better than most 。dominic fike (ongoing)

03

the drive to my house which always felt agonizingly long, was for some reason shorter today. it could've been from the lack of mid-day traffic or how empty I-95 was, but i knew it was neither of these things. rather it was the looming sense of excitement i felt about going to the beach with a curly headed stranger. i was so anxious and consumed in my thoughts that i didn't listen to a single song the entire drive there. my head seemingly filled with nothing but jitters and sparkles. 

as i pulled into my neighborhood i checked that dom was still following my car from behind, and he was. i panicked at the thought of his unfamiliar car pulling into my driveway, likely being watched by my mom since she knew i'd be getting home around this time. i didn't want to sound like a child explaining to him the levels of strictness my mom fluctuated between, so opted for a text asking him to park at my neighbor julio's house which was three houses down. judging by julio's empty driveway, he wasn't home. and even if he was he likely wouldn't have cared. dom sent back a laughing emoji which i assumed was meant to tease me but complied nonetheless, swiftly pulling in and turning his car off. 

i pulled into my driveway where my mom's silver infiniti truck and sister's black camaro sat. hopping out of my car and slinging my bag over my shoulder, i locked the doors behind me. 

"hey mom" i greeted her as i unlocked the front door and untied my apron, leaving it to drape on the tiny table near the doorway.

she sat on the couch flipping through mail she'd most likely end up throwing away and looked up at me for a moment smiling.

"hey girl, how was work?"

"uhh the same as usual" i shrugged, leaving the details of my now long forgotten shift out.

"hm" she hummed, partially zoning out of our brief conversation as her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, eyes locked on the paper torn from the envelope she was reading.

"everything okay?" i asked walking toward the kitchen and grabbing and old lunchbox and some ice packs from the storage cabinet and freezer.

"yeah just some junk" she mumbled throwing the mail on the coffee table in front of her and leaning back into the couch. she stretched up her legs and put them on the table, and i mentally laughed at a memory of her scolding me for doing something similar when i was younger. 

"going somewhere?" she asked, her eyes watching me juggle what felt like six bottles of water into my hands and dumping them into the roomy lunchbox.

"yeah just to the beach with some friends" i answered. 

i mean i wasn't technically lying. i was going to the beach. just not with "some friends", with a friend. if i can even call him that at this point.

"well okay, it's still early so i don't mind just dont be home too late. it saturday, and you know how crazies like to drive when the sun goes down. i made lasagna by the way. it's on top of the stove" she sighed getting up from the couch and going towards her room.

"you're sister's here by the way" she said peeking her head out from the door to her bedroom.

i smiled back in response and made my way down the hall and toward the door of my sister's room that sat across from mine. twisting the door handle, the door cracked open and i invited myself in to see my sister sprawled out on her bed and on the phone with her on-and-off again girlfriend of some years -- amiyah.

"hey poop" she greeted me, looking up from her phone for a split second then refocusing her attention on amiyah who from the looks of her background was facetiming from work.

"hey" i said back, throwing myself onto her clothes littered bed and greeting amiyah on the other line who said hey back.

"how was work?" she asked while telling a now frustrated amiyah that she'd call her later before hanging up.