Twisted

Chapter 15

Erin's POV.

My eyes begin to slowly flutter to life, and I quickly discover that I am indeed sleeping in my own bed. I groggily look around, kicking the covers off of myself. I rub my eyes and reach for my phone that rests on the brown drawer cornered in my room.

"7:00am exactly, " I yawn. "Weird, I don't even remember going to bed."

Shaking my head, I swipe my hand down my face in agony and swing my feet over the mattress. I begin to neatly smooth my hands over my bed, caressing the sinfully, red sheets in pure neatness.

A gentle knock sounds on my door, and I wistfully look up. "Come in."

The door slightly opens, and it’s my dad who peeks his head through the open space. "Son, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Averting my attention to the bedspread, I run my hands over the silky sheet while speaking. "I'm actually running late for school. I'm lagging behind schedule, and I haven't even showered nor have I eaten breakfast. Can it wait?"

"Actually, Erin..."

I look up, and he frowns, fully extending the space of the door, giving his body enough leeway to step into my room. "It can't."

My dad takes a seat on my bed. I bite my tongue in annoyance, because I wasn't even close to done making it, but I don't tell him that. He pats a spot next to him.

"Erin," he begins. "Lately, I feel as though you've been keeping something from me. I know you've been like this for the past couple of months or so, but-"

“I’ve been like what?” I raise an eyebrow of confusion at him.

He lets out a breath of thought. "Well, sad and reserved. I would even say depressed. Do you even know how you got to your bed last night?"

"No," I honestly say.

"You fell asleep on Marilyn's lap, dried up tears stained all on your face. I carried you up here."

"You carried me?" Despite the seriousness that floats about in the air, I crack a smile.

"Yes, I carried you up stairs," we both laugh. Then his face suddenly grows serious. "Listen, Erin, all I'm saying is that I can't read your mind, honey. I don't know what's wrong unless you tell me."

Maybe I should tell him. Tell him all the things that have just went utterly wrong in my life. I guess it would be better to lift this agonizing weight that's been heavily planted on my shoulders than live in my own house pretending like nothing happened. Alright, here goes nothing. "Well, dad, it all started when Ashley-"

"Erin get your ass downstairs, we're gonna be late!" A voice yells from downstairs, and I instantly recognize it as Jake. I quietly laugh to myself, and my dad rolls his eyes.

Rising from the bed, I open my door and jog to the edge of the staircase. Jake stands poised with his blue jeans, shining brown hair, and yet another polo, this time in brown. When his eyes navigate to mine, they roam over my body in disapproval and protest. "Why the hell do you look like you just woke up? Didn’t you wear the same outfit yesterday?”

"Yeah, I kind of overslept,” I shrug.

"Well, you see this?” Jake points to his wrist watch in annoyance. “We don’t have time for you to shower and change, so just brush your teeth and grab your book bag. We’ve gotta go.”

 

The tone in Jake’s voice lets me know that he isn’t himself, but I ignore it for now and go to the bathroom to brush my teeth. Shortly afterwards, I grab my book bag and jog down the stairs to the banisters, expecting to see my grey jacket hanging there. Instead, I see a recognizable  purple one. Quickly realizing that it belongs to Marilyn, I swiftly grab the item hanging limb and head towards the door with Jake.