Center of The Universe

Chapter Two- Following The Note

       The doorbell rang.  I was instantly alerted.  My mom usually doesn't let me answer the door but I always mention to get there first considering I'm a bit faster than her.  

       I swung open the door, snatched the piece of paper that was hanging on the doorknob, and ran back to my room.
       Once I was in my room, I heard my mom walk to the door and open it only to find absolutely nothing.  

       "Dang teenagers."  

       Mom said under her breath.  It made her sound like an eighty-year-old woman.  I laughed into a fist and held up the paper.  My expression immediately changed to a stolid face.

       "To get off the TV, you must go to the TV."  
       This puzzled me, but still made sense, in some weird way.  As in someone knows what I think I know.  So out of intrigue, I got ready to go to the electronic store.  

       "Where are you going?"  My mom asked in that certain voice.  She had one of those voices that sound sweet, but the words are bitter.

       "Just going for a walk."

       "You know the rules."

      "Yeah, yeah.  I have to relax and keep an eye out for excitement."  Whatever that meant.  She just kept telling me that whenever I went out.  Even when I was young and with her.

       My mother nodded and watched me drive down the road.

       I parked on the side of the road on Main Street and headed for the TV store.  I knew this might have been the stupidest decision ever, but I needed answers after 12 years of getting nothing but more questions.  

       I watched the passing store signs as I walked by them until I finally found the electronic store across the street.  I gripped my journal and began walking in the crosswalk.  I could easily see the manager or possibly a worker through the window, watching a TV on the wall.  

       As if he knew I was there he spun around and looked around outside.  I froze and we made awkward eye contact.  He snatched the remote and turned the TV to the channel the rest of the TVs were on.  I felt the journal and pushed it into the back pocket of my jeans.  The clerk went back to work like nothing had even happened.  Strange.  I fixed my hair, but mostly the bangs.

       The bell above the door rang as I walked in.  My shoes sent clicking echoes throughout the store.  The clerk was standing behind the desk occasionally wiping his forehead.  There were only a few customers, but they were all looking at me in the corner of their eyes.

       "Good evening miss!  Are you looking for anything in particular?"  He said brushing back his receding hairline.

       "I'm just looking at the moment, thanks".

       He nodded and lifted a magazine and started to read.  He clearly didn't want to read because of the uncomfortable look on his face.

       I shifted my gaze to the rows of TVs lined on the wall.  It was just some reality TV series.  I grabbed the remote and was about to surf the channels when the employee yelled at me from the other end of the store.

       "E-excuse me, ma'am.  No customers are allowed to change the channels on the televisions."

       I looked at him and then the remote.  I set it back down on the counter and glared as I walked past him.  Just then, the phone rang and he ran to answer it.

       It was dark by the time I got home.  Which means it was dinner time.  I unlocked the doors and walked in.  Again sending clicks and clacks throughout my house.  

       "So, what did you go do?"  Said mom eating a forkful of spaghetti.

       "I just went for a walk downtown, remember?"  I said draping my coat over the chair I pulled out.  
       She nodded as she sipped a glass of water.  They both obviously knew I wasn't on a walk, but continued eating.  I sat down and pulled my chair back from under the table.  We all ate dinner in an awkward silence.  I knew they didn't believe me.  But what I didn't know, was what will happen later that night.