled lose strands of hair that had stuck to her face before reaching to grab her phone from its charger. She read through her notifications. Several spam emails, a few memes and gifs from Heidi, Declan's long apology that Meadow probably won't open to read till she's in another depression slump about the break up. She flipped her phone over, placing it face down on her bed as she walked towards her dresser to find something to wear. She grabbed one of her baggy printed shirts along with her mom jeans. She tossed them onto her bed as she began to get undressed. She tucked her shirt into her jeans, letting it hang over slightly as she then brushed her hair in the mirror before tying it up in a messy bun. She took a deep breath before leaving her room and making her way downstairs to hear her mom pacing back and forth in the study as she yelled down the phone. She tried to pay her no mind as she walked past into the kitchen were Tonya and Riley were sitting at the shiny marble topped counter with cups of coffee in hand. Tonya turned her head to glance at Meadow with a brief smile.

"Morning." She exclaimed with a smile as Riley turned to look over at his sister with a smile.

"Hey sis! Good to see you up!" He said cheerfully as he then stopped for a moment as he looked round in search of Declan. Tonya took one look at the nervous uneasy look on Meadow's face, a small sigh escaping her lips as she got to her feet, gently taking Meadow's hand in hers as she led her into the living room.

"Did you-"

"Yeah, he confessed to cheating on me so I ended it. I was going to regardless. I'm just not looking forward to my mom's comments during this dinner.." Meadow sighed before suddenly being surprised by the sudden embrace from Tonya. She froze for a moment before she returned the embrace. They stayed like that for a few minutes. They slowly let go of one another as Tonya looked back at Meadow's tear filled eyes.

"It's gunna be okay, I promise." Tonya reassured her as she gently wiped the tears from Meadow's face. Meadow slowly nodded back at her with a weak smile. She composed herself before following Tonya back into the kitchen. She watched her whisper into Riley's ear, probably updating him on the situation before she felt her body tense from the sound of high heeled shoes heading towards them. She slowly turned to face her mom as she approached her. Her mom stopped in front of her, looking her up and down for a brief moment.

"You better have packed a dress for this meal, you look horrible." She commented before walking towards the kitchen counter were Tonya and Riley were sitting. Meadow didn't have the energy to comment back. She was exhausted. She turned around, quietly making her way towards the study. She peaked in to see her dad sitting at his desk already hard at work at his computer. She hasn't said one word to her dad since she arrived.

"Hey dad.." She said quietly. He swiftly looked up from his computer screen, smiling back at her as he got to his feet.

"Honey! It's good to see you!" He exclaimed as he embraced her tightly. Meadow smiled back as she hugged him back just as tight, smelling his cologne on the collar of his button up shirt. He pulled away slowly to gaze at her.

"I..didn't get a chance to speak to you yesterday.."

"Y..Yeah, I was busy mingling.." He lied with a slight chuckle. Meadow knows her relationship with her dad has never been perfect but it's still better than her relationship with her mom. He was always more of a bystander when it came to her arguing with her mom, never really taking sides. Just watching from the side line. He seemed to have a stronger relationship with Riley. Mostly because they had more in common.

"I-"

"Where's Declan? I wanted to discuss the possible transfer to my firm!" He exclaimed happily with a huge smile plastered across his face. Meadow took a step back as she tried to take in everything he just said. Declan never mentioned a transfer of jobs, especially to her dad's firm. Then again it was clear that Declan never mentioned anything of any importance unless they were sleeping together. Meadow exhaled deeply, her shoulders dropping as she did so.

"He's...He got a call about a family thing. I..I'll let him know.." She lied. She watched the look of disappointment on her dad's face as he sighed heavily, shaking his head in his usual disappointing way.

"Alright, I gotta get back to work anyway. Catch ya later kiddo." He sighed as he sat back at his desk which was his way of gesturing her to leave. Meadow didn't waste a single second as she turned and left the room. She closed the door behind her, leaning back against it in a huff. She lightly banged her head against it as she cursed under her breath. She then turned to see Tonya approaching her. She was only dressed in a sweater with the words I'll take a cup of you printed across the chest along with some grey sweats and converse but still somehow looked well put together. Her long black hair seemed to fall perfectly around her face.

"Wanna grab some air?" She gestured towards the garden. Meadow nodded back at her slowly as she followed her outside, Tonya closing the door behind her as Meadow then followed her to a small hidden area behind the azalea bushes. Tonya knelt down on the grass as Meadow knelt down facing her. Tonya slid her hand down the front of her sweater, Meadow looked away as Tonya then pulled out a small clear bag that seemed to contain 3 rolled joints of weed and a pink lighter.

"W..Woah, If-"

"Relax, me and Riley do this all the time. We did it yesterday without your mom knowing, we're good." Tonya reassured her with a smile as she grabbed a joint from the bag, sliding it between her lips before she lit it. She slipped the bag back inside her bra before taking the joint between her fingers, inhaling for a moment before pulling it away from her lips. Meadow watched the smoke escape through her nose. Tonya held it out towards her, Meadow waited for a moment before reluctantly taking it from her.

"I've never done this before.."

"It's all good, inhale with your chest then exhale through your nose." Tonya chuckled, pressing two fingers lightly against Meadow's chest as she watched her inhale. Meadow coughed repeatedly as she struggled to exhale through her nose.

"That's...something.." She coughed as she handed it back to Tonya. Tonya chuckled as she took it between her fingers again.

"So, now that dickhead has gone are you gunna go after that friend of yours?" She asked with a slight smirk. Meadow was taken back by the sudden question. She'd never thought about dating a woman before. She'd never considered ever being attracted to a woman. She remembers brushing off dumb crushes she had on girls in her school but she assumed everyone experienced that when going through puberty. Although her school was no dating pool. It was a private academy that seemed to stick to misogynistic rules that were written in the 1800s. The uniforms were mostly made up of monochrome colours. No jewellery or makeup allowed even though that never stopped anyone.

"I..I have no idea. I don't even know if I like her like that.." Meadow stuttered nervously, her cheeks turning a soft pink as she tried to imagine herself kissing Keegan or Keegan kissing her. Her hands on her waist as she buried her face into her neck, Keegan's perfume wiping off onto her. Her thumbs dug into her hips as she pressed her body against hers. Tonya smirked as she gazed at Meadow's soft pink cheeks, placing the joint between her lips with a chuckle.

"You'll figure it out." Tonya chuckled at her. Meadow cursed under her breath as she hid her embarrassed face behind her hands.