Envy

CHAPTER 10: Alysa (November)

I wake to the sound of the garage door opening, making the whole house rumbled. Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I yawn, waking Dexter who had been sleeping at my feet all night curled in a little ball. He woofs at me, annoyed that I woke him for his slumber. “Oh shush, dork,” I yawn into the crook of my elbow. I dreamt of Braxton that night, and the future he promised me. Away from here. I mean, sophomores in high school can’t do much, but it was something.

I hear the back door open, signaling to me that someones in the house. Feet thump up the stairs, stopping right in front of my door, shadows move. I can see them from the little crack under my door, leading out into the hallway. There’s a knock.

“Come in,” I say, bringing the covers up to my chin, scared of who might be on the other side of such a thin piece of wood. My heart is doing it’s best to beat right out of my rib cage. The door creaks open, revealing Dad standing on the other side of the threshold. I let out a slow and shaky breath of anticipation, not even realizing I was holding it in. “Yes?” 

“Come down stairs,” says Dad, with a gleam in his eye. He’s happy. That’s not good. He hasn’t been happy sense Kim left, and that only means.... “Why?”

“Your mother and I have a surprise for you,” he chirps, bounding down the steps. “Hurry!” He yells from the bottom of the stairs.

“Um, coming!” I shout back. Yeah, bad surprise, I thought. Gathering all the courage I could muster, I throw my legs off the side of my bed, cringing when my feet smack Dexter, who must have moved to the floor while I was talking to my father, in the head. He yelps and scampers away, tailing my dad.

Throwing on some sweats to accompany my old t-shirt, and slipping on a pair of slippers, I dragged myself down the stairs. “Okay, what is it?” I shouted into the house, my heart racing on who I might see. “What’s this surprise?”

Shadows danced in the kitchen, quiet, urgent voices floated to my ears. “Dad?” I tested, drawing closer to the doorway. “What’s going on?” A little bark answered me. Not Dexter’s big, loud manly dog bark, but a tiny, puppy dog bark. And.... another. Two little dog barks. Two puppies. 

Someone cursed in the kitchen, and I heard mom say, “Well, I guess it’s not a surprise now.” I smile wove itself on my lips. It wasn’t a bad surprise at all. It’s not who I thought it was going to be at all. It was a good surprise. I turned the corner, expecting to see Mom and Dad holding two little puppies. And I did see two little puppies. But it wasn’t Mom or Dad holding them.

I gasp.

It was Kim.