The Time of Your Life || c.b

Fifteen

6:30pm, Christmas Day. We sat at the dinner table eating a delicious turkey dinner prepared by Joyce. I loaded the mashed potatoes onto my plate in a heaping pile and poured an unnecessary amount of gravy over top of it, along with my turkey and stuffing. The entire family stared at me in awe. I didn't used to eat this much before I moved out to LA, but for some reason, after I moved into the mansion with the boys, my appetite grew to the size of a house.

"Jeez, Agnes, slow down!" Austin joked. "You're gonna explode."

I laughed with a mouthful of mash potatoes, but I didn't slow down. Dad furrowed his brows in a confused/amused type of way. "Did you move in with a bunch of animals?" he joked. "Who taught you to eat like that?"

"I mean the boys she lives with may as well be animals, they're pretty reckless!" Maddison joked. It would've been funny, had my parents known that I was living with a group of boys. I didn't speak, but dad did.

"Boys? You said you found a place, you didn't tell me it was with a bunch of boys," he said. He seemed to want to be told that we were just joking, that I wasn't actually living in the garage of a mansion owned by five men in their 20s.

"It's j-just temporary," I blurted.

"Just temporary my ass," dad grumbled. "What a surprise that you move into a house full of men the second you move away."

"Jon, do not start this here," my mom scolded, shooting daggers at my dad. Joyce didn't speak, thankfully. I think she knew that no matter whose side she took, it would end badly.

"I'm sorry, Maxine, but this is ridiculous. Do you not have anything to say to your 19 year old daughter? I forbid you to--"

"Dad, I don't live with you anymore. You can't tell me I can't live with them. They're my friends. Nothing more. They offered for me to stay there so I wouldn't be homeless when Warren and I broke up. So forgive me, but I'm not moving out just to make you happy."

Dad's jaw dropped in shock. For a few seconds, nothing was said. Then, his eyes narrowed into a glare at me from across the table. "Get out of my house," he spat.

Joyce spoke now. "Jonathan! It's Christmas, can't this wait?" she begged him. Dad ignored her, again telling me to get out.

"While you are living in that house, whoring around, you are not my daughter. Now leave my house before I call the police," he said to me. My heart dropped down to my stomach. I was no longer hungry, in fact, I felt pretty sick.. I stood up slowly, sending my father a sad look. He had never been like that to me, and I didn't know how to react.

As I walked out of the room, I heard fast steps towards me. "Agnes!" my mother called out.

I turned around, giving her a small smile. "I'm sorry for ruining tonight, mom. You didn't deserve to see that. I am living with a bunch of guys, but three of them had girlfriends and they're just my friends anyway. I'm just there until I can find somewhere to stay," I explained to her.

"You are 19. I don't expect you to do all of the things I want you to do. I trust that you are a nice girl, and even if you weren't, you are my daughter. I'm not upset with you," she said to me with a small and sad smile. I hugged her hard, not allowing the tears that threatened me to spill out. I told her I love her, and that it meant a lot to me that she said that.

"I know you're going home soon, but if you want to, before you leave, you can come by the place I'm staying. Just, uh, let me know," I said. She nodded and agreed that if she had time, she would come by on her way to the airport.

I said goodbye to Maddison, Joyce, and Austin. I didn't look at my father before I left, my bag in my hand. When I got to my car, the tears began to pour out. I didn't know what to do. I could go back to the mansion, but Elton and Amanda were having people over for Christmas and I didn't want to intrude. I couldn't really call Sam or Colby, since they were in Kansas. Suddenly, as if on cue, my phone started ringing. Colby is calling, it read.