It's Only Temporary

Elaine- Chapter 1

Chapter 1- The Burning Pancake

Elaine's POV

Yelling, that's what I wake up to.

I don't need an alarm clock, my parent's constant yelling never fails to wake me up daily.

What are they even fighting about this time? Breakfast? It wouldn't surprise me. They fight about everything: cooking, cleaning, work, money, me, the inevitability of death, you name it.

I groan in annoyance and try to catch a couple more minutes of sleep, but my parents' relentless arguing won't allow me to close my eyes.

Realizing that sleep is now impossible, I decided to just give up and get ready for the day. I grudgingly sat up and swung my legs out of my bed. Standing up, I stretched before dragging my tired body to the closet. I flung the closet open and threw on whatever clothes I could find, I needed to hurry up so I could at least try to ease my parent's fighting before it got out of hand (again).

I'd hate to get back from school to them still going at it.

School, dang it. I moaned in pain as I was reminded it was Monday and the weekend was over. What time is it? I needed to be at school early if I wanted to avoid the crowded hallways. I spun around and glanced at the clock.

5:34-- Meaning I have roughly an hour and a halfish before I have to leave for school. I groan as I clumsily make my way to the bathroom, my parents yelling getting louder as I grow closer to them. I closed my eyes tightly as I did my best to ignore them. I slid into the bathroom and did what I needed to. After twenty minutes, I came out with minty fresh breath, my dirty blonde hair tamed in a messy bun, and feeling more awake than ever.

I took a deep breath as I prepared myself to do nearly impossible-- get my parents to stop fighting.

I cautiously moved down the hallway, trying to not attract attention to myself. As I neared them, their voices got clearer and I could understand what they were fighting about.

"I swear to God, Richard! If you don't do it in the next 5 seconds, I will lose it!" My mother roared.

"Darling, these things take time! Calm down!" My father yelled back.

They were both turned towards each other, glaring daggers at one another.

"5." My mother fumed.

"Oh, so your counting now?" My father sneered.

"4." Mom responded calmly, not backing down.

"It's almost done!" My dad growled.

"3."

"Hold up, you crazy woman!"

"2."

"Stop counting!!!" My dad screamed, panicking as he tried to finish his work in time.

"1. Flip the damn pancake, Richard!" My mother demanded.

"I'm trying to make it into a heart for you! To show you how much I love you, Jewel!" My father groaned as he continued to cook the pancake, without flipping it.

What? Did you think my parents were fighting about something serious? No, that's not the problem. The problem is that my dad loves my mother too much for his, or her, own good.

Some people think it's sweet, I think it's just sad.

"You are going to burn it! Then what are we supposed to eat?" My mother tried to reason with him.

"The beautiful heart I made for you!" Dad said, narrowing his eyes.

"There is no point of it being a heart if I'm just going to eat it!" My mother argued.