Camping, Families, and Odd Occurrences

O n e

O n e  ♥ June 10th

I had a relatively good relationship with my parents. In fact, I counted them as some of my best friends. I had a better relationship with them than my friends had with their parents , and I didn't call my mom a "bitch" like others might.

   However, right now, they were on my top hate list.

   I should probably back up a little so you could understand just where I was coming from. Once you understood though, I was certain you would wholeheartedly agree with me that my parents were being completely unreasonable and heartless.

   The day started like any other. Well, except for the fact that it was the first day after my graduation and I was getting tons of texts and invites to a bunch of open house parties.

   I woke up at 9 A.M., just like I always did, but I didn't actually get up until about 11 A.M., and then I headed down for breakfast with my small family. My parents were acting normal, which was why when they suddenly started acting abnormal later it truly surprised me.

   I sat next to my younger brother, Cole, at the breakfast table. Well, really we sat at the counter but we called it a table...I wasn't really sure why though. The "table" was made of marble and was always very clean due to my mother being an extreme perfectionist. Or maybe she had OCD. Either way, she liked everything to be spick and span, including her kids.

   "Did you brush your teeth, Cole?" she asked as if it was the most usual conversation ever. Which, for her, it kind of was.

   Cole sighed. "Mom, I'm not a five year old."

   "Doesn't mean you don't act like one. Now, did you or did you not?" she said as she set a plate of blueberry pancakes in front of him. Blueberry pancakes were my dad's specialty. They were delicious and perfect and were always served every Sunday morning.

   "I did not. I'm about to eat. I'll clean 'em afterwards." Cole answered Mom. Cole was a "good boy" most of the time. He listened to Mom and Dad, didn't get into too much trouble at school, and had decent friends. (Meaning Mom and Dad had yet to meet the not-so-decent ones.) Cole was just a bit off this morning because today he had to try out for some music festival that was in town.

   You'd think he would be excited and jittery, but instead he was like a big lump on his stool as he dug into his pancakes. Cole didn't get excited about stuff like this; I mean, I was sure he got excited on the inside, but on the outside you'd think he was dreading it. Cole was a wonderful musician and could play the guitar pretty damn well, even I knew that. In fact, I bragged about it all the time to my friends.

   Mom handed me my pancakes, not even bothering to ask me about my teeth. I was the oldest, which to them meant that I was the most obedient. That was partly true. I did in fact brush my teeth this morning. But every kid had their share of secrets, and my secret that I was keeping from them wasn't the most...honorable.

   I wasn't pregnant or anything like that. It wasn't even that bad of a thing. But to my parents' eyes...well, let's just say that if they found out, they'd be asking me every morning for the rest of my life if I'd brushed my teeth.

   After breakfast had been served, my parents sat at the real table to eat. "So," my dad started, his attention on Cole, "have you been practicing the song you're going to be playing?"

   Cole nodded and answered in monotone, "Yeah. It's ready to be played."

   By the way his leg was bobbing up and down, I knew that Cole was nervous about it. "You're gonna do great," I smiled warmly at him. He smiled back, his leg coming to a stop. Cole was sixteen, and although he acted a lot older than that, he was still young and still had those foolish insecurities about his talent. I was the one of the family to really cheer him on. Sure, my parents encouraged him to move forward with his music, but in reality they just wanted him to go to college and learn engineering or something like that.