PAISLEY
A week has passed since my little skipping incident with Nick and Jake. And in the span of that week, Nick annoyed me with endless questions about my relationship status with Jake. While Jake has made little no conversation with me. He would just drive me to school without speaking to me. He pretended like I wasn't there. Most of the time, I would catch him staring at me, studying me intently. Looking at me as if I was an impossible equation off of a math sheet, struggling to find an answer. How do I know this? Maybe it's the way he tilts his head side to side like a confused dog, and the way his forehead creases every time he looks at me. Sometimes I just want to scream at him, tell him to stop looking at me like that, but being the stubborn person that I am, I don't–simply because I do not want to be the one who starts the conversation. And besides, I don't really give a shit if this silent treatment lasts forever.
That's why you miss him right? Because you don't care?
I roll my eyes at the annoying voice that's constantly doubting me and my feelings, interrogating me like I'm a fucking criminal. I don't miss him. Not at all.
Your sadness says otherwise, the voice argued.
I let out a groan of frustration and absentmindedly throw a book, sending it flying across my bedroom.
Ten seconds later, my grandparents opened the door with frantic looks plastered across their faces. I jolted upright with a startle.
"Um–hi?" I asked, baffled.
"Oh thank God you're okay!" My grandmother says, relieved.
I furrow my brows in confusion and stare at her attentively, waiting for an explanation.
"We heard a bang from your room and–and we thought– we thought you," her sentence was broken off with uncontrollable sobs and uneven breaths.
My grandfather pulls her into his chest and embraces her lovingly.
What the fuck?
"Did I miss something? Why on earth are you guys so worried?"
My grandfather turns his head to me, with overt fear in his eyes. All the while, still hugging my grandmother.
"Paisley we thought y-you–did something to yourself."
I scrunch up my face in confusion and disbelief.
"Guys... I just threw a book across my room because," Lie, Paisley, Lie. "Uh– well because the characters in the book were making me mad."
Satisfied with my answer, I mentally high fived myself.
My grandmother swallowed her sobs and looked at me with bewilderment, and relief, in her eyes.
"Oh."
"Yeah. Why would you even think that?"
Did Jake tell them about the bridge?
Having that thought appear in my mind, my patience for an answer was growing spectacularly thin by each second.
She lets out a sorrowful sigh. "The doctor told us that we should check up on you every now and then. He suggested that if we notice any erratic unusual behaviours or just things out of the ordinary, we should inform him so you can get the help that you need."
I supress the laughter that's bubbling up inside me and look between both of my grandparents, searching for any hint of amusement on their faces. But I got none. Wait they're actually serious?
"Well, now that you guys have seen me and I'm perfectly fine; I'd really appreciate it if you guys would kindly please leave my room," I tell them, as sweetly and nicely as I can.
YOU ARE READING
Wasted Time
Teen Fiction"You're dying," he says, "You have at least 4 months." I know I'm supposed to be sad or cry but instead I say, "Oh cool." Paisley Archer is dying from cancer. She has four months to do all the things in life she hasn't done. But four months la...
