Strip

Chapter 18

Chapter 18

I didn't even bother going to Dirty Girls. I just grabbed James' hand, and pulled him upstairs. He tried to say something during this, but I ignored him, and collapsed into my bed. I stuffed my face into my pillow, and squeezed my eyes shut. And for the first time in years, I fell asleep before 10:00 pm.

I woke up 7 and a half hours later, so James yelling in my face.

"MOLLY!" He yelled, jolting me awake. 

"What the hell James?" I yelled back, pushing myself up in bed, grasping my blanket in my hands.

"Finally," James said. "You were asleep for 20 minutes after your alarm clock went off. I checked your pulse to make sure you wern't dead. But then I thought maybe you were in a comma like on that show that you won't let me watch but you left on one time when you fell asleep and I saw some of it, and basically a comma is when you're asleep, but you can't wake up, and you have to go to a hospital and-"

"I know what a comma is James," I said. I now noticed that my alarm clock was still blaring in the background. "What time is it?"

James whipped his head around to look at my alarm clock. "7:32. I didn't know how to turn it off, so it's still making noise."

I reached over and hit the off button. I rubbed my eyes, and let my hands stretch down my cheeks. "Ok, time to do some shit," I mumbled to myself, tossing the covers off me. "James, go get dressed, I'll make breakfast. Do you want eggs? I can make eggs."

"Ok. But Molly-"

"Go get dressed James," I said. "We can talk about this over breakfast."

James hesitated, and opened his mouth to say something. 

"Just go James. I need to make myself presentable."

James obeyed, and left my room. I stood up, and started to strip from my clothes from the night before (still a bit damp from the rain). I then pulled on a yellow t-shirt and a pair of faded jeans. 

I looked in the mirror, and remembered I hadn't taken off any of my makeup from the night before. I hadn't been wearing much- a little bit of mascara and bb cream- but I knew my skin would pay for it. I sighed, and re-applied my mascara, pulled my hair into a messy bun (without combing it) and headed for the kitchen.

I started on the eggs. Despite my employment at a restaurant (Well, a fast food chain but technically still a restaurant) I wasn't what you would call a "good" cook. The dishes I could make consisted of toast, mac'n'cheese (from a box), and eggs. The eggs usually turned out a little burned, but they were still edible.

I was scrapping the eggs onto two plates, as James walked in. "You didn't brush you're hair," I said.

"Neither did you."

"Yeah, but I concealed my messy hair with a bun." I pointed at it to prove me point. "See? You however can't hide your hair in a hairstyle as fabulous as mine, so you must brush your hair."

James glared at me for a moment. I flashed him a dazzling smile in return. He left in search of a brush (I assumed).

By the time James got back I was almost done with my eggs. "Hey, your eggs are getting cold," I said, finishing my last bite. "Eat up. We have to leave in-" I glanced at the clock- "6 minutes."

James sat down, as I cleared my plate. "Molly?"

"Yeah?"

"It's parent-teacher conference day."

I felt the color drain from my face. "It... it is?"

James nodded.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" I almost screamed.

"You told me to get dressed!"

"You should have told me anyway! And why didn't you tell me last night?"

James shrugged.

"Argh!" I yelled. I rubbed my temples, and rolled my eyes to the ceiling. "Ok," I said. "I'll go in instead of mom."

"But... mommy has to come in."

"Well, we'll just explain that she couln't make it, ok?"

James nodded, looking worried.

"Ok, um, do you know what time you're conference is?"

James shook his head.

"Well that's great!" I said, literally throwing my hands in the air. "Ok, come on, we have to go,"

"But, my eggs-"

I grabbed a granola bar, and threw it to him. "Eat that on the way. Come on we have to go now."

"Ok," James said timidly. I handed him his backpack, and grabbed my bag (I was pretty sure bringing my backpack with me wouldn't make me seem very adult, or responsible).

"Come on James!" I said, grabbing his hand. I threw open the door, slamming it behind me.

As I pulled James down the stairs, I probably should have been thinking of reasons for why our mom couldn't come in. Or try to think of how I could possibly pass as his mother. Or anything more useful that what I was actually thinking.

Shit shit shit shit shit.

Hello there!

Thank you for reading. Sorry this chapter is shorter. I don't feel like this is a very good chapter, but I really hope it leads up to the next one being better (I'm excited for the next one!)

So.... remember how last chapter I was going insane because this had reached 500 reads? Or you know, how you skipped over that since I am one of the only people who actually cares....

Well, today I looked at the number of reads, and it's over 600. WHAT??? WHAT??? IS THIS REAL??? THIS IS AWESOME!!! OH MY GOD THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

Sorry for any grammar/spelling mistakes.

XOX