Not Like You

Chapter Eleven

If anyone was wondering, the songs posted in the header are the last songs I listen to while writing the chapter. Thanks! XOXOXOXO 💓💗❤️️💘💖

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"You're coming home for the weekend? Why? You got there like four weeks ago, Rosie," Dad said. I called him on Friday, three days after I said I would be going home on the weekend, as I was driving there.

"I'm not staying long. Just to get the Healey and a few other things," I turned onto the highway and looked down at the car phone.

"Well, I guess you picked the right weekend. I invited the Morrisons over for dinner tomorrow night," I groaned and was tempted to hit my head on the horn repeatedly.

"Really, Dad? I am not joining that dinner,"

"Why not?"

"I'm not going to listen to you badger me and make Ethan feel bad for two hours," I kept driving. I stopped at the Coffee Corner before leaving and my coffee was getting cold.

"I don't badger you," I laughed.

"Understatement of the year. All you do when Ethan is over is Badger me. Ethan's Mom and Brother don't do that," I took a sip of coffee and frowned at its temperature.

"Alright, Rose, just be careful, alright? see you soon,"

"Bye," I hit the hangup button and sigh.

"What will it take for him to give up?" I mutter to myself, looking through my contacts and landing on one of my most used.

"Hello?" I smiled.

"Well, if it isn't the elusive Addie," Addie squealed and I laughed.

"I'm so sorry I haven't called you, I just didn't have time. Running your own business is hard work, you know," she said. I smiled. Addie and I had known each other forever. We weren't casual best Friends that painted each other's nails and had sleepovers. We were there when we needed each other the most. If we needed a place to stay, no questions, we had room. If we needed to rant that bad, we listened. The last was the most important.

If anyone broke our hearts, we'd make them pay.

We'd grown apart when I decided to go to college. She always thought we'd be partners in her business, and it took her a while to realize I wasn't going to.

I could tell she was hiding something from me, but I didn't press.

"it's fine. I didn't call you either,"

"We're not calling people, are we?"

"Not really. I was just letting you know I was going to be in town for a while. I didn't know  if you wanted to do something or not," 

there was a pause. 

"Hang on, Rose," I heard mumbling and frowned.

"Yeah, I'm free. What do you want to do?" I shrugged but realized she couldn't see me.

"I don't know. You pick. Surprise me," she laughed and we said our goodbyes.

When I got 'home' I looked at the house in front of me. Without my care even for just about a month, the difference was clear.

The grass was long and needed to be mowed. Late dandelions and other weeds dotted it, along with some clover. The tree in the front was starting to shed its leaves and they were all over. The windows looked dirty from the inside and I dreaded what else I'd find.

I unlocked the door and walked in to be greeted by Dad's evil cat, Pluto, named after "The Black Cat" By Edgar Allen Poe. 

He hissed at me and ran the other direction.

Boy, were cats annoying.

"Dad? I'm home," I only brought one backpack, slightly empty just in case I wanted to bring anything with me.

I walked around the empty house, calling for Dad, but only finding a note.

I'm out. getting food. see you later. Bye.

-Dad

I crumpled up the note and threw it away, retreating to my room.

I was never raised in a big house. My father and Mother shared a room, and I was an only child. We needed two bedrooms and two bathrooms, a living room, and a kitchen. We were happy in the small space.

A lot of people asked me if being an only child was lonely, but I don't remember it being that way. My Mother used to play with me all of the time. She'd read to me, and I'd help her with her writings. She said she always wrote about me, but as a child, I didn't understand what that meant. I thought she meant she was writing about 'me'. The real, 'me'. But she took aspects of me and spread them all over, so every character she wrote had me in it. I ended up reading her work when I was older, and it was amazing.

The other thing my mother loved to do with me was playing 'the car game'. It consisted of cars and the person who counted the most different colors won. 

The main difference between us, though, came down to the dirt.

Literally.

She couldn't stand getting dirty. I can't count the number of baths she gave me. I would come in from working on cars with my uncle and she wouldn't hug me until I was completely clean, every speck of dirt gone.

"Rose? I saw your car!" I heard Dad and walked out of my bedroom door.

"Yeah, I'm here," he nodded at me and went to the kitchen with grocery bags.

"How long has it been since you mowed-" I stopped at the sight of the kitchen. The dishes were piled up and there were food stains all over. The oven looked disgusting, and the microwave was sickening.

"Dad, you have to clean. Why did you plan on having the Morrisons over in this?" I asked. He shrugged.

"They usually help me clean it up," I rolled my eyes.

"I'm going to go Mow the yard, and you have to clean up the kitchen. The whole thing? Got it," he rolled his eyes like a child and I took his car keys.

"What are you-" I walked out the door and Dad followed. I opened my crappy car door ( I had a used 2016 Nissan Versa. It was lime green and gross. I got a phone holder installed on the top to use it as a car phone) and tossed in his keys, locking it behind me.

"Your keys are staying in my car until you clean that entire kitchen to my liking. Do you understand?" I asked. He groaned and walked back into the house like a teenager. That was all he was, really. 

I changed into moving gear and got our push mower started. After a few tried, it sturred and started. Even moving the yard made a difference, as it chopped down the clover and weeds, sucking up some of the leaves as well.

I ended up cleaning the windows and power washing the driveway before I realized what I was doing. I didn't live here anymore, and my dad needed to learn how to do things on his own.

I put everything I took out away and headed inside for a shower. After a quick rinse, I got dressed and locked myself in my room, hoping to avoid an awkward dinner. I heard a knock at my door and answered it to see Dad standing there, a pile of cash in his hand.

"Two hundred dollars if you sit with us at dinner," I looked at the money in his hands.

"Nothing else. Just the dinner?" he nodded.

"Alright. I'll get dressed and be out there in ten,"