No Turning Back

Keep Telling Yourself You Don't Like Me

"Danny, Danny, Danny," I heard little Zac yell as his little feet jumped happily on my bed. I was lying on my stomach with my face in pillow, trying hard to ignore him. He had been jumping on my bed for the past fifteen minutes for whatever reason. Usually he let me sleep in on Saturday's so I guessed that our parents had sent him up here to wake me up. I really didn't want to though. I didn't have to be anywhere until later. Jayden and I agreed to meet at the library at 2 so that meant I had all morning to relax. I wished my parents understood that concept. "Danny, please wake up," he said as he hopped onto my back and began to shake my shoulders.

"Zac, it's Saturday," I mumbled. "That means that you're supposed to let me sleep."

"I know but daddy told me to wake you up." Ugh, what could he want at 9 in the morning? "Besides, momma said breakfast will be done soon." Hmm, now that sounded pretty good. I was pretty hungry. Last night had been really busy for me. I had to pick Mia up, then pictures with our friends, then the dance and being crowned homecoming king and all that. It was a fun night but it left me tired as all get up. Half the kids who went probably aren't even conscious yet. I heard there was an after party at one of my teammates' place but I didn't go. Mia and I decided to just go home since we were both pretty worn out. Once I got out my dress clothes and lay in my bed: I was knocked out. I honestly didn't even realize Zac was jumping on my bed until he had been doing it for a while. I was too busy enjoying my deep slumber to really notice.

"Alright, alright," I said as I got up. I yawned as Zac cheered happily. I smiled at him before I got out the bed. I threw on a pair of my pajama pants over my boxers and threw on a tank top. I may have been inside of my own house but I still didn't like walking around half naked. I was raised to be too modest. Zac followed me out my room and downstairs into the living room. Ashley was lying on the couch watching television in her pajamas. Her brown hair fell in waves around her head but her eyes were drooping in exhaustion. She had gone to the dance last night with her friends but I did notice that she sneaked out of it early with some guy. I didn't know who he was nor was I trying to really question her about it. I knew that she would tell me about what happened when she was ready. By the looks of it though, it seemed as if she was fine so I didn't think I had anything to worry about.

"Good morning," Zac and I told her in unison. She looked in our directions and smiled softly.

"Hey guys," she said, her voice a bit scratched up. I raised an eyebrow at her. "Don't look at me like that. I just lost my voice from all that hype at the dance last night. I had to cheer my head off when my big brother was crowned homecoming king."

"Mhmm," I said. Ashley smiled innocently at me. Zac hopped up onto the couch next to her.

"Can I watch TV with you," he asked her. She nodded. "Okay, what are we watching?"

"Freddy Krueger."

"Turn that off. He can't watch that. He'll get nightmares," I told my sister. She waved her hand at me.

"He'll be fine." I rolled my eyes.

"Alright but when he wakes up in the middle of the night, I'm putting him right in your room so that you can deal with checking his room for monsters." Ashley once again waved her hand at me.

"Yea, yea," she said. "Dad wants you."

"Where is he?"

"In his office." I nodded before heading out the room. I walked through the dining room to get to my father's office. It was a medium sized room near the back of the house with big wooden doors. Inside, there were bookshelves, a huge desk, a desktop computer, and a coffee table along with some chairs. My dad spent a lot of time in there when he was home. As much as he hated to admit it but he was very dedicated to his job. He was practically always working. He was always on his phone when our family went out places and when we were home, he was always in here. Sometimes, I wondered if he liked his job since he was always doing something for it. Whether it was making phone calls or checking stock and sales or making sure the employees were doing their jobs. I would guess he did but I don't think he did. I think he just like the compensation that came from it. He didn't have to worry about our college funds or anything like that because of how much he got paid. Sure, it was a good thing but I could tell that his job was stressing him out more than he wanted to let on. Even now as he was sitting at his desk in his pajamas, typing away on his computer, I could see that the weariness behind his eyes.