All I Am (Wattys2015) (ON HOLD)

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Sage had made pasta salad and grilled chicken for dinner. Blue, her mother and her father all ate dinner together like normal, although Blue was quiet while her parents debated over politics. A small smile was at her lips while she cut her chicken, while her mind was far off.

"Blue?" her mother's voice rung out faintly. She and Piri obviously wanted Blue's input on whatever they were discussing.

"What?" she asked, looking up and between them.

"What are your feelings on the upcoming election for Prime Minister?"

"I..." Blue trailed off. Politics were not Blue's strong point of discussion. At all. In fact, she didn't even know who was running for Prime Minister.

Sage and Piri stared at her expectantly, waiting for an answer. She vaguely remembered reading something in the newspaper about someone with the last name of Scottsman. "I think Scottsman might have some good ideas and potential," she said finally.

Her mother nodded in what Blue hoped was satisfaction. "So were you aware that Dakota Scottsman got pulled from the running process 8 months ago?" she asked.

Blue sighed. She could see where this conversation was going – let's-see-what-Blue-is-lacking-in-her-education-so-she-can-feel-bad-about-it. "I'm just saying he could have had potential," she said quietly.

"He could have. He had some good ideas about construction maintenance," her dad cut in, trying to ease the tension between Sage and Blue.

Blue swallowed her chicken hard and leaned back in her seat. She couldn't wait to be done with dinner.

Blue turned off the overhead light and crawled into bed. She stared at the ceiling in the dim light of her nightstand lamp. Her mom was upstairs watching TV – like always – and her dad was in his office working.

Instead of dwelling on the situation she flipped over onto her side and picked the book she was reading – The Catcher in the Rye – up off the nightstand.

Unlike normal, Blue couldn't seem to forget about her problems and pay attention to her book. She kept thinking about her mom. And then eventually her thoughts drifted to Maddy.

Maddy. Gorgeous Maddy. He was short, blonde, strong and nice. He was passionate about surfing and clearly wanted nothing to do with people and society. Blue had a hard time believing he gave a shit about school. But she found that okay – he had it made, didn't he? He was already a pro-junior surfer at only 16.

Blue found herself thinking these last thoughts as her eyes grew heavy. She set her book down and turned her alarm on, then turned her light off and fell back, closing her eyes.