Before The Bell Rings - Spencer White

episode XXII

8H00 PM
"Do you guys need anything else for tonight?" I said to my friends on FaceTime.

"What candy do they have?" Quinni asked, her voice echoing in the convenience store.

I went into the candies' aisle and flipped my phone camera to show her the multiple rows of candies.

"Take me some crunchies bars. Thank you."

"All right. See you guys in a few."

I hung up and grabbed Quinni's candies. It was finally New Years' Eve. We had been planning this evening for a few days and we wanted to make the most of it. Party like it was our last night on this world. Quinni and Darren had searched the whole internet trying to find the best house parties, soirées, clubs, etc. We will be going around town, hopping from places to places until the sunrise. And I couldn't wait. I walked to the register, the store was almost empty so I didn't have to wait for too long. I put the candies and the orange juice on the counter.

"7.87, please." The cashier, a black haired girl with pink strands that could not have been over 20, said while pushing the tiles on her register's keyboard.

"Here. Keep the change." I quickly responded and handing her the money. I was eager and excited to go join my friends.

I took everything in one hand and as I was exiting the tiny store, I bumped into somebody.

"Sorry." I exclaimed without even looking up to them, wanting to continue my way to the bus stop.

"Justine?"

I abruptly stopped moving my legs, making me almost loose my balance. I couldn't believe it.

"Dad?" I exclaimed as I turned around to face the man who had abandoned me. "What are you doing here?"

"It's good to see you too, honey." He scoffed.

Million thoughts were going through my mind giving me almost a headache. I couldn't believe he was in town. What if I hadn't bumped into him, he wouldn't have called or told mom, or me. He didn't even bother to tell us he was in town. As if he didn't want to see his own daughter.

"It's been months, you could've called."

"The phone works both ways. You could have ring me too."

Now it was my turn to scoffed at him. How could he be so cruel. I was the child and he was the parent. And he was the one who had left. He should have called, he should have visited, he should have been there for me. Their divorce affected me too, but he did none of these things. He just acted like we never had been part of his life.

"What are you doing here?"

"Visiting Sherry's parents."

His new girlfriend, I guessed.

"What about us? Were you planning to visit us too?" 

His phone rang. He took it out of his pocket and looked at it. The blue light of his phone's screen lit his face up in the dark night. He completely ignored my last question and proceeded to read the text and started typing. I sighed and crossed my arms. We hadn't seen each other for months and he couldn't even bothered himself to gave me his full attention. There was always something more important than me.

"I have to go. We'll get coffee before I leave. I'll write to you." He paused and finally looked up from his phone. "Happy New Year Justine."

And he left. Just like that, he entered the store. Spoiler alert: my father never called or texted or emailed or hell, he never even wrote. But New Year was supposed to be an exceptional night and I wasn't going to let my father ruined my mood. Even if he kind of did. So I did what I do everytime things were getting harder, I numbed all those depressing and angry feelings with anything I could get.