The Good Hair Family Sitcom

S1 E7.1: He Said

Cyrus's POV

I knock on the door with one hand while trying to keep the laundry basket of folded clothes balanced between my hip and my other arm. 

"Jayda," I say through the wood of her bedroom door, "can I come in?"

"No."

The girl's room has been sealed since last night, and she's only come out to use the washroom and grab food. She also let me get her dirty clothes this morning, but bringing them back is apparently the hardest part of the chore. 

"I have your clothes," I tell her. 

"I just want to be alone!" she replies. 

"Jayda, you need to let me in, or you're not going to have any clothes to wear to school on Monday."

"Then I'll go naked! Just leave me alone!"

TJ overhears that as he comes up the stairs and looks at me with eyes struck wide. 

"I thought we had a few more years before that phase started," he comments. 

"Okay, Jayda, I'm leaving your clothes on the floor in the hall," I say. "Grab them when you want."

I bend over and place the basket by her door, and when I stand back up, I see Wyatt coming out of his bedroom. 

"Jayda, I'll grab them for you if you give me ten dollars!" he shouts. 

The teenager yells in response, "Keep your grubby hands off my clothes!"

Wyatt hangs his head down in disappointment and goes back into his own room, but he leaves the door open. I really wish Jayda would do that sometimes. When I turn around, TJ waves for me to come with him, and the two of us go into our own room where white walls greet us, along with a forest green bedspread and dark wood chest of drawers. 

"How are you doing?" TJ asks.

With his fingers, he strokes my arm down to my hand which he takes delicately in his. It makes me feel a little more balanced since the day's been constant rocking on tumbling waters. 

"I'm really worried about her," I confess. 

"Me too," TJ replies, "but I've been trying to put it into perspective. Amber used to do this all the time when we were teenagers, and she's okay."

"Amber also snuck out, like, every week," I remind him. 

"Okay, but let's be real. Jayda probably does too."

"You're not helping."

"Okay, so something clearly happened," TJ states, "but she's not going to tell us unless she wants to."

"I suppose you're right."

"Until then, we'll get a doggy door installed to slide her dinner through to her."

I manage to laugh at that, which lightens some of my fear. 

"Maybe we shouldn't support this by renovating our house to cater to it," I tell him.

He copies my smile, responding, "Okay. We'll just leave the dinner outside the door."

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Buffy's POV

I show up to Brayden's room with a stack of home-printed newspapers in my hands. Brayden and Andreas share a room upstairs. It's easy to tell whose side is whose, because there's a line on the carpet where Andreas's mess of belongings stops, changing into the clean, orderly area that is Brayden's. Whenever I go in there, I like to pretend Andreas's side doesn't exist. it's much easier to look at the maps and renaissance artwork decorating Brayden's side than the posters of various movies, bands, and actresses taped up crooked on Andreas's. Currently, my youngest son is sitting at his computer, typing away.