❣︎ℐ 𝓌𝒾𝓈𝒽 ℐ 𝓀𝓃ℯ𝓌 𝓎ℴ𝓊 𝓌𝒶𝓃𝓉ℯ𝒹 𝓂ℯ ❣︎

𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙪𝙧𝙩 𝙢𝙚

𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲
-𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿, 𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝘆 𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗲 𝗲𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵

it was a sunny friday afternoon, one of the last weekends of summer.

my older sister charlotte was loading her new, bright yellow jeep with boxes for college.

the u-haul had come by yesterday, but there was still quite a bit for her to pack.

my younger sister, mandy, and my stepbrother david (not my dad's kid) cleaned up the living room for her going away party later tonight.

me? i was thinking up a way to convince my dad to attend charlotte's party.

ever since the divorce, he has been distant with charlotte and i, paying more attention to mandy and, more recently, david.

and that's saying a lot since the divorce was ten years ago, when i was seven, charlotte was nine, and mandy was one.

from that day on, charlotte and i were basically mandy's parents. she was just too young to remember and be grateful for it.

and the sad thing is, my stepmother janice is the only person mandy has called "mom."

she was five when dad remarried, and since my mother had basically vanished from the face of the earth, she had no memories of mom.

speaking of janice, the smells of pizza fill the house just before she shouts out, "kids!"

i sigh. no matter how long i've known janice, she'll always call me a kid, even when i'm ninety seven and laying on my death bed.

"i'll be there in a minute!" i yell back downstairs.

no response as mandy and david talk loudly, raving about janice's homemade pizza.

i was still thinking, when my door opens and my father walks in.

"hey son," he says gruffly, "jan made some pizza. it's really good. come on downstairs."

"hold up dad, don't go yet." i say.

he looks at me in surprise, and i don't blame him. i'm usually the one shoving him out the doorway.

"yes, son?" he asks.

"do you mind......coming to char's party tonight? and before you say no, think about how happy she'll be. it's your last night with her, you wouldn't want to disappoint. or would you? mom would've gone," i say.

he glares at me and says, "we'll see, terrence."

i stare in shock. my father never calls me terrence, and if he does i'm usually in big trouble.

but he just stomps downstairs in response.

i shake my head. it's worthless, he'll never come. he never liked huge gatherings, especially with family.

so i go downstairs for lunch. and....well, to put it nicely, the pizza definitely could've been better.

after lunch, charlotte leaves to get her hair done with janice and mandy, leaving david, dad and i alone, which could get awkward.

or be extremely boring. most likely both, to be honest.

i stay holed up in my room playing video games, david's doing god knows what in his room, and dad's getting ready for an online business call.

when the girls get home, they have an armful of colorful shopping bags each and are buzzing with excitement.

even little tomboy mandy, who's hated shopping all her life.

"alright, boys, three hours and six minutes until showtime," janice announces, "i want everyone to clean up yourselves, the house, and the backyard while your father and i do kitchen prep."

i can see david chewing on his lip, avoiding a snarky retort along the lines of, "but mom, he isn't even my real father."

yeah. that's david for you. it had caused a lot more problems in the past that it probably should have.

and so the madness begins, the absolute chaos, i've always hated things like this.

but it's for charlotte, so i use that as motivation and try not to think about it's because of her that i haven't gone the "dad route" as she and i call it.

dad was reluctantly making barbeque in the back, and janice was mixing a pitcher of lemonade when our first guest finally arrived.

mandy got the door, to which i heard a feminine voice screaming and squealing which could only mean one thing: aunt zoey was here.

aunt zoey is that one aunt who gets you ugly christmas swearers and other cheesy gifts. ya know?

and i absolutely hate her. and she hates me, just hides it.

SOME HOURS LATER....

"congrats, charlie!" my aunt coraline says.

guests are filing out, holding clear plastic goodie bags janice took hours putting together last night.

after aunt zoey finally leaves, we close the door and sit in the living room, exhausted.

until.....the doorbell rings again.

"god dammit," janice mutters before walking to get the door.

who's there must surprise her, because she has a hand over her mouth.

"charlotte, terrence? mandy, sweetie?" she calls into the living room.

"your mother's here."