Off Balance

Chapter 5

I slept the whole way home and through the night. The next morning, I headed off to Rose's. She and I had a good time hanging out in her town. We went out for lunch and then to the movies. After we walked around to all the old shops before I went home. I got home late and Dad was already in bed. I hadn't spoken to him since he dropped me off at Charlie and Jill's that morning.

I woke up Monday morning to Dad shaking me awake aggressively.

"Andrew Oliver! You are late! Get your ass up now!" he shook me again.

"Go away," I mumbled as I turned over and cuddled the covers tighter to me.

"Up NOW!"

"I'm tired. I'll go tomorrow."

"You will be going tomorrow AND today. I am not going to get another one of those letters in the mail saying you missed too many days. It is only SEPTEMBER!"

"Ok, I'm up," I said, sitting up to make it convincing.

"You better be out of the door in less than ten minutes," Dad warned.

I waited until he left my bedroom to lay back down. I was worn out and I didn't want to go to school. I was a senior. It was fine if I skipped school. I only had to go til lunch anyway. Thankfully, Dad chose not to mention to Jill that I had been skipping so much school. She would have lectured until she was blue in the face and then she would've grounded me from everything. I wouldn't have been surprised if she drove me to and from school while asking all my teachers if I had been in class.

In other words, she would not have been happy. It was better that she didn't know about many of the things I did.

I was just starting to doze back off when Dad slammed my door open, "Boy, I have had enough of this."

Next thing I knew, I was being ripped out of bed and a flurry of hard swats rained down on my ass.

"Ow, Dad. What was that for?" I asked as I reached around to rub away the sting.

"Get dressed, now. I want you in my truck in two minutes or else I'm taking a belt to you."

I knew that he was bluffing about the belt thing, he was always all bark, no bite, but I was confused about why he wanted me in his truck.

"Why your truck?" I did start going through my drawers to get clothes.

"Because you've lost yours for the rest of this week. Hurry."

He left my room before I could say anything. I finished getting dressed and headed to the bathroom. Normally, I would shower in the morning, but Dad would have his panties all in a twist if I did that this morning. I quickly brushed my teeth before heading back to my room to grab my wallet and keys. The only thing is, my keys were missing.

I went outside and Dad was sitting in his truck, obviously waiting on me.

"Where are my keys?" I asked him.

"I told you. You lost them for the rest of the week. Let's go."

I heaved a heavy sigh and got in the truck. It would do no good to get him all riled up now. I would have my truck back by tomorrow and we could avoid a fight. We drove in silence most of the way to school. He was mad at me because I overslept and I was planning how I was going to get him to give me my keys back.

"Jill is going to pick you up at lunch. We're having supper at her house tonight. Please behave for her," Dad informed me.

I sighed once again. Jill picking me up was not going to be good.

"Yes sir," I replied and then I got out.

It was already the middle of second hour by the time I made it to class. I checked in at the office and had to listen to a lecture about tardiness. I was informed that the next time it happened, I was going to have Saturday detention for a month.

I went to my class and zoned out. My teachers all knew by now that I really did not care about paying attention so they quit getting onto me for it. I was able to put my head down and rest my eyes a little.

I woke up to the sound of the bell. I grabbed my stuff and moved to my next class where I did the same thing. This process repeated itself until the end of fifth hour when the office finally informed me that I was being signed out. School was so pointless.

I took a deep breath before going out to Jill's car to meet her. I knew she was going to be pissed and I was in for a long night of lectures and possibly chores until Dad got there. As much as I hated being at school, I hated listening to Jill lecture me about my future and school. It got old quick.

"Hey baby," Jill greeted as I opened the door to her car, "Having a good day so far?"

"It's been alright," I told her.

She nodded and we began to drive in silence. When we were almost back to her house, she asked me if I had eaten yet. When I told her that I hadn't, she began to scold me light-heartedly.

"Andrew Oliver, you have to eat. You are skinny enough as it is."

"Sorry, I just didn't have time this morning."

She shook her head and glared at me briefly before turning her eyes back to the road, "You would have had more than enough time to eat a good breakfast if you had gotten up when you were supposed to. I'm not going to lecture you about it because I think your Dad is going to handle it, but know that I am not happy with you."

"Yes ma'am," I nodded my head.

When we finally reached her house, she said, "I'm going to make you at BLT for lunch. That sounds good?"

"That sounds fantastic. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Why don't you find us a movie to watch while we have lunch?"

"I thought I was in trouble?"

"You are, by your dad. I get to be the fun one this time, but only until he gets here. By the sounds of it, you are in big trouble when he gets here."

"I don't like big trouble," I said as I started to walk away.

"You wouldn't be in big trouble if you behaved yourself," she reminded me.

"I was sleepy though," I replied in a tone that was close to a whine.

"Aww, poor baby," she immediately dropped all her sternness and wrapped her arms around me, "After lunch, you can have a nap."

She was the best.