3 Years

Chapter 16

When I got home the house was quiet. Too quiet. I looked around the house and it just didn't feel like home anymore. By the looks of things, nobody had been in the house for days. It was unnerving. 

"Mum?" I called out. I don't know why I called her, I already knew that she wasn't here. 

Silence. Of course. I left my things at the front door and started looking around the house to see if my mum had left a note of some sort. Usually when she was going to be gone for long periods of time she would leave sort of note for me. 

For almost half an hour I searched the house for a sign of my mum before realizing...I could just call her. She knew that I was coming home tonight so me calling her shouldn't be a surprise. 

When she finally picked up the phone, she sounded almost out of breath. She honestly sounded like me after I've run up the stairs. 

"Hello?"

"Mum." I sighed. "Where are you?"

There was a pause. Silence. "Out. It's none of your business."

I blinked in surprise, she'd never cared if I asked where she was. She knew that it comforted me knowing where she was in case something went terribly wrong.

"Sorry for asking?" I said sarcastically. After everything that had happened, her snapping at me really pissed me off. "I was worried in case you were wondering."

"Phil you're in high school now. I'm allowed to have a life. Do you want me to get you a babysitter?" 

I didn't really intend to...but I lost it. "You don't have to be such a bitch!"

I hung up and threw my phone across the room. I didn't care how mad my mother would be when she got home, she had no right to act like that. After sitting in my room for about twenty minutes, thinking about what had happened with my mum before I realized something. I should have asked if mum was alright. She doesn't get mad at me unless she's already stressed about something. Great. I'd probably made that stress like a million times worse. Bravo Phil.

I climbed off my bed and grabbed my phone from the floor. 3 missed calls and 5 unread texts. Texts? My mum never texts. I don't think she even knows how to text really. The only time she ever tried, I got some weird paragraph that was auto corrected into nonsense. She didn't send me any texts ever again. 

I decided to look at the texts, deciding that my mystery sender was more important than looking at all of the calls that I missed from my mum. 

I should have known that it was Dan texting me. Who else talks to me?

sorry about earlier. Are you ok?

Phil?

Please answer

I get that you're mad but tell me if you got home

if you don't answer in 5 minutes i'm coming over to check on you

fine then, I'm coming.

I read the last text then started panicking. There's no way I'm going to talk to Dan...let alone invite him into my house. Maybe I could just make it look like I'm not home. Or I could leave before he got here...

No. Might as well show him that I'm here then make him go away. That's easy enough to do...right? 

Before I had the chance to decide what I was going to do I heard the doorbell ring. My mind went absolutely nuts with panic. Do I go answer the door? Do I hide under my bed until he goes away? Do I just jump out the window and let myself get seriously injured so that I physically can't talk to him? In my head the last option sounded like the best option but for some reason i found myself getting up to get the door.