Maybe Someday

6- Running Late

Song Inspo: Never Be the Same by Camila Cabello

You spent the entirety of Sunday, laying in bed. You had come home before breakfast and napped until your parents were gone for lunch. After your taboo kiss, the game of truth or dare fizzled out and all the girls drifted off to sleep. That didn't stop you from laying awake on the air mattress, staring at the lights dancing under the door frame from down the hall. It was all you could do to not stalk down there and see if Josh was still awake or had fallen asleep with the TV on.

You toddled around the house, making a snack before crawling back in bed. You were exhausted after two entirely too late nights in a row. You woke back up to the sound of your phone ringing and were confused by the light pouring in your window through the cracks in your blinds. You pushed your hair behind your ear and squinted at the flashing phone screen. Olivia? Why was she calling at–

You: "Eight am? Oh my God!! I overslept!!"

You slid your finger across the screen and blurted out: "I'm up! I'll be there in fifteen minutes."

Olivia: "Girl, I lied to the teacher and told him you just ran back to your car for your homework. You better hurry so I don't get in trouble for covering for you!"

You pulled your hair up into a ponytail and smeared toothpaste across your toothbrush. Before hanging up, you promised: "Okay, okay. I'm on the way."

Just as you started to back out of your driveway, your dad had come home unexpectedly to pick up his lunch he'd forgotten. Your dad was your best friend in the world so when he started to lecture you about skipping class you knew that it was mostly his way of justifying not telling your mom.

Dad: "Look now, I know it's not the cool thing but you need to apply yourself if you're going to get into a good college."

You lowered your head, ashamed that you'd put him in the bad spot you knew you had. He wasn't going to tell your mom you were late and if she found out, he'd be in as much trouble as you: "I know, Dad. It was just a fluke. I don't know what happened."

Your dad leaned against the car window and smiled down at you: "C'mon, follow me and let your old man take you for a bite to eat before class."

You looked down at the clock on your car radio and your dad answered your unspoken query: "I didn't pack that good of a lunch anyway, besides... you're already late. What's another hour?"

Over breakfast at a diner near school, you and dad laughed over pancakes. He told you about his favorite parts of high school back in the day: "Boys now wear their hair so long and shaggy. Back in my day we would have been bullied if our hair touched our forehead."

You: "Please, I've seen pictures of you at college. You had long hippie hair."

Dad: "That was when I met your Mom. She liked the look, what can I say?"

You laughed as he pretended to brush his non-existent locks from his face. Your mom was a good mom in all the ways that mattered most but everyone always said you were too alike and that's why you couldn't get along. Truth be told you felt like you were way more similar to your dad than anything.

You: "You know, Dad... I am trying hard at school. I have a 3.8 GPA and all my teachers seem happy with me. This wasn't me skipping school. I just overslept."

Dad: "I believe you sweetheart. I know you had a busy weekend, I'm sure that didn't help. Speaking of which, how was homecoming? Did you enjoy going with a group of friends more than that date of your last year?"

You: "It was great. I guess I did technically go with a date but it wasn't really a date."

You dad clutched his chest in a fake display of shock: "And you didn't let me do my dad-duty of giving him the once over? What kind of guy sneaks around with another man's daughter without letting him meet him first?"