Abnormal

Chapter 7

"You can't come to my recital?" I asked, trying to hide my disappointment.

"I'm sorry Genevieve there's just too much to do and Jo can't sit through that. Your dad will take you. I'll try to come next time." she said.

"But you always come to Spencer's concerts..." I said quietly.

"Spencer will be in college soon and he'll be gone. You still have plenty of time and plenty of recitals left. I'll come next time." she said.

"Whatever. I know I sound awful anyway." I said, walking out of the dining room and up the stairs to my room. It was true, what I said. When it came to music, Spencer was always the center of attention. He was the one whose concerts they went to, he was the one who got praised, he was the one they cared about. But for me? Nah, I didn't matter. I wasn't any good. They'd drag me to my lessons and my recitals but they clearly didn't actually care. 

I flopped onto my bed and cuddled up in my blanket.  

Well, maybe they would have if it wasn't for Jo. That monster took up 70% of their attention, Spencer got 25%, and I got the measly 5% left if that. 

No one cared about me, no one paid me any attention, and that stunk. It wasn't fair. I was the good kid. I was the one who always did the right things, never got in trouble... sometimes I even cleaned the kitchen. But they didn't repay me for being the perfect kid. They didn't love me. Jo and Spencer. They got it all. Everything, everything, was about them. I was tired of it. I hated being the overlooked, unloved, neglected kid. I didn't deserve it. They should have treated me better. They should have cared about me. I didn't know why they didn't.

I heard a knock on the door and Spencer's voice, not exactly the voice I wanted to hear at that moment.

"Wanna go downtown with me?" he asked. He sure did have bad timing. But if going downtown involved coffee, like it normally did, I couldn't say no. I may have been mad at him for stealing their attention, but my love for coffee outweighed my annoyance. Right then, that had to be some pretty strong love. 

"Viv? You coming or not?" he said.

"Give me a minute," I said, as I got up and wiped my damp cheeks and wet eyes. I hoped he couldn't tell I'd been crying. That would be awful. I hated awkwardness. I found my shoes and opened my door and followed Spencer as he stomped down the stairs like an elephant, walked out the door, got in his car, and pulled out of the driveway. In usual Spencer fashion, he turned stopped the radio on the station playing Michael Jackson and sang along in a mockingly hilarious imitation. Sometimes he really knew how to make me grin, even if he didn't know I needed to. 

 In a few more miles we were downtown at the coffee shop in an old brick building with wooden rafters and an industrial vibe. 

"Hi welcome to [name], what can I get for you today?" the lady with an apron asked.

"Viv?" Spencer always made me order first so he would look like the courteous brother. And so I was the one with less time to decide what I wanted. Well, he was the one paying for it. Or, more like it, he was the one who had mom and dad's money to pay for it. 

"I guess I'll take a... iced decaf americano with caramel." I finally decided.

"And I'll have just a black iced coffee" Spencer added.

"Okay, that'll be $8.92," she said. 

I couldn't believe how expensive coffee was. 

Spencer casually handed her the money, and we sat down to wait for our coffee.

I looked up Spencer and whispered, "That is so expensive!"

"Yeah but it's not like we go that often," he said flippantly.

"Still..." I mumbled.

He had already pulled out his phone. I did the same. 

Nobody texted me. Social media was boring and just made me jealous. I didn't play games on my phone much. There really wasn't much use in me having one in the first place since there really wasn't much for me to do with it. 

I peered over at Spencer's phone, which he slightly jerked away. I only got a glimpse of the screen, but there wasn't much of anything interesting on it. It was just the text app, and he was talking to a dude from church, so I doubt they were saying anything too mature for my eyes to glance upon. But Spencer was like that, he didn't like people knowing what he was doing, even though it wasn't anything bad. 

"Regular iced coffee!" the lady called. Spencer went up to the counter and retrieved his coffee, which he drank just the way it was, no sugar or cream or anything. I liked coffee, but I didn't like coffee that much. Should I have gotten the larger size or the smaller? Iced coffee was less coffee than normal anyway though, so the large was probably the right choice. $8.92 though...

"Iced decaf americano with caramel!" said the lady. And there it was, my five dollar drink. I better enjoy it. 

Once I had poured in my sugar and creamer, Spencer and I went outside. The weather wasn't so bad today--partly cloudy and in the seventies. There was a breeze too, so that was nice.

"Let's just walk around," Spencer suggested. 

"Sure," I said.

So we walked. Past the furniture store, the drug store, the weird boutique store that was somehow still in business, and the antiquey store. Then around the corner, we walked some more, past the police station and down by the train tracks under the trees, sipping our coffee as we went. I saw a familiar face looking out the window of the police station. I hoped he didn't notice and recognize me. He probably didn't since I wasn't covered in grass and dirt this time.

We came to the crossing and Spencer startled me be walking onto and standing on the train tracks.

"What are you doing you crazy [weird animal]? You'll get squished!" I said.

"Nah, I'm just taking a picture," he said. 

"Well hurry up with it! Doesn't the train come by about this time of day?" I said.

Right as he took the picture and hopped off, I heard the rumble in the distance. Judging by how quickly it intensified, it must have been the passenger train, too, and those went fast. The barrier sticks came down across the road parallel to the tracks and we went across to the sidewalk of the other side of the street also parallel to the tracks.

The train came whizzing past, creating a wave of air that could push someone flat on their back if they were close enough. My hair flew behind me as I put my hands over my ears, trying to block out the noise of the loud horn. I tried to take a picture with my phone, the one thing I could do with that block of metal, but the train was gone before I could get it in time. 

"Shoot! It goes by so fast!" I vented to Spencer.

"Yeah, if you try to get a picture, it's mostly just a blur," he said. "I've tried it before and it doesn't work well."

"Too bad..." I said. 

We kept walking since I still had plenty of coffee left and the sun was still shining brightly high in the sky. 

"It's a pretty day," I said, trying lamely to make some conversation.