Entangled and Locked Out

4. People might surprise you

Eli is woken up the next morning by a golden light from the sunrise pouring in through a crack in the curtains, which already bathes the small apartment in a orange comfortable glow. The man laying deep asleep beside her is the only thing her on her mind. With her hand resting on his torso, she watches his chest rise with every breath. She feels like she just fits here with him by her side and she turns her head to look at his calm face. She must've woken him up because he suddenly takes a tighter hold around her figure.

"Good morning", Sam says under his breath with his eyes still shut. "Can we just stay like this for a little while longer".

Eli hums in response and closes her eyes again. But her phone buzzes and interrupts the serene setting.

2 missed calls from Dad

14 missed calls from Mom

Dad: Honey, your mom is worried about you, so it might be an idea to go home. I won't be home when you arrive

Mom: Where in the world are you, Eli?? You need to get home RIGHT now!

Ass: moms gonna kill you but dont let her until I get home, and NO I havent said shit

Jesus Christ, well that just about says it all about my family, Eli thinks. She rolls back over to face Sam, who had silently been reading the messages over her shoulder, and he gives her a sympathetic look.

"So you want me to drive you home? I doubt your parents know where you've been going these past nights, so we can try and come up with a plausible lie in the car. ", he says and Eli agrees. Even if they don't form a plan, the car ride with Sam will definitely calm her down.

Samuel reluctantly drops her off around the corner from her house, insisting that it was too far for her to walk with her zero-wheeled bike. Eli decided to tell her mother that she went to buy bread, but her wheels got stolen and she had to walk back. Sam had stopped at a store and bought a loaf of bread, so Eli could back up her lie with some kind of evidence.

Walking into her house, Eli is greeted by not one but two angry women standing by the dinner table. Next to her mom, who is wearing a tired angry facial expression, stands Aunt Marie with her arms crossed. She's about to say something, but Eli beats her to it.

"Okay, I know you're upset and I'm sorry, but I promise that I can explain", Eli said. "So I got up really early this morning to go biking a bit, and I rode past a bakery and thought who would love to wake up to breakfast in bed?, so I got this loaf of bread all for you". Eli scans her mom's face while holding up the loaf and places it on the counter. Her mom still doesn't look quite swayed. "But when I got back outside some idiot had stolen the wheels of dad's bike, so I had to carry it all the way back home. I'm sorry, I should've called you, but my phone died".

Eli stands strong in her lie as she awaits a verdict from her mom and overly judgemental aunt.

...

Her mom ate up the lie, even though there were a few inconsistencies to find. She wasn't too happy about the bike wheels being stolen and said something about the expense and it being a waste, but there wasn't much to do about that. Eli wanted to make it up to her mom, so she volunteered to help out packaging some of the items, that her mom sells online.

"What the hell is this?", aunt Marie asks, looking disgusted at the pottery bird in her hands. Eli takes it out of her hands to inspect the weird-looking thing, it has glass squares all over it, making sort of modern-looking feathers. She hands back the thing to aunt Marie and she begins to package it in the box, while Eli writes the address that it will be shipped to. Kind of like a human conveyor belt.