Dust

Chapter Two

Blueberry pancakes with freshly picked strawberry syrup from the garden. Lana didn't distinguish that sent as sweet, it was distinguished as a Saturday morning. The pan's steam slithered upstairs to Lana's bedroom, where it wafted into her door and dragged her back downstairs before she could fully open her sleepy eyes.

"Good morning, my flower." Her mom said as Lana dragged herself into the kitchen. My flower. It was a nickname Lana had had since she was a toddler. She never thought to ask why, it was just something that they did. The only time it really bothered Lana was the one time that she had a boyfriend over, but she didn't have the heart to ask them to stop.

"Hi mom," she replied, "smells good." Her mom's eyes twinkled under a bright smile as she flipped the next pancake. The plate was stacked to at least a dozen, and even between just the three of them, there were never leftovers on Saturday mornings.

Lana's dad sat at the table, pretending to read anything other than the cartoons on his daily paper, when everyone knew that he was. But he squinted when he read, and Lana knew exactly why, and sighed inwardly.

"Dad," she said, "did you lose your glasses again?"

"Of course not," he replied without looking away from his cartoons, "I know exactly where I put them."

"And where is that?"

"Wherever I had them last." Lana laughed and took a seat next to him, resting her tired head on his shoulder. There was a scent of evergreen to his laundry that Lana could never get tired of. A moment of comfortable silence passed before her mom finally said, "Breakfast!"

Within minutes their plates had been filled then emptied. After just two Lana was rubbing her stomach while her dad was helping himself to fourths.

"The weather's been stubborn, hasn't it?" Lana's mom asked. "The sun hasn't come out in days." Lana stared out the window, where the sky looked as if it had been coated in ash it was so grey. But she smiled, of course, while her mother grimaced. Sometimes Lana wonders how she could even be the sum of her parents, they were so different.

"So what are you doing today, Lana?" Her dad asked with an obvious attempt of covering his tone of concern.

"I'm gonna finish my next book." She answered. Her parents shared a sidelong glance.

"Are you sure you don't want to go out somewhere? You're favorite weather is waiting for you."

"Then I'll finish my book in the backyard." Her parents just stared at Lana in slight exasperation. They've been trying to get her to socialize more lately. But the thing was, was that there was nobody to socialize with, not anymore.

"Oh come on, Lana." Her mom sighed. "We're just looking out for you. You should be out with other people your age."

"That'd be easier if I was still in kindergarten, where I could make friends with a girl if we liked the same color. It's not the same in High School, don't you remember? You were there. Cassie was the only one who was different from the others...But I'm okay with it, I'm okay with my books." It was true, Lana could read for days on end, but there was a deeper part to her where she knew that she was lying to herself. And of course her parents knew it too, and they refused to stop pushing.

"Just an hour. One hour at the mall then I'll pick you up. Deal?" Lana took a moment to think. She didn't want to agree. She didn't want to give into a pointless command and sit at a bench for an hour, where she could potentially end up making awkward eye contact with someone from school. But she did it anyways, because if she didn't, her parents would be forcing her to volunteer for community service just to meet people.