Beating The Game

Chapter One

6 am and oddly I'm wide awake. Normally on a Sunday morning I would sleep until noon but I can't seem to keep my eyes closed any longer. It's peaceful up here, in my little loft. That is one thing that I will truly miss when I leave in September. Having a bedroom isolated from the rest of your family can have its perks. I can do my own thing and not be bothered by all of the noise surrounding me. Also, I get to enjoy the beautiful sunshine beaming in through the skyline window placed above my queen sized bed every morning.

Now that I'm awake, I'm craving green tea, which I usually have every morning before I start my day. I quietly open my door and tiptoe down the staircase. Which I'm not sure why I even bother since no body else does the same when I'm sleeping. Even though I would love to stomp like an elephant and make as much noise as possible while getting my breakfast, I choose not to because that is just common decency. Something most people lack I guess. It would also be nice to get along with everyone before I'm gone forever.

I grab my tea cup with my pyjama sleeve, trying not to burn myself, a small blanket off of the living room chair, and a chocolate chip muffin that mom made yesterday and head outside on the front porch. It is now 6:30 am and it is already 20 °C. I sit down on the porch swing that my grandfather built for us when I was 4 years old, take a sip of my tea, and let the rays of sun soak into my skin. I'm calm. A feeling I don't get very often. I don't want this feeling to leave.

I close my eyes and think about what I'm going to do today. As I'm about to take another sip of my tea I hear someone rustling around inside. I begin to wonder who it is, thinking maybe it's my mom getting up to make herself a coffee but she usually doesn't get up until 8, and then I hear an angered voice.

"Les! Why didn't you walk the dog!?" my dad screamed. "You know that Kohl is your responsibility! How many times have we gone over this? When you wake up you..." At this point I've completely zone out and checked into my own little world. Getting yelled at is not something new for me so I guess I've gotten good at tuning it out.

Apparently the dog had an accident on the floor and for some reason that is my fault. Since my quiet time has been cut short, I grab my cup and blanket and bring it back inside. I make sure to put my dishes the dishwasher because if I don't, by 7am I will have already been yelled at twice. Again nothing new for me but I'd rather not deal with that today.
I quickly run upstairs to get dressed, then I grab the leash and decide to take Kohl for a walk.

I guess my dad was kind of right. Kohl is my dog, but never before have I gotten up at 6 to take him outside. As long as he doesn't drink to much before bed, he is usually fine until mom gets up at 8. But whatever, I'll take the blame I guess.

We live on the main road in a small town called Lockhart so their tends to be a lot of cars driving up and down the road. I head across the street from our house and continue a little ways to the left until I come to Water street. Water Street only has 2 houses on it, both which are located at the beginning of the street. After the second house, the pavement changes to dirt that leads through a wooded trail to the lake. I walk this trail almost everyday. It's quiet. Calm. Exactly my scene. Once Kohl and I reach the water, I let him off of his leash so he can swim and play. I walk over to a huge rock by the edge of the woods and sit down. Kohl drops a stick at my feet and begins barking. I pick it up and throw it, because I know if I don't he will never stop.

After 2 hours of relaxing by lake alone with Kohl, I decide to head home. I figured I should since I never told anyone where I was going and there is no cell service down here. But they probably didn't notice I was gone, they never do. It seems the only time they notice me is when I do something wrong. Which in their eyes is more often than not.

I open the front door and Kohl bolts in the house to get a drink of water. When I walk in I see mom sitting at the kitchen table drinking her coffee.

"Morning mom!" I say to her
"Morning Leslie." She replies in a stern voice.
"Ah please, I hate when you call me that!" I moaned.

Her and dad both know I preferred to be called Les. I think they only call me Leslie because they know I hate it.

"Honey, don't forget you need to drive your brother to his field hockey game at noon today and to his practice at 3 tomorrow." She said to me.

"Mom, I just graduated from high school on Friday, I was kind of hoping that I could take a few days to relax not be Ben's personal chauffeur. Plus it's summer! Maybe I have plans of my own!" I replied in frustration.

"Your brother doesn't have his license yet so how else do you expect him to get there?"

"I don't know! You or dad could drive him or one of his friends could pick him up!" I answered.

"Your father and I will be busy and none of his friends live near us."

"Jamie lives three streets over mom, can he not drive Ben for once?!" I said back to her.

"Jamie isn't going today or tomorrow." She said.

"Of course" I said under my breath as I walked away.

"What was that?" She yelled.

"Nevermind!" I yelled back.

I walk back to my room and shut the door. My quiet place. My escape. I lay on my bed, put my headphones in and press play on my iPod and I am calm again. Even though the music is loud, I am drowned out from all of the noise. The noise that is my life.