A Change Of Heart

6

October 3rd, 1967

2:46 p.m.

'What a fabulous way to spend my Saturday...'

plopping myself down onto the couch and sighing heavily. My dad had called again last night and promised to come get me for lunch today. It looked like that had been another lie though, as it was now far past lunchtime and I hadn't heard anything from him. Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes and threatened to fall as emotions washed over me. I always hated dealing with these emotions, and bottled them up inside for the most part.

Shaking my head as if to clear the thoughts from my mind, I stood up and slipped my shoes on.

"Mom, I'm going to Tommy's, if Dad comes and asks where I am don't even bother telling him." I yelled, not even waiting for a reply before slipping out the door. I felt angry and sad all at once, my cocktail of emotions putting a black cloud over the beautiful sunny weather I walked in. Hurrying past Mr. Willis' house, I quickly made my way up the Pettys front steps and knocked lightly on the door.

"Hello?" I called, knocking again before the door swung open and I was greeted by Tom's little brother.

"Tom is out, I think he went to liphams." He informed smiling shyly at me.

"O-ok..." I nodded, waving a quick goodbye and smiling before he shut the door again. Walking back towards my house I decided it would just be best if maybe I spent the afternoon alone.

'If my own father doesn't even want to be around me why would my friends?' I wondered, feeling halfway angry at myself now for having a pity party. I settled down onto the porch swing, allowing a tear to slip from the corner of my eye. What was so wrong with me that my dad couldn't even give me a call to tell me he wasn't coming?

"Everything..." I sniffed, wiping tears from my now wet face. If I didn't stop soon my makeup would run, and then the ultimate embarrassment would happen; people would know I had in fact been crying. I absolutely hated to cry in front of others, it made me feel very weak and it compromised the tough front I tried so hard to maintain.

Closing my eyes, I rested my head back onto the cushioned rest of the swing to try and relax. The neighborhood nearly completely silent save for the sound of my foot pushing off the wooden boards to keep the swing in motion. The smell of freshly cut grass being blown by the warm breeze serving as an anesthetic for my emotions.

"Looney Tune...."

A weak grin crossed my lips, luckily I had stopped crying before Tom's arrival. Opening my eyes I gazed over at him, his blonde hair messy and his blue eyes narrowed a bit.

"What?" I became flustered, his consistent stare making me uncomfortable. He moved closer, his eyes never leaving mine as he sat next to me on the bench.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, why?"

"You've been upset."

"How do you know?"

"Your eyes look like you've been crying." He pointed out, wiping my stained cheeks with his thumbs, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Luna, what happened?"

"Tom, I don't want to -" I paused, my eyes searching his now aggravated face, "it's my dad."

"He didn't come by again?"

I nodded, looking down at the pillow in my lap and playing with the ruffles on the edge of it, "didn't even call me to say he wasn't..."