The Voices and I

chapter eleven

"I'm coming over right this second."

"It's two in the morning you do realise that don't you?"

There were many benefits to having a best friend but being forcefully woken up out of your sleep and being told that your house was about to be infiltrated wasn't one of them.

"Can't you just come in the morning like a normal person?" I said yawning and scratching my head.

"No! I've already left my house!"

I held the phone away from my ear, tactfully avoiding the complete loss of hearing. Even with the phone being a ruler length away I could still hear Tori's voice shouting at me.

"You shouldn't be walking on the street at this time."

The phone line went silent. For a second I thought that she had hung up.

"Tori?"

I sat up, heart pounding in my chest.

"If this is meant to be funny you seriously need to re-evaluate your sense of humor!" I shouted almost forgetting that it was the middle of the night and my parent's room was only a few meters away. As if by magic there was a call from the hallway.

"Ivy, what are you shouting about? Are you alright?"

Oddly enough it wasn't my Mom's voice dripping with concern for once. Muffled footsteps made their way towards my door and without even knocking in comes my dad. He stood awkwardly in the doorway and just as he was about to open his mouth a noise erupts from my phone.

"Who said anything about walking! Mom's dropping me- see you in ten, love you!" she said hanging up before I could get a word in edgewise. Dad looked at me, unsure of what to say. I looked at him, also unsure of what to say and together we turned what could've been a normal situation into an awkward, uncomfortable encounter as we always seemed to these days.

"So...w-who was that?"

It was obvious by the way dad kept looking down at his feet that he was nervous. I missed the days when we could speak about absolutely anything and everything without feeling this deep underlying shame. I used to think that he deserved to feel that way. He'd been a good dad for a very long time but then one day he just stopped. Mom had always been a workaholic and I never expected anything more from her but when Dad finally decided to ditch me it was heart-breaking. He practically was my Mom. He was the one who cooked for me, made sure my homework was done and hugged me when I was sad. Even boy-talk was something I did with my dad.

Work was wearing him out, that much was clear. His head was covered in white like a lump of snow had dropped on his head. Dark bags hung under his eyes seemingly dragging all of his features down. Even the smile he was wearing now seemed worn out like it no longer carried the same purpose as it did all those years ago.

Still, he looked at me expectantly, ready to hear whatever I had to say like it was his lifeline. Day by day the guilt was getting worse. When did I become so selfish?

"Ivy?"

"Yeah...um sorry I zoned out completely. Oh, and it was my friend Tori."

It felt like it had been a decade since the word friend had passed my lips. It looked like it was a first for dad too because he raised his eyebrows like he was shocked that I was even capable of making friends.

"Dad," I said dragging out the syllable. "Don't look at me like that! I'm not a complete and utter loner you know!"

He raised his eyebrows even more (If that was even possible) putting his hands up defensively.