Gently into the good night

Chapter Five - Can't wait for Florida

I wake up to a feeling of delight and content. The whole incident becomes oblivious to me and I feel extremely relieved. I go down the kitchen and the house is dead silent which tells me everybody is still asleep. I make myself a cup of coffee. To be completely honest I think my blood is made out of more caffeine than hemoglobin and plasma. Well, Coffee is my guilty pleasure. I suddenly hear footsteps and I look up a little startled, Paul is up before Mom and Dad. Seriously, what is the world coming to? "Don't look at me that way, I wasn't able to sleep with Mrs Smith's dog barking like he is being buried alive or something" Paul says in his usual morning drowsy tone "I thought she sent her dog to her sister's place for the summer" I say "Well that hasn't happened" Paul says covering his ears with his hands and pressing it so hard I feel like he might crush his face. "Why don't you call Mrs Smith and tell her to take her dog back inside?" I say and without saying anything he slowly picks up the phone to make the most important call of his life. I begin to make breakfast for everybody, the usual breakfast -Bacon, poached egg, grilled tomatoes, fried mushrooms, toasted bread and fresh fruit juice. Five minutes after Paul has made the call the barking sound fades away. "What did Serena say?" Paul asks "You were supposed to apologize about the party" he adds after a little pause. "Oh my god I totally forgot" I say with a shriek. I run back to my room and grab my phone. When I'm about to call her cell I think it's wise calling her land line because if she sees my name flashing on her screen she might not receive the call or might just throw her phone from the second floor and then blame me later about her phone tragedy . When the phone starts ringing I feel my heart sink, I feel so nervous that my hands start shivering. Someone receives the call. It's a feminine voice but it doesn't belong to her "Hello" the voice on the other end says. I pause a little and say "Hello, good morning. Is Serena there? I'm her uhmm... I'm Amelia speaking" I say not really sure what our relation is. "Oh, Amelia" there is a slight delight in her voice which makes me feel that at least someone in her family doesn't hate me "I'm Serena's mother speaking. I'm sorry she isn't here. She left for Cambridge yesterday to visit her grandparents. She's going to be there for the summer ." Her mother says. "Oh okay, thank you. Bye" I say avoiding as much conversation as possible with anyone related to her. "Bye" her mom responds and I hang up. Well I feel a little relieved but it's still not over. I have to get over the jittering that's conceiving in me. I call Serena's cell phone. What am I going to say? What if she yells at me? What if I'm not able to say anything at all? Before I know it, it has reached her voice mail. Her recorded voice speaks as I take a deep breath "Please leave me a message" the voice says followed by a beep indicating that I'm allowed to speak. "Hey, Amelia here. I am uhm really sorry for what happened. It was a moment, a bad one. It doesn't mean anything really. I'm really sorry for hurting your feelings, you know I'm not that kind of girl but I don't know what happened but anyways I'm really sorry, I hope you get over the hard feelings and we can be uhm, cool again I guess. Bye thanks for listening" I say and I feel it's a decent apology until I realize that the message is sent to her. I go back to the kitchen and the first thing I hear is "What did she say?" Mom, dad and Paul say in unison. "You told mom and dad?" I say frowning at Paul "We are your parents, we have a right to know" Mom says. "Okay, yeah. Well I'm sorry" I say. Everybody's eyes are fixed on me and then Dad says "It's okay, well don't repeat it again. The kissing part and the not telling us part" I nod with a little grin and say "I promise" and then I narrate the whole phone call incident to them.

In the evening Bethany and Jordan come over and we discuss our holiday plans "I'm so excited for Hawaii, Oh my god" Bethany says and starts shrieking with excitement. "Well, isn't it amazing that we all are going to the States" Jordan says. Just then Paul enters the scene for a short period to say "I'm going out with my friends. Don't abandon the house and go to Starbucks or something." He closes the door behind him and none of us speak until we hear his engine start. It surprises me how he doesn't say anything about Bethany. "He didn't call me anything today. Wow!" Bethany exclaims . What a telepathic connection. "Well, we'll be in Florida with Uncle Richard." I say "So what is he inventing this time?" Jordan asks "He told me he finally completed his time machine which he is been working on for the last twenty five years. You know, He lives with Space, time and relativity and such so I was predicting he would build something like that." I say like it's the most obvious thing in the world "Oh my god, are you guys going to a trip to the past or the future?" Bethany says in excitement. "I highly doubt so, no offense but his inventions usually fail in a very bad way. He tried to invent a time television last time but while he was presenting it, it kind of exploded in the hall turning Dr.Grant's face black. So yeah, well he's brilliant in the theological aspect but maybe the physical making of the thing isn't his cup of tea" I say. "When you leaving?" Bethany asks. "Monday morning" I reply with a wide grin.

Around six I begin to make dinner for everybody after Bethany and Jordan have left. I hear the front door open and I see Paul come in, he looks dull and pale. "Hey, what's up?" I say placing the beef steak on the plate. "Nothing much really" he says stepping into the kitchen. "What's wrong?" I ask extremely concerned, he never usually displays his feeling in front of anybody and when he does there is some serious stuff going on. "Do you think Bethany still likes me?" he says softly. "Oh my god, Paul" I say hugging him "Do you still love her?" I ask. "I do" he says, his voice sounds so subdued and sad it forces me to keep my arms around him. "Why do you call her names and tease her then?" I ask, "Because that's the only way she'll notice me, I can't talk to her normally it would be extremely awkward." he says between breaths and I know he is in tears now. As we part I see a deluge down his cheeks. I slowly wipe them with my fingers and say "I'm so sorry but she is dating Logan. Maybe you should just tell her" I say. "I can't" he says and then after a little pause he says "You know right, Jordan likes you and you just ignore it. She'll do the same." I stand there wide eyed at Paul .I feel a little bittersweet and bewildered but I have to say something in my defense "This is a huge misconception, Jordan doesn't like me. We are best friends" Paul looks at me and raises his eye brow "Either you're extremely dumb or extremely ignorant. I hope you have noticed the way he looks at you, if you haven't at least I have. The poor fellow tries so hard to hide his feeling but at the end, an enormous fail. When somebody loves you try to respect their feelings and don't lose them, it doesn't come every day" Paul says. I nod thinking of what my respond should be but then a question arises in my mind and I ask "Then why did you let her go?" Paul pauses for a second, glances at the front door and then gazes back at me and says "She started liking Logan or whatever it might be, she deserved her freedom and it's because she would be happy I let her go" Paul says. His eyes fill with tears again. I just hug him and let him cry on my shoulder. He must really love her. I have never seen him cry in the most difficult times.

The dinner is silent, nobody utters a word. Everybody is focused on the food and we occasionally glance at each other. Before the silence consumes mom she begins to speak (women can't stay silent for long, to be honest) "I want you guys to be good on the plane and take care. Please don't mess around and especially for Paul do not, I repeat, do not flirt with the air hostess .They have much more important things to do than chat with a nineteen year old" we all start laughing and Paul smiles sheepishly with his cheeks flushing red "I did that only once. You all were sleeping and I didn't feel like watching anything so I thought it would be nice to talk to someone" he says defending himself. "I was awake" Dad says raising his hand. "Dad" Paul says and I sense a little annoyance in his voice, a friendly annoyance. "Honey,is it right sending our children all by themselves to another country?" Mom asks directing the question towards Dad. Her voice sounds concerned and a little stressed. Well, I wouldn't blame her with the highly responsible children she has. "It's okay they should be fine and Paul is legally an adult .He needs to learn now. It's your last vacation Paul, enjoy it, College is waiting for you after you get back" Dad says putting a piece of broccoli into his mouth. "We will be responsible and good, I promise" Paul says avoiding the college topic "We won't cause any trouble and you don't have to be concerned" I say adding to the assurance speech.

Can't wait for Florida.