I quietly sneaked down the stairs and towards the door. I looked around to double check that I was the only one up, and noticed that a dim light was on in the kitchen. I put my bags down and sneaked over to the kitchen to investigate. Before I even reached the kitchen I was blinded by stringer light.
I covered my eyes, and let them adjust to the sudden brightness. When they had finally adjusted, I knew I was in big trouble.
My mom was sat at the counter. Beside her was a small piece of paper that had been written on.
I had written that.
I wrote it last night when everyone else was asleep. I was sure no one else would see it until after I was gone.
I guess I was wrong.
I should probably explain what's happening.
My best friend lives about two hours away in Genesis, Washington. I get to see her about once every two months. It's not the worst, but it's not the best. We've been making plans to see each other this weekend. We decided that I should go to her house, but when I asked my parents, they said no.
"You need to study. You have finals coming up next week," my mom had persisted. I didn't need to study that bad. I mean, all of my finals are pretty easy, plus they're all multiple choice.
But nevertheless, my mom made me stay home.
But I really wanted to go.
So here I am, sneaking out to see my friend for the weekend.
"Hey, Mom," I said as nonchalantly as I could. "What are you doing up at this hour?"
"I could ask the same if you," she replied with a blank stare.
I didn't know how to respond. It was obvious she knew what was going on. She just wanted me to admit to it.
"Oh, nothing," I said, trying to play it off like it was nothing. "Just gettin' a midnight snack." I walked towards the pantry and tried to keep the act up. I don't know why I was doing this. There was no point. I was facing the same fate either way. I guess by doing this I was just putting off the inevitable.
"Fully dressed?" My mom inquired. I looked at her and she took a sip of some tea, not breaking eye contact. She must have made it before I had even started coming downstairs, but I hadn't heard her get up or even go down the stairs.
I looked down at what I was wearing. She had me there. I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt from summer camp. I had even brushed my hair and pulled it up into a ponytail. I practically looked like I was going to school, I even had tennis shoes on.
I decided it was time to give up. I couldn't keep this up forever.
"Alright, fine. I'm leaving to go see Erica," I firmly stated.
My mom put down her mug. She looked at me and stared, "I know."
"So why this whole spiel?"
"I wanted to see how long it would take for you to admit what you were doing."
I shook my head and closed the pantry door. I sat down at the counter and looked at my mom. "Now what? I admitted it. I was sneaking out. What are you going to do?" I asked, exasperated. My fate was sealed, I wasn't leaving the house at all this weekend.
"Go back to bed," my mom said simply.
I didn't argue. There was no point. I grabbed my stuff and went back upstairs. I looked at the digital clock on my wall. 3:27 am. I might as well go back to sleep.
I changed back into my pajamas, and got into my bed. I looked up at my ceiling. I was so close to getting out of the house. I might have been able to make it if I hadn't looked at the kitchen. Or maybe if I hadn't left that note. In hindsight, I probably should've left the note when I was almost out the door. I turned on my side and grabbed my phone.
I opened up messages and went to my conversation with Erica.
3:28 My mom caught me. I can't make it. Sorry.
I turned my phone off and placed it on my bedside table. I didn't expect a response, she was probably asleep.
I closed my eyes and tried to fall asleep.
~~~
I don't remember how long it took before I fell asleep. When I woke up it was 9:25. I reluctantly got up. I grabbed my phone and saw a text from Erica.
6:14 Aww dang it. Maybe we can next weekend.
I doubted it. I typed in a quick reply and went downstairs.
I could hear my parents talking before I even made it all the way down the stairs.
"I know what she did was bad. But maybe we just should have let her go." My dad was the one talking. It sounded like he was defending me. "She did say that her finals were all multiple choice. And I have faith that she can get at least an 80%."
"That's not the point." Mom. "She tried to sneak out after we very distinctly told her no. I don't care if she does perfect without even studying. She purposefully went against what we said. That is unacceptable."
My dad has always been really flexible with me. He normally just goes with what Mom says, but sometimes he goes against her. It doesn't happen very often.
I didn't really want to hear this anymore, so I quietly walked back upstairs a bit, and then back down. I figured it probably would have been a little too suspicious if I had just appeared after silence. I didn't want them to think I had been eavesdropping. I was in enough trouble as is.
My parents immediately stopped talking as soon as they saw me. I casually walked over to the kitchen and sat down. "What's for breakfast?" I calmly asked.
"We didn't really have anything planned. Is there something special you want?" My mom replied.
"Not really. I'll just have some cereal." I stood up and retrieved some cereal from one of the cabinets. I tried to be as relaxed as I could. I didn't really want to talk about last night. I really just wanted to stay in my room all day. I hadn't planned anything with anyone, because I had planned on being two hours away.
I ate my cereal in silence. No one dared say anything. It was almost suffocating. Finally, my dad broke the silence.
"So do you have any plans for the weekend?" He prodded. I could feel the awkwardness in the room.
"No not really. I just kind of planned on watching tv or hanging out at home. I don't really know." My mom clenched her fists on the table. She clearly knew I was avoiding the topic of last night.
My dad nodded. Back to the suffocating silence. I watched my mom open her mouth as if to say something, then quickly close it, deciding against it, out of the corner of my eye.
I didn't want to do this anymore. I quickly finished my breakfast, placed my dishes in the dishwasher, and retreated back to my room. I didn't bother closing my door, because I knew that someone was bound to come up to my room soon.
I wasn't wrong. Within ten minutes, I heard gentle footsteps coming up the stairs. I braced myself.
My mom appeared in the doorway. She looked at me sitting on my bed, and entered my room and placed herself in the chair by my desk.
I looked at her. "Can I help you?" I asked.
She took a deep breath. "Can we talk about last night?"
"I would prefer if we didn't."
My mom sighed. I could tell that wasn't an option. "You can't do things like this," she persisted. I really didn't want to do this.
"I know. I'm sorry. I won't do it again. Can we please drop this?" I was done. This was the last thing on earth that I wanted to talk about.
"Jade, this isn't okay. You've never done anything like this in your life. Why now?"
I didn't know how to answer that. I honestly didn't know. Erica had suggested it. I hadn't hesitated to say yes.
I took a deep breath. "I don't know."
I could tell that's not the answer she wanted.
"Jade, I'm serious" my moms face was stone cold. There wasn't a hint of any emotion. I could barely look at her. I just looked at my hands.
"I'm sorry." I said quietly. I took a hesitant look at my mom. She wasn't looking at me.
After a brief pause, my mom started talking again. "Is that it? 'I'm sorry'? That's all you have to say? Do you have any idea how scared we would've been to wake up and not be able to find our daughter?" I looked at her again. I could see small tears in her eyes. I knew I had screwed up. My mom almost never cries, unless something horrible happens.
I got up off of my bed. I walked over to where my mom was sitting and hugged her. We didn't say anything. "I wasn't thinking," I said after a few seconds, not breaking away.
"I know," was her simple response.
We stayed like this for a few more seconds before finally breaking away.
"So what's my punishment?" I knew I was getting one. I just didn't know what.
She looked deep in thought, like she hadn't even considered what she should do. "You have to clean the house top to bottom. No breaks, except for lunch and dinner." Fair enough. I was in no position to argue anyway.
"Okay."
~~~
It took all day. I didn't know our house had been so dirty. I'm glad that I'm not allergic to dust, because half the day was just me dusting everything we had. Our house had never looked so nice.
At the end of the day when I had finally finished, I practically fell into my bed. I knew I should probably change, but I really didn't want to. I was exhausted. I knew that cleaning the house would be a lot of work, but I didn't think I would be so tired.
My better judgement got the best of me and I decided it would be better if I didn't sleep in the clothes I had been working in all day. I was soon changed into my pajamas, and lying comfortably in my bed. I looked at my clock. 8:52 pm. It wasn't even that late and I was ready to sleep.
It probably wasn't I good idea, but I got on my phone. The last time I had even looked at my phone was this morning. 13 text messages. They were all from Erica.
9:56: Hey don't say that you don't know. Maybe they'll say yes next time.
10:27: Um, hey, I'm real sorry 'bout last night. I can't help but feel as if it's partially my fault
10:58: I can't tell if you're ignoring me or you're not allowed to have your phone
11:32: I'm just gonna go ahead and assume that you can't have your phone
11:45: Man you must be in a lot of trouble. I'm still real sorry about this
12:50: Jeez it's been a long time. I don't really know what to do. I mean I guess I don't have to text you. But I feel like I have to or somethin' idk
1:45: Okay but if you are ignoring me, I'm really really really sorry. I swear I had good intentions
2:38: Hey I said I was sorry why aren't you responding???
2:44: Actually that was kind of rude. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude it just kinda happened
4:29 Omg please respond I'm kind of getting scared now
5:34: Omg I bet you hate me now. Ugh I'm the worst friend
7:20: If you do hate me please tell me so I know. I hate that you're not responding
8:20: So I guess you don't want to be friends maybe?? Or maybe you still can't respond. I'm probably blowing up your phone a ton right now. I'm just really worried!!
I couldn't help but laugh. I loved Erica. She always overthinks everything. I typed in a reply to her
8:57: Omg I love you. This is so funny omg. My mom made me clean my entire house from top to bottom without stopping. So yeah I wasn't allowed to have my phone and couldn't text you back. I would've if I could've. But no I don't hate you and it's fine. I'm honestly not shocked I got caught lol. I'm not very sneaky.
Almost instantly the typing bubble showed up. I could just see her nervously looking at her phone, anticipating my text
8:59 OMG THANK GOD!!! I was so worried oml. Yikes that must've taken forever. Well I guess I would know cause I was anxiously waiting for you the entire time. Omg wow
I smiled to myself. She was so funny. We texted back and forth for about 45 minutes. I was so tired. The only thing keeping me awake had been Erica texting me.
I texted a simple goodnight, plugged in my phone, and lay down to sleep. It had only been one day and it felt so eventful. And I hadn't even really done much, all I did was clean the house. I closed my eyes and hoped for sleep to come quickly.
~~~
Lights. Bright lights. They were shining in my face. I squinted against them. They were burning against my eyes. They hurt so much, even if I closed my eyes.
Then black. There were no lights. Just darkness. I cautiously opened my eyes scared that the lights would burn my eyes once again.
Even with my eyes open everything was still empty. I looked around, by there was no sign of anyone or anything. Just black emptiness.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" I called into the abyss. No answer. I tried to get up. I couldn't. I was strapped to the table. I hadn't even noticed that until now. I struggled against the restraints. It was no use. "Help! Is anyone there? Someone please!" I called again. It was no use. I closed my eyes once again.
Then they were back. The lights. My eyes burned. I closed them as tight as I could. Wishing it was over.
I woke in a cold sweat. I felt so out of breath and I hadn't even moved. I looked around, wary of my own surroundings. Nothing felt different. I was in my room, and nothing had changed. I glanced at the clock. 9:41. I got up and began dressing. I felt gross staying in my pajamas.
I couldn't stop thinking about my dream. It had felt so real. I didn't even remember that much, just lights. I shook my head and made my way downstairs. I didn't really feel like thinking about it. My head hurt a ton and I could barely think.
I noticed a note had been left on the countertop. Dad and I went out shopping. Don't know when we'll be back. There's pizza in the fridge if we're not back by lunch. Love you! -Mom
I crumpled up the note and threw it away. It looked like I was home alone. Fine by me. I didn't really feel like socializing with anyone anyway.
I made some eggs and toast, and walked into the living room. I sat and turned on the tv to watch some Netflix. I turned on some random tv show and let it run.
I must have fallen asleep, because I woke up with a blanket on top of me. I looked at the time on the clock hanging from the wall. 10:39 pm. I must have slept for a long time. I picked up the blanket, turned off the tv, and went back to my room. I prepared for bed. I had school tomorrow. It's the final week of school. Finals preparation is in full swing, as they started on Wednesday. I was really confident in all of my classes. I had always been pretty smart. I plugged in my phone and promptly went to sleep. It had been a somewhat rough weekend, and I just wanted to sleep, even though I had sleep for almost 12 hours today.
I was ready for the week to begin. Honestly, the stress of finals week seemed like a much better alternative to the mess and headache that was this past weekend.
~~~
They were back. The blinding lights. I clenched my eyes as tight as I could. I felt a slight ringing in my ears. Then the lights were gone, as well as the ringing in my hears. I heard faint voices whispering.
"...all seven...language translator...prepare for rising sequence..."
A loud hum came to life. I could no longer hear the voices. The lights were back, but not quite as blinding. I opened my eyes to look at my surroundings. I could just barely make out faces. But they weren't human.
