Yeah, I Screwed Up... Again

Chapter 8

Once we got back to my parents house, my parents, Jared, and I all sat down and had an early dinner. It was Grilled Chicken with green peas and mashed potatoes, my favorite! My parents asked me how I was doing; all I said was that I would talk to them about some things later tonight after Jared left, even though he already knew everything.

                After dinner, Jared helped me take my bag upstairs, mostly because we needed to talk before he saw his parents. For a while we just sat on my bed saying nothing. The funny thing was that it wasn’t awkward. It was a comfortable silence.

                “Juliette, I’m scared. I’m scared that my parents hate me and don’t actually want to see me. I mean they didn’t even take off work so they could pick up their son, which they hadn’t seen in over year, from the airport. I mean, I would totally get it if they did hate me. I really screwed up their lives along with my own. I just---“

                “Jared, stop!” I cut him off, “If they hated you, they wouldn’t have let you come home. Maybe they tried to get the day off but their bosses wouldn’t let them. You never know. And if things go wrong, which they won’t, there’s a good chance that you could stay here.” Right as I finished saying that, the door bell rang. “I’ll get it!” I grabbed Jared’s hand and pulled him along with me to the door. When I opened it, I only saw a blur of a woman that pulled Jared into a hug.

                “Oh, my baby. I’ve missed you so much.” She sobbed into his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. It was only when I looked back at the door that I noticed the man who must be Jared’s dad. He had this look on his face that made him seem like he was going to break down in sobs in the next couple of minutes. Once Jared’s mom let go, he was immediately engulfed in a hug. Jared looked surprised at his dad’s actions, but he hugged him back with tears in his eyes.

                “Would you like to come in? You don’t have to if you would rather just go home and spend some time together.” I said in a gentle tone, mostly because how fragile they all looked.

                “Thank you Juliette for allowing him to stay with you until we could get off of work. Our stubborn boss wouldn’t give us the day off to see our son.”She then turned towards Jared, “I’m so sorry that we couldn’t pick you up from the airport, it’s our last day of work until after Christmas break.”

                “Mom, it’s okay. Let’s just go home.” Jared said this with a huge smile on his face and tears in his eyes. Then he looked over at me “Thanks so much Jules, I will see you in a couple of days.” He then gave me a big hug.

                About ten minutes later, my parents and I were sitting in the living room.

                “Mom, Dad, I am so sorry. I hate how I had been acting. I’m truly making an effort to clean up my life, and Jared has helped me realize several things. Firstly, I’m addicted to alcohol. Before you say anything, you can’t get it on campus which is helping a lot. He went through all of this when he first got shipped to Maine by his parents, so he’s helping me through it. Secondly, he helped me realize that everything that happened was my fault and no one else’s. I know understand the Hell I had been putting you two through, and I am truly sorry for all of it. And lastly, I want to stay in Maine until I can get rid of this addiction. If I’m here, there is too much temptation to screw up again. I don’t plan on hanging out with anyone from my old group while I’m here. I really don’t want to go back to who I was.” I started crying in the middle of saying this. My parents didn’t interrupt at all which I was very thankful for. The next thing that came surprised me. My mom started sobbing and came to hug me. I sat there for a good 5 minutes hugging my mom, sobbing right along with her.