The Swap

Allison 2.1

When I arrive home, I hang up my coat and am about to head to my room before my mom appears from the dining room and gives me a hug as she welcomes me home again. I hug her back, but when Chad appears behind her, I abruptly push her away. I say "hi" to Chad before swiftly making my way up the stairs and into my room - I contemplate locking the door, but that'd be a bit too explicit. In my room, I put my bag aside and whip out my laptop.

I don't study though. I scroll through my emails, mostly advertisements, in the hope of finding someone to respond to. After that fails to deliver, I hop on social media. The only contacts I really have are my family and Megan. As I stare at the 'offline' status of Megan, I realise I failed in my goal of acquiring friends. New town, new school, new me, I used to think, but apparently only one of those things can actually make a huge difference.

Chad calls me and my brother down for dinner.

"This pasta you made, Laura, it's really good," Chad exclaims with a mouth full of food.

"Aw, thank you, my darling," she responds as she scoops me a plate.

I silently thank mom, before taking a bite. It's just regular pasta.

"Genuinely," Chad continues, "This pasta is as delicious as you are mesmerising."

I almost choke. Why such an overreaction? I don't know to whom I'm asking that. Also, forcing so much pasta down my throat to be done with dinner might not be such a good idea.

"How about you, Allison?" Chad suddenly asks me.

"What?" I ask nervously.

"What? I wasn't paying attention!" he mocks. He and mom laugh. I don't. I feel my head flaring up again - please don't tell me he can see that. My little brother, Liam, also laughs along, clapping his hands. Great, now I feel like an outcast. Chad calms my family down, "I'm just joking, don't worry. What do you think about your mother's cooking, is what I asked."

"It's good."

"I knew it, everyone likes it, Laura," he exclaims boldly. Mom blushes. I finish my food, but right as a stand up, Chad leaves me with one more thing: "And hey, Allison, you know you can compliment your mom's cooking without needing to be asked, right?"

Once again, he and mom laugh. I force a chuckle, but don't know what to say - honestly, how do you respond to that - so I get up, bring my plate to the sink and hurry back to my room. Thankfully, he didn't make a dumb remark about teenagers always hiding in their rooms, like he normally does.

Back in my room, I decide to just genuinely do some homework to get my mind off things. As the hours go by, the loud chatting downstairs fades out and once it becomes nine o'clock, it's completely silent. Nine o'clock is my usual bedtime, so I get dressed into my pyjamas and head for the bathroom. From the second floor, I can see the lights downstairs are all off, but across the house, light still peaks out from my mom's room. I'm about to go to the restroom, when I hear some muttering coming from downstairs.

I tentatively walk down the stairs, even though my whole body doesn't want to continue. I creep closer to the mumbling until Chad's voice becomes clearer and clearer. Once I realise it's him, I feel relieved - that's a first. I'm about to walk back when I hear the words "I'll see you tomorrow baby...". I stay motionless and continue listening.

"Yeah, I know I've been spending a lot of time away, but I promise, tomorrow I've managed to get a day off, so I'll be coming back, okay baby? ... More than one day? I'll have to check tomorrow, but for you, I'll manage something... I miss you too, baby... Okay, love you, byebye."

Footsteps approach me as I'm paralysed. What did I just walk in on? I turn around to leave but feel a hand on my shoulder.

"Hey Allison, whatcha doing downstairs at this hour?" his voice trembles.

My breathing increases and I can feel tears waiting in my eyes for their cue.

"You weren't eavesdropping on me, were you? That's not very polite for a pretty girl like you-"

"W-Who was that?" I ask.

"My colleague-"

"Why were you calling her baby?" I'm not dumb enough to believe that lie.

He pauses, his face becoming stern. He whirls me around and grabs a hold of my other arm, squeezing them both. The first tear comes free.

"Are you planning on telling your mom this?"

"O-Of course-"

His grip tightens.

"Are you sure?"

"..."

"I thought so."

He releases me.

"Know your place. If you want to keep your mom happy, I'd suggest forgetting this ever happened, okay?"

He walks past me - I flinch - and up the stairs. A few seconds later, I hear my mom talking before the door to her room shuts. The tears drip onto the ground one by one. I just want him gone.