I'm Gonna Miss You

Chapter 26: Lock Down

The hour long special on the truth behind the stories that circled my life, came out last night. My parents were home, along with my grandparents, and they weren't going to get off the television any time soon. I made sure that I was in bed and asleep by 7, all to avoid their confrontation when they saw the interview. I knew that drifting off while they grew more and more enraged was not a good idea, considering that they could just storm in and wake me up at any moment, but I didn't know what to do. I panicked-- as always.

When I would wake up in the morning, the sun would already be there to greet me, blinding me momentarily in the process, but not today. In addition to falling asleep at such an early hour, I woke up before the sun. There was no light coming from outside my curtain as I got up to take a shower. My mind was still racing, as my body itself raced with it. I didn't want to see my parents at breakfast, I didn't want to see them at all to be quite honest. I was afraid of how they would react when they found out that I lied to them about going to a concert. There was no way I was looking forward to standing in front of my mom and dad as they yelled at me, with Gran and Gramps sitting in the background sorely disappointed in me. 

My grandparents never got up at the same time as my parents, but somehow they were always gone by sun up, off jogging and exercising with the rest of the elderly. The only solution that came to mind was to get up two hours early and leave thirty minutes after getting out of bed. So far I had spent fifteen of those minutes in the shower. I grabbed my towel off the hook and patted myself down as I stood in front of my cabinet, looking for an outfit. I didn't give myself much time to think, as I was already counting down the seconds that stood between getting dressed and rushing out the door.

I pulled on a grey off the shoulder top, and put on a pair of ripped denim jeans, my sneakers and a grey beanie to go with it. My hands began to shove my phone, wallet, keys, earphones, MP3 and all my school supplies into my bag, not caring if the luggage was heavy. As my lock screen lit up at my touch, I realized that I had five minutes left before I was officially walking through dangerous territory. Thin patters landed on the stairs as I hopped off the last three steps, hooking my hand onto the wall to swing myself into the kitchen.

Given the surge of energy that was pushing my body to move faster than it could, I wasn't feeling that hungry, but I knew I had to eat something. I grabbed an apple from the fridge, pouring myself a glass of ice cold water as I took my first bite. Water wasn't usually my thing-- I know, I know, I'm so unhealthy, but there was nothing left in the fridge aside from some smoothie but that had kale in it. From those two options, I think it's pretty obvious which I would go for.

The wind brushed past my ears as I continued to munch on my breakfast, slipping past the door in silence. I struggled to find my keys underneath the mess of notebooks and papers, but soon enough I found them. Shoving them into the lock, missing on my first attempt, I made sure that the door wouldn't open to any stranger anytime soon. The tiny piece of metal was shoved back into my bag, as I gripped my music player and my earphones. I stuck one of the blue earpieces in, as I scrolled through my music, still standing on the steps. 

I twirled the other ear piece in my hand as I looked for a song to start with. My mind had finally settled on a song, sending waves of music through my ear. I was going to put in the other earphone when I saw a light switch on inside my house. Someone was awake. I shoved the MP3 into my pocket and ducked my head as I pushed away from the house. My feet were moving quicker than a track runner's. I inserted the other earphone as I pulled down my beanie, hoping that if someone came out of the door, they wouldn't notice me.

My hands were folded over my chest as I began to walk down the street. The season was inching closer to winter, meaning the temperatures were dropping quicker and there were more rainy days to be expected. As I realized what I had just said, I looked up at the midnight blue sky and hoped that it would not start pouring down on me as I walked to school. I pulled out my phone, holding it in my slightly frozen hand and tapped on the weather forecaster app. So far, there was nothing to convince me of a downpour today.