Tempus

Chapter Two

“What was that?” “I don’t know, it sounded like it came from the laundry room,” followed by a rush of foot steps and the sound of slamming doors is what I herd through the cocoon of pillows and blankets. Pushing the pillow over my head harder against my face I grunted. I really don’t like mornings, on a school day I have to have at least two cups of coffee before walking out the door to be fully functional. This house always has a fully stocked shelf of coffee, thanks to me. And after a late night out I wasn’t in the best mood. Rolling over I looked at the alarm clock on my night stand which read eight o’clock. Eight o’clock on a Saturday. I’m awake at eight o’clock on a Saturday.

“Great. The washers broken,” I herd my mom say in a annoyed tone out side my door. The laundry room was located across the hall from my room. Normally there was a rule that no laundry was done on the weekends before ten, but apparently someone decided to do a load anyways. Ha, serves them right. No clean clothes for… No clean clothes.

Sitting blot up right, I hit my head on the low ceiling. My room is an odd shape sort of like a giant triangle with my bed up against one sloping wall. It was supposed to be a spare room with a t.v and a couch bed for guests but I really wanted the space, and after Luke moved out there was no reason for my parents not to let me have it.

Squinting I rubbed my sore forehead and looked at the huge pile of dirty clothes on the floor at the foot of my bed. God, why’d they have to so dam loud?

The sun was already up, so of course my parents were getting ready to leave for work. The small circle window near the ceiling was flooding my room with morning light. Getting curtains for the three windows were on the top of my to do list. When you walk into my room the first thing you see is the weird shape. I mean not very many people have a room in the shape of a triangle. You also notice the three windows. The small circle one near the top and the two larger ones more in the middle of the wall. The two closer to the floor I hung blankets over to keep the sun out, but the little bugger up top I can’t reach, so I’ve started the habit of sleeping with piles of blankets and pillows over my face. It actually works pretty well, not only for keeping light out but also for keeping out noise at eight o’clock on the weekends.

Rubbing my eyes I glared at the one window that I can’t cover. On top of the pile of dirty clothes was my new sweater that was a flippin two dollars at JC Penny last week. That was a bargain and I love that sweater, which just makes it ten times better. My bargain sweater that now has beer

splattered down the front. Just the memory of Bret spilling his cup all over me makes me want to slap him. With no washer, not only do I have no clean clothes but I have a beer covered sweater that I now have to hide from my parents. It was a wonder that my dad didn’t smell it last night when I came home (twenty minutes after curfew) last night and shoot me on the spot. “How am I going to wash my uniform?” my mom asked in an irritated tone outside my door. “The repair guy won’t be able to come until Monday, and this is my last clean set,” she said. I could just imagine her pointing to her badge and giving my dad ‘the look’.

“There’s a launder mat down the street honey, Isabelle can go and do a load,” he said in a pacifying tone. My mom is normally the most easy going person on the planet, but when it comes to work she is very stubborn. Being a police officer comes with pros and cons. A con, being that she has to wear a uniform to work every day. So as you could imagine we do a lot of laundry. Hearing foot steps coming towards my door, I grabbed the sweater off the top of the pile and shoved it under my bed, throwing the covers back over me as my mom opened the door. “Mom how many times do I have to tell you to knock?” I spout before realizing what I was saying, and how it sounded. Before she can say anything I add “Sorry Sorry, its early and you scared me.” Calming down I sat up and didn’t say anything. I was blabbering like a nervous idiot and I needed to shut up before I said something I would regret. “I didn’t hear anything,” she said with a smile. Her gaze shifting the pile of clothes on my floor crossed her arms. “Since you’re up, after breakfast could you run to that launder mat down the street? The washer broke and it looks like we both need clean clothes for the week.”