Shattered Appearances ✓

e l e v e n: You're About as Hot as an Icecube

I never actually imagined that my father would go through with his punishment. It only occurred that he might actually be serious when he was standing outside the door when I was about to go out.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

I couldn't exactly tell him the truth so I quickly came up with a lie. "I have to pick up a sweater I left at Lucy's house."

"You do realize you're grounded right? If you really need the sweater, I'll pick it up for you. Other than that, you won't leave this house besides school."

I groaned in frustration at the fact that this made my plan more difficult than I imagined. I knew that if I gave up too easily, he would get suspicious and think that I found a way to sneak out. Which was true, after many summers of living in this house, I knew almost every nook and cranny.

"You can't be serious."

"I suggest you take of your jacket because you're not leaving this house for long time. In the meantime, I'm going to work on some case studies."

He left the living room and went inside his office. Knowing him, he wouldn't come out for the whole day. I thought about just leaving now but he would hear the door opening and closing.

Going back upstairs, I sat on top of my bean bag. I thumped my foot against the floor for a few seconds when an idea came to mind. Since my room was in the back of the house, there was a huge tree besides my window. If I was careful enough, I could slide down the tree and sneak out of the house. It wasn't the worst idea and I had a vague idea on what branches I had to place my foot on to go down.

Taking out my phone I texted Stephanie that I would be leaving and after she replied with a K, I went down the tree. It was difficult to gain control of my footing but once I was close enough to the ground, I jumped out. Rubbing my hands together to numb the pain from the rough edges of the bark, I walked to the front of the house.

That was way too easy.

The local Rite-Aid wasn't too far away from where I lived so in a matter of minutes I stepped into the warm breeze of the store.

My eyes scanned over the aisles until I found what I was looking for.

Cough and cold? Nope.

Ear and eye care? No.

Family planning? Unfortunately, yes.

The shelves were full of condoms, lube and yeast infection medications until I finally found the pregnancy tests.

There were various types and brands so my mind froze on which I should buy. I was going to get a headache because of this. Not bothering to look at the price, I got a random brand and went to pay. I didn't worry too much since I'm pretty sure they all gave accurate results. There were quite a few people on the line so I awkwardly put in a couple of bags of chips and shampoo bottles. The line went painfully slow until it was finally my turn.

The cashier was a middle aged women and I put my items on the counter while she scanned them. Not hesitating for a second, she scanned the test and put it into the bag, making sure to put all the other items on top of them.

Handing her my debit card, I payed for my items and moved out of the way so another person could come in. As I was about to leave though, the women called me.

"Dear?" She asked.

"Yes?" I replied. I was pretty sure that I didn't forget anything.

"Good luck. I hope you get the result that you want."

Not bothering to correct her, I let out a smile smile and said, "I hope so too."

~*~

Lightly swinging the plastic bag back and forth, I started walking towards my house when I remembered that I still had to text Stephanie to see it it was safe to go back yet. I didn't want to risk my dad seeing me climb up the tree and get in even more trouble.