Another Story

Chapter 3

That night I fell asleep right as my head hit the pillow, I guess I actually did some exercise which took my energy. I woke up the next morning at 11 am, which was earlier than usual. I checked my phone and found some snaps from Nate. He had sent some videos of him skating with his friends. The last snap he sent was from 7 hours ago when he got back home. I snapped back just asking how skating was since I didn't know what else to say.

I laid in bed for a little when I started feeling a burning sensation on my arms and legs. I took off my covers to see the painful mixture of sunburn and scratches from last night. Somehow I had forgotten the only reason I met Nate was that he tripped me with his board. I got slowly got out of bed, hating every moment, and went to grab take a shower.

I opened my door and heard the stillness of the house, the daily argument of dad and Carson wasn't for another hour so everything was peaceful and still. I stood outside my door for a moment and took in the rare atmosphere of the house. My bedroom door was right across an arched window that overlooked the house in front of ours. I looked at the blue sky and couldn't see a cloud. I don't remember what the sky looked like yesterday but I don't think it looked like this. I didn't realize how the sky was blue, or at least this blue. The sun was out and it was never going away it seemed.

I walked into the bathroom and took a shower. I saw the cuts on my arms from last night, the gash on my left arm was the worst cut on my whole body. It went from my shoulder to the top of my elbow. The wanter stung on every part of my body from the sunburn.

I dressed for the day and went to the kitchen to eat, completely forgetting about the daily routine that was about to take place.

"Afternoon Riley", dad said not looking up from his phone,

"Wait is it one already?" He checked his watch, "I haven't seen you awake before one in so long, are you feeling ok sweety?"

He looked at me and saw the cut on my arm, "what happened Riley? Did you fall or something?"

I didn't know how to respond to him since I know that I'd get in so much trouble if he knew that I snuck out. I just stared at him and the looked at my arm.

Carson must've heard him ask this because he came rushing down the stairs. He knew what would happen when he did this.

"Well it's about time you got out of bed", dad said shifting his gaze, "even your sister got ready for the day before you, when are you going to become more responsible?"

Dad had completely forgotten I was there and started lecturing Carson about how irresponsible his actions are.

I went into the kitchen, grabbed an apple, and went to sit outside. As soon as I walked out the sun hit my skin causing pain once again. I went inside and just decided to sit in the kitchen since I've dealt with enough trauma this morning. I was out of sight from the hallway where Carson and dad were going at each other. I could hear some words going back and forth, but I tried my hardest to tune it out. I looked at my phone and saw a snap from Nate from 3 minutes ago. I must've missed it when I went outside. I opened his snap and saw that he had invited me out today to the centre.

The centre was downtown or at least the closest thing to downtown that we have. It's full of local shops with the occasional Starbucks to soothe your caffeine addiction. The shops are run by families we know who got stuck in a family business. Most shops have clothes that are handmade or books that are published by local, or nearby publishers. The centre also has some restaurants, that are also local. The restaurants are why tourists come to this town. The food made are from recipes that are passed down through generations. People from the town can give the restaurants their recipes and see the meal their great-grandmother perfected. This is why it's so special.