Mentally Hopeful • Ethan Cutkosky

26.0

* Jocelyn's POV *

"DADD! MIA! LITTLE JAKE!" I hugged them and burst into tears. I've missed them so much. Everyday, I would write letters to them. They weren't allowed to visit as often. They only came 3 times. I'm so happy I can return to my "normal" life now.
"Jocelyn, look at you, so grown up." Said Mia.
"Me? Look at you! You're so big and tall and beautiful" I said grabbing her face in my hands. "Last time I saw you, you were 13 & had ponytails!" I said as I touched her long hair.

"We're just happy you're finally home" said my mom Katie holding her arms out for a hug.
"Oh honey, I've missed you so much!" Said my dad.
"Are you hungry?"said my dad

-

We were in the car on our way to In N Out.
Ethan.
"Dad?" I said
"Yeah?" He said looking at me from the rear view mirror
"Have you heard anything from..." I said
He exchanged looks from my mom. He knew exactly who I was talking about
"He came by the other day" my mom said , "He was looking for you, he thought you already came out"
"Oh". I said. Honestly, I had no idea what to say at the moment.

We stopped at In N Out. Damn, I was starving. The food at the institution tasted like shit.

-

"Hi can I get a double double with animal fries?"

"Would you like your burger with onions or no onions?"

"Onions please." I said, I was craving a lot of things right now.

"Okay, that would be 13.49" .

My dad took out his wallet and paid.

We sat down and waited for our order when I got a Twitter notification.

"What happened with @jocelynramirez & @ethancutkosky ? "

Shit, these people still ship us? Fuck.

Then my phone blew up with notifications about me and Ethan .

"Umm dad , is the food ready?" I asked

I had to do something to get my mind out of this.  Anything , mainly food .., but still , anything.

"Umm — oh! Yea! There it is." He said getting up from his chair

That's the first time I had realized my father had changed.
He was taller , slimmer , hair was shorter , almost as if he was stressed and barely got any sleep the night before.
He brought the tray of food back to the table but I was more concerned about him than the food.
"Is something wrong?" I asked , keeping all my attention on him
"Uh yeah why?" He said
"Well  you seem miserable"
"Things have been different since you left" said my mom looking as if she was ready to cry.
"Like what?" I just didn't know when to keep my mouth shut
"I'll explain everything later with the whole family , eat your food" said my dad
I picked my burger up and took a bite still concerned and scared of what happened at home.

On our way back home , it was quiet. My parents looked as if they had just murdered the whole population of Texas. Something must have seriously gone wrong.

I was getting a headache and I finally fell asleep.
"Jocelyn... Jocelyn , were here." Said my mom tapping my shoulder from her seat

I rose up and looked around not recognizing where i was.
"What happened to our house?" It was like a walking garden. There were flowers everywhere , a tree that was in the middle , thousands of butterflies near the flowers and a surprisingly new Tesla.
"We decided to go green" said my mom
I looked around disgusted. "And how did that work out for ya?"
"Be nice" said my dad . I rolled my eyes at that comment.
"Whatever , let's go inside already " rolling my eyes again.
It was sort
of the same inside. Except , furniture had been moved around and it was neater.
"As a welcome home gift, your mom and I wanted to buy you a new computer" said my dad putting down my luggage.
"Seriously?! Thanks! Where is it..." I said looking around the room.
"Oh we have to pick it up from the store. They set it up for us" said my mom. "We can leave in 10 minutes."
"Is it Apple?"
"Yup, MacBook Air " said Mia with a grin.
"Can we get it now? I'm too excited PLEASEEEE!"
"But we just got home" said Jake
"C'mon , I really want it rn"
"UGHH fine , get me the keys" said my mom
"Yayyy , thank you!" I said
I ran to the car and waited for my mom.
What's taking so long?
"Finally" I said as she opened the car door. "Took you long enough"
She turned the car engine and started driving.
Off to the Apple Store we go!