The Golden Hour {Gay-Themed}

Chapter 3

Their knifes and forks hitting their plates was the only sound that was being made. She didn't look at him, and he didn't look at her. It's been this way ever since I got home. I thought having Jude in two of my classes was awkward after the way I left things with him in the cafeteria, but this little situation right here brought a whole new meaning to the word 'awkward'. She looked so fed up, stabbing at the potato wedges like she used them as substitutes from stabbing what she really wanted. He just sat there clenching his jaw, chewing his food in an abnormal way every time he took a bite. I was getting sick of this.

"So is anyone going to ask me how school was today, or are you guys just going to keep on keeping secrets from me?" I asked, dropping my utensils on the ceramic plate in annoyance.

They both paused what they were doing, finally looking up at one another. My mom wiped her mouth with her napkin as my dad cleared his throat and pulled at the collar of his shirt in attempt to loosen it around his neck. A single word had yet to be said from either of them, making me grit my teeth. They were acting like little kids at this point, and seeing them behave like that was pathetic. Tapping my fingertips against the table, I slouched back in my chair, waiting for an answer from either of them that would probably never come.

"You know what, I'm not really hungry." I muttered, forcefully pushing my chair back to leave the table.

"Emmer." My mom said firmly. "Sit down."

"...Why? So I can sit here and watch you guys be mad at each some more? You guys have been doing this for months now, and everyday it just keeps getting worse. I don't know what the-"

"Watch it." My dad warned, pointing his stupid butter knife at me. "Everything's fine. Your mom and I are going through a rough patch right now, but we're working things out, so there's nothing that you need to worry about."

Looking over at my mom, I carefully studied her face to see if what my dad just said held any truth. Apart from him, now she couldn't even look at me, like by just doing that, she'd be lying to me just like my dad was.

"...Mom?" I called out to her, wanting her to verbally tell me that things were really being solved. "Is it true?"

Sighing, she placed her eating utensils against the edge of the plate and looked at me, her brown eyes eerie.

"Everything is fine Emmer. Everything is perfectly fine." She whispered. "So just eat your food..."

Anger sparked in me. She couldn't tell me that everything was fine, and expect me to believe her. Every day she looked a little more ill; a little more depressed. I understood that in some ways I'd never understand how terribly that day affected her, but I understood that there was more to what was going on with her than what happened. Instead of comforting her in her time of need, my dad just kept his distance, and although my mom was the type of person who did need her space when she was upset, there were days that I could tell that she was just aching for a comforting hug from him. It was poisonous how much I could feel her pain some days.

"...Yeah, just keep lying to yourselves. At least one person in this house can see past the bullshit." I muttered, really letting the venom seep through my words as I got up from my chair and stormed out of the dinning room.

"Emmer!" My dad yelled after me. "I will not tolerate stro-"

Before I could even hear him finish his sentence, I slammed the door to my room behind me, plopping myself on my bed. It was so frustrating not knowing why the heck they were fighting so much. It was even more frustrating not knowing if I had a big part to do with it or not. I felt like the days were quickly ticking by when one of them would say or do something completely stupid that would force the other one to just leave. Ultimately, forcing me to choose who I had to pick to stay with.