Sweet Nothings

Chapter 2

That next morning
"Reid. It's 6:00. I've got to get home before my parents chew me out again." I whispered, trying not to wake anyone else in the house.
"Lacey. You're nineteen and in college. You don't live in their house anymore, so what are they going to do?" Reid said, making a pretty valid point.
"You clearly don't know my parents. They called me a couple of weeks ago and tried to ground me for drinking. They'll find a way to throw it all back to me and get irrationally angry." I stated, rolling my eyes.
"Wait. They seriously tried to ground you when they're here at home and we're away in college?" Reid seemed pretty shocked.
"Exactly what I mean when I say my parents are crazy."
"Well then I guess i'll walk you home before they get really crazy." He said.
"Oh they're already crazy. I spent the night over here so clearly we were gettin' busy all night and that must mean i'm pregnant." I ranted.
"But we were gettin' busy all night." He winked.
"Not the time, Reid. I'm going to head on home and hope my parents have some mercy on me. I'll text you later babe. Love you." I blew a kiss and swiftly walked down the street back to my house.
• • • • •
I opened the front door as quiet as I could, but it was pretty pointless.
"Where the HELL have you been, young lady?"My mom stood, tapping her foot impatiently on the ground.
"Young lady? Mom, i'm nineteen and in college." I snarked at her.
"I don't care. Answer my question." My mom shot me an annoyed look.
"I spent the night at Reid's."
"Are you sure you made the right choice there Lacey?" She said back.
"Mom. We live together for crying out loud. Why should it matter if I spent the night at his house while I'm home for summer?" I argued, which probably wasn't my best option here.
"I don't like that you two living together, your father doesn't like that you two are living together, and until yesterday, we didn't even know that you two were living together." Leah persisted.
"Oh please, mom. One more time, because i really don't think you hear me yesterday when i reminded you that when you were my age you were married, and I was a year old. Don't try to throw this back on me and make me seem like the bad guy. And you knew we were living together because you threw it in my face the second I walked in the door." I continued to fight back.
Cole and Kyra crept down the stairs.
"Why are y'all shouting? I'm trying to sleep here. I still have school for one more week and I'd like to at least get some sleep on a Saturday." Cole said.
"Yeah, me too." Kyra mocked.
"I'm going back to bed too." I said, dragging my feet up the stairs.
"So. What'd you do this time?" Cole whispered.
"Slept at Reid's house."
"Are they ever going to get over him?" He asked.
"Honestly, probably not. Whether they like it or not though, he's probably going to be my husband one day." I stated bluntly.
"So you'd seriously marry someone that mom and dad don't like?" Cole questioned.
"Yes, Cole. He's a great guy and I really don't see why they think he's such a bad guy. He's not at all."
"Alright, Lacey. It's been a good chat but i'm going to go back to bed now. See you later."
"Night baby bro."
• • • • •
I woke up later that morning and crept back down the stairs.
"Well isn't it nice of you to finally join us."Jackson stated sarcastically.
"It's 9:45. Cole and Kyra are still upstairs sleeping. Don't make me the bad guy here." I argued.
"They need their sleep. Cole is still in school and Kyra is in her little Preschool. They have to get up early on weekdays." He fought back.
"Yes, and i'm a college student. I can guarantee that the work I do is much more difficult than Preschool or junior year."
"Do not back talk me. I've just about had enough of your attitude lately." Jackson continued to lecture.
"What do you mean lately? I've been back home for less than 24 hours."
"Yes, and in those less than 24 hours you have lied to us and been rude and deceiving." Leah butted in.
"So I was deceiving my spending the night with my boyfriend who I live with and you knew I was going over to his house?" I argued.
"Well, in a nutshell, yes." Dad shrugged.
"Great. So while we're on the subject of being deceiving, let's just get all the yelling over with this morning." I lifted my shirt to reveal the purple and pink watercolor scene tattooed down my ribcage.
"What the hell is that Lacey?" My mother shouted.
"Oh dear god please tell me you did not permanently mark something on your body."My dad hid his head in shame.
"No, actually I permanently marked 4 something's on my body." I kicked off my sock to reveal the letters 'cb' in small scripted font on my foot, pulled my shirt off the rest of the way to show the lotus flower planted on the center of my lower neck, and ripped the bandaid off my middle finger to reveal a small ellipses marked ever so delicately.
"I am so extremely furious with you right now, Lacey. I can't believe this." Mom said.
"Oh, so we're just going to pretend that you don't have tattoos mom? A little hypocritical don't you think?"
"I have the initials of my three children tattooed on me. I didn't get some silly little tattoos on a whim, Lacey." Mom defended.
"You think that I didn't think about this first? That I just went in and picked one off the wall? These all have meaning to me. I'm not a silly little teenager just going in to get a tattoo for the hell of it. I'm a smart girl and I really wish you would think so too." I was appalled that my parents would think that I would do something so drastic just on a random whim.
"We know that you're a smart girl. You just chose to make some not so smart choices." My dad said.
"Isn't that what grandma told you when you told her you were pregnant?" I asked to my mom.
"Well, something like that, but that's beyond the point. You really need to clean up your act and get it together." My parents lectured.
"Clean up my act? I finished my freshman year with a 3.88 gpa. I think i'm doing quite well for myself. And I can do it whilst living with my boyfriend. Imagine that."
"That's enough, Lacey. If this attitude keeps up, you'll transfer to Davenport University and move back home with us." Dad said bluntly.
"So you'll make me transfer from Michigan State just because I had a little bit of an attitude? Seems a bit extreme don't you think, considering how hard I worked to get in?" I argued.
"Extreme situations call for extreme measures." He replied.
"This isn't an extreme situation, dad. We're talking about my college education and my possible future here." I cried.
"That is a bit much, Jackson. Let's just drop it and let whatever happened last night be over with." My mom said, wanting the whole argument to be over with.
"I can drop it if you can, Lacey." My dad agreed.
"Deal."