[1] EXPOSED

1.6 - Mellow

          Last night was so awkward. It wasn’t my fault, of course, but my parents weren’t getting along and Jake and I didn’t know how to act. We didn’t leave the house again that night, but after watching TV again I just wandered back to bed on my own.

          It was so hard to go to sleep. I could hear every noise outside the window and outside my room. My mom kept complaining about everything, my dad eventually left and drove off, and Jake just sat on the couch the whole time, pretending it was all okay.

          It made me sad to realize that having parents who argue was better than having none at all. It was even more melancholy when I realized Jake didn’t have a true family to lean on. After tossing and turning for a few hours, I stuffed my head in my pillow, flopped on my stomach, and passed out.

            The next morning, I woke up in a pile of drool. Man, I really slept hard last night. These past few days have been exhausting, but at least it was Sunday, the day of rest.

            I swung my legs off the bed and headed to the kitchen, only to find a note on the door that mom must have left for me. I read it quietly to myself, “Jewel, your father and I went to church. Should be back around 11. Get ready because we might go somewhere later. Love, Mom.”

            I checked the clock and realized it was already 10:30. “It’s later than I thought,” I rolled my eyes at the situation and I went back to my room to brush my hair and teeth before Jake woke up.

            A few minutes later, Jake opened his eyes and stretched across the recliner. “Jewel?” he yawned, realizing I wasn’t anywhere near him. “I guess she’s already eating breakfast,” he murmured.

            He quickly sprang out of the chair and jogged to the kitchen, but it was empty. The only thing he noticed was Mom’s note. Looks like it wouldn’t be long before the parents came back home. He decided to take advantage of them not being home and come get ready with me. Getting ready consisted of cleaning up, kissing, and more kissing.

            Thirty minutes later, Mom and Dad burst through the door in their Sunday clothes. Jake and I heard them open the door, so we stopped watching TV in my room and went to greet them.

            “Hey, honey.” Mom smiled at me and glared at Jake. He stared back at her awkwardly and made quick eye contact with my dad before I replied.

            “Hi,” I really didn’t appreciate her blatant rudeness. I was always taught to be accepting and to be nice to someone unless they do you wrong, yet Mom was being the complete opposite of who she wanted me to be.

            “Now, would you two like to go to the beach?” Dad smiled, trying to be friendly and relieve some of the tension.

            “That would be fun!” Jake said excitedly. He hadn’t been on the beach in a while, besides seeing it from Allie’s back porch, and even though it was nearing winter the scenery was still beautiful. He could picture himself with me, watching the ocean waves crash on the shores of Wrightsville Beach.

            “Alright, well let’s get in the car before lunch hour traffic.” Dad told us. We all followed him out the door, piled into the silver SUV, and headed down the road to the sandy shores.

            The whole car ride up there, Mom complained about everything. It was irritating to me and I could tell it was annoying my Dad. Jake was too scared to make conversation with her just because she was being so irritable. I wondered if his mom used to ever be this bad.