Admiring the Light

Episode 17

Present

"You... don't live too far?" Guinevere noted that it really was only about five minutes between Jacklyn's small home and the school. A little raised ranch with brown sides and windows in the base of the house, she almost preferred this over their sprawling property.

"Nah, girl! Where's your place?" Jackie smiled back, skipping whatever song she was listening to from her phone. "We live on this side street- uh- I can't really describe it."

"Well, it's always open over here if you need stuff, Gwen." She pushed open the door, kicking her cowboy boots into the little rack they had for shoes. The house seemed like a big circle, directly left of this little entryway, Guinevere could see a large, though neat living room, that directly connected with a dining room. And straight ahead was the kitchen, which entered the dining room from the adjacent wall.

"Come on! Down here is where the fun happens." Jackie smiled, leading her friend down a stairwell into a finished basement. She didn't let Guin explore very much though, taking a left into a sunroom with two big sliding glass doors and a television on a wooden station.

"Hey *Jackie!* What's going on?" Her dad rubbed his fist into her head. "Nothing much- this is Guinevere, and Gwen, this is my dad!" She stretched her arm over his shoulder.

But despite the interesting house, Guin just felt empty as she stared at this display of love. When had her mother ever asked how her day was? Even if she might not have answered, that didn't mean that she wouldn't have appreciated the opportunity.

And if she'd introduced Jacklyn to Katherine, Katherine would have talked behind her back and criticized her. But she couldn't see these people doing that, they just seemed like a normal family.

Unlike her own, the only biological encouragement she got was from Natalie. And she felt so horrible for her older sister, that she probably felt a need to always be around her to compensate for how Katherine treated them.

"Tonight we're gonna be doing chicken, so don't get involved in anything." Jacklyn's mother warned from the other room.

Oh, how Guinevere's mom never did that. Katherine ordered, and when she didn't, it was practically a free for all. She'd known how to cook her own food at the ripe old age of nine years. And yet, Jacklyn's mother seemed to have a clear plan, as Guin just listened to the rustling of pots and pans as she prepared to begin cooking.

"Oh- Dad, before you start." Jackie smiled and went to power on her Wii. "Family gaming? It's been a while!" He didn't even seem to have a problem with playing instead of watching a show.

Katherine would've been throwing such a little hissy fit, passive aggressive remarks, indirect anger towards everyone. Just because she had been thrown off the television so anyone else could use it. But here? Jacklyn's parents seemed agreeable. Even her brother, wherever he was, she could bet that he was half decent.

Yet, Natalie was the only decent one of their family. Natalie shouldn't need to fill the mother role, but she stepped up and did. And Guinevere just felt like she deserved the world, for what she was doing.

"Hullooo? Earth to Gwen? HENLOOOO?" Jackie called right into her ear, stuffing a blue Wii remote in her hands. "Your sister said you were a Wii Sports gal, lucky you, we're pros! Right, dad?"

"Maybe not actually, but we've been playing for a while." He nodded, oh the last time Guinevere had seen a grown man play video games, it was with her own father, but when they were very young.

"My family doesn't do this... I wish they did." Guin laughed quietly.

"Oh? How do y'all spend your time, then, Guinevere? I bet weekends are boring!" Jacklyn's mother chimed in from the kitchen upstairs. Everyone was in on this conversation, it felt different, but right. "It's... a lot of sitting around, misses, unless my sister Natalie is doing something." She called.