The Library

Meeting My Parents

Time.

It's a curious concept that our entire world revolves around. Everyone is always rushing to be on time or to finish in time, but what about when you want to speed time up. Those moments when, no matter how much you wish time would speed up, it slows down instead.

Now imagine that on repeat for an entire week. That is a small glimpse at what it is like to be punished in the McCord house.

Our living hell continued for a week. It would have gone on longer if Tommy and I hadn't been on our best behavior. Days two through five went as near repeats of Day 1 in our barn enclosed nightmare. Isaac was an angel, and in return for his service Tommy and I were going to help him prank his bullies. It was a relatively small service that didn't even require payment.

Day 6, however, was when our resolve wavered. See, my parents pride themselves on being equal opportunity torturers. So on day 6 they decided we were being "too quiet" and required "vigilant observation."

We remained strong.

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I snuggled deeper under the covers as I woke up Tuesday morning after my punishment. It had been the first restful night for me in a week. I was refreshed and ready to get the hell out of dodge. I slowly crawled out from under my sheets, wanting nothing more than to sleep the day away, like that would ever happen.

I shrugged the first dress I saw on over a singlet and pair of shorts. I stumbled down the hall, not bothering to tame my waist long, black, rats nest, hair. Clara would probably change it the second I got to school anyway. I walked unceremoniously into Isaac and Thomas' room and flopped right on top of Tommy's sleeping form. Thomas grunted and attempted to push me off, but it was to no avail. I slapped his arm before standing up and repeating the procedure with Isaac.

Once I got the boys ready to go, we each grabbed our bags and ran out the door. The sun wasn't even up yet, but we didn't want to speak with our mother. We made a beeline to the cabin, our feet easily traveling the forest we knew better than ourselves. It was a silent journey, mostly because everyone was still half asleep.

When we got to the cabin, we found Sophie already working on her makeup. To this day, I have no clue how anyone could wake up so early just to cake on so much makeup that they put a clown to shame. I didn't bother looking at what Sophie was wearing, I had my own clothes to worry about. I opened my trunk and pulled out a pair of skinny jeans and a long sleeved, light green, top. I took my dress off and slipped them on over my shorts and singlet.

I turned around and found Thomas and Isaac dressed and attempting to cook eggs on the small kitchenette that had been in the cabin when we found it. I rolled my eyes and said, "They might cook faster if you used an actual fire."

"Yeah, but this way is more fun!" Thomas said, swinging his arms around.

I rolled my eyes at him and started filling my pack back with any necessities for school. I threw a pop tart package and my hairbrush in, knowing that Clara would need it to detangle my hair, and zipped it closed. I headed out of the cabin, walking for 15 minutes to the edge of town. I continued on to school and sat at the picnic table across the street that had been deemed 'the meeting spot' by my group.

I was reading a book when I head someone yelling at me. "TANYA MCCORD! WHAT ON GOD'S GREEN EARTH HAPPENED TO YOUR HAIR?!!" I looked up at a seething Clara Reinhart, standing with her hands on her hips. Her spiky short blonde hair had gone from pink to a dark green since I had last seen her. Her blue eyes stared daggers at me, and her 5'6" form towering over my sitting 5'1" form. Clara's round face and soft features used to make people think she was sweet, caring, and weak. So she got multiple ear piercings, dyed her hair, and cut it short, making her look like the bad-ass chick she was.