Home for the holidays

Chapter nine- Ava

When I woke up this morning after the party, I came downstairs to some lovely screaming. My mom was shouting at my dad while gesturing dramatically towards the window. Curiously I go to take a look and to my horror I see it covered in white gunk. From my angle of looking through the ajar door I can hardly tell what it is and if I squint a bit-- okay a lot-- I could kind of pretend that it is snow. Hesitantly I make my way into the lounge internally cursing myself that I have to break up my parents argument and be the rational one. 

To no surprise of my own my mom completely blanks me as I walk towards the window to examen the substance. In my opinion its probably best to know what the hell this is before trying to intervene between the rate of my mother. Observing the window closely, I try to figure out what it is. It kind of looks like whipped cream or shaving foam. Fuck it I'm opening the window. Somehow my mom and dad still didn't notice my presents even though there is a breeze in the room. Hesitantly I lift my hand out the window trendily wiping my finger across the glass. Lifting my hand back in I graze my thumb across the substance. It feels like shaving foam-- lifting it up I smell it to make sure and yep it is. Although it seems to be mixed with something else to make it a paste. 

"Mom! Dad! Shut up for a second. This stuff on the window is just shaving cream it'll come off with the hose." My parents stare at me dumbfounded for a moment and I instantly reflect on what I said. OH MY GOD, I just told my parents to shut up. But oh my god-- they actually listened to me? I try to not let the shock hold me in the moment too much but this has never happened before in my life. As a kid I would have to hound my mom for attention but who knew some shaving cream argument would make it so easy. 

My mom crosses her arms and purses her lips, "And you want us to do that in the dead of winter." From the way she said "us" means she's expecting me to go out there. 

"Okay but even if I do clean the windows that doesn't explain who did this in the first place." And then as I think about it the possibility that it could be Lisa pops into my mind. But no-- she told me to stay away from her that wouldn't make any sense. Our plan or more like her plan was for me to dodge her if I see her in town and pretend we have never interacted. So if it wasn't her then who? My mind pulses as I try to connect diffrent people but no one I know could've done this. Although the nagging thought in my mind is telling me that it would be her. 

"Well Ava. I have no idea. Everyone in this town likes me and know we're a well respected family. So the question is Ava, who did you piss off for this to happen?" Her eyebrows are drawn inward so close they almost make a perfectly plucked worm. 

"What do you mean? I've only been here a few days!" I say in exasperation. 

"Well I wouldn't put it past you. Especially as you're the only one in this family that doesn't respect our image." By "respect our image" she means I like women and am still single at the tender age of 25. 

Just as I'm about to protest my mon cuts in, "-- and I don't want to hear anything else about it. Now go clean this mess up." 

Instead of trying to get through to her I give up and head upstairs to get dressed. So, thats how I spent most of today freezing outside scrubbing the windows. As I was cleaning I was thinking more and more about who did this and the more I think it makes sense it could be Lisa. After all I ruined her sweater so she'd want revenge. Too bad I've had to deal with people giving me shit my whole life and I'm not about to let her do this to me without me retaliating. 

As she messed with my windows I'm thinking about taking a leaf from her book. She did white and although this isn't pleasant it is quite easy to take off-- I'm going to make her work for it though. Keeping on similar lines as her I'm going to mess with her windows and so she knows that I know it was her. My arm gets tired as I'm wiping the grime of this window but pure elation of revenge powers me. I'm thinking of making her windows be coated in black as she did mine in white and I'm going to go all out. She only did the lower two windows showing this was a rushed impromptu job but mine will be thought out. Im going to hit all the windows at the front of the house-- I just need to think abut how to make the paste I want. So far I only know the color so this will be fun to figure out. At least I have a whole other window to do so I can think it through. 

***

I got my supplies and made the paste after finishing the windows. Now I'm just waiting for it to be nighttime. At the moment I'm quickly getting dressed in appropriate clothes for dinner and laying out all black clothes for later. I also need to somehow get the ladder out the garage and transport it to Lisa's house. After all breaking into her property for a ladder seems a little extreme. Once I'm dressed I head downstairs for dinner. All throughout the meal I try to drop hits to my parents and sister that I'm tired and thinking of an early night. They don't really seem to care though or are hardly listening. In my opinion I think they're still mad about the windows. I'm not sure why though because its not like they had to clean them. I was the one outside freezing my ass off all day. She's probably just concerned about people in the town seeing it and as I think more about that I make a mental note to check the towns Facebook as soon as possible. 

Finally the dinner is over and I run upstairs to get changed. The fact that I have to sneak out the house kind of makes me feel like a teenager again but as I dwell on that I remember that I blatantly walked past my mom without her saying a word. After getting dressed I pack my backpack with the supplies needed and head off. Getting to her house I wait outside trying to find the best moment to strike. 

At the moment I can still see that some lights are on so I patiently wait in the car. I just about managed to get the ladder in by folding down the front seat and the backseats. After what seems like forever the lights are off and I start to try and make my plan come to life. Taking the ladder out my car I try not to make too much noise. Once the ladder is out the car I lay it flat behind one of the trees. Trying to stay calm I make my way up to their front windows. Looking left and right I revel in the fact that no one is nearby. Resting my backpack on the floor I unzip it noting how my hands are shaking. I try to take deep breaths as I take the first container with the sluggish substance out. Opening the container I get the paintbrush out my bag and start slathering the windows. The first window goes by smoothly and so does the second however when I get the ladder out I start to get into trouble. The ladder was one of those slide ones (so I could fit it in my car) and I realised in my whole 25 years of existence I have never used a ladder. 

Once the ladder was up I also realised that I am a little scared of heights or ladders in general. The first upstairs window took forever and I'm assuming its a bedroom window so I'm trying to be extra silent if thats possible. Part of me wonders if its Lisa's bedroom but its for the best I don't know as I would attempt to write an inscription. The window I'm currently on has taken the longest and I'm dreading doing the next window as I'm going to have to climb down the ladder and replace in in its new spot. 

After finishing the windows and trying not to fall off the ladder (not the best idea to do this in the snow) I take a long glance at my handy work. As I'm doing that I start to hear people walking down the street and quickly run to my car. Making a quick getaway I go home. Before I go to bed I send a text to Lisa on instagram. This will be fun, I can't wait to know her reactions. I just wish I could be there to see her in person.