Catching Fireflies

Ten

C

It had been another long week, filled with more small conversations and more jokes with Ashley in the office during fourth period, and another short weekend filled with sleeping in and more hangouts with my friends. It was now the next Sunday.

We didn't have school on Mondays and with no school I had every other Sunday filled with scheduled work down at the diner I worked at to make a little pay to help with gas for my car. On the weeks I didn't work on Sunday's, I worked on Monday's. I had just gotten off from a long day of work and the sun was almost completely set. Half of it still peaked over the horizon so I sat outside on one of the benches nearby the front door of the diner and watched it go down while also giving my legs a little bit of a break. My back was also setting itself on fire and I urged for a hot bath with epsom salt.

"You look tired as ever," Isaac was standing in front of me and I had remembered that he lived nearby and often walked around the stores to stretch his legs and escape from his house for a little bit.

"I did just get off of work, so," I shrugged. Isaac sat next to me and we both stared offward.

"How's everything with your 'Ashley' situation?" He said while using his fingers to make metaphorical quotations in the air. He found it funny and chuckled to himself a bit, but I just frowned.

"It's just peachy." I murmured. Isaac grimaced and scratched the back of his head awkwardly. He slumped in his seat.

"Still staying away from him though?" Isaac bounced his feet. I didn't tell him of the past week and the last few nights from the weekend before when we had encountered each other. I didn't tell him the fact about how Ashley carried me all the way home and tucked me nicely into bed.

I just disregarded all of it.

"Yeah. Just keeping my distance like you and the others have told me." I said and twirled my fingers around a strand of my hair. I bit the inside of my cheek as Isaac stared me down.

"We just don't want to see you get hurt again, that's all," Isaac adjusted himself, and heaved a deep breath. He then sat up from the bench and turned back to me. "Maria's waiting for me, so I'll leave you to it." He walked off with a small wave of his hand.

I turned back towards the setting sun in the horizon and only a peak of it was left to disappear. I got up from the bench next, then walked to my car and drove home in the dark. Once I got home, I walked through the front door and all of the lights were off. I turned on the kitchen lights and found a note left for me on the counter. The note was from Liam and it stated that he had gone over to a friends house and that mom and dad had gone off on another date of theirs and wouldn't be back until Tuesday. I crumpled up the note and tossed it into the trash.

I took a shower and changed into cleaner and more comfier clothes then grabbed my sketchbook and airpods and left my bedroom while closing its door behind me. No one was home so I had the entire house to myself.

I went into the living room and assessed it by standing in the middle of it for a few minutes until I finally nodded to myself and grabbed all of the clean sheets we had in the house. I grabbed a few chairs from the dining room and dragged them over. I tied all of the sheets together then draped them over the conveniently placed chairs. I stole pillows from my own bedroom and my parents room and tossed them into my new makeshift fort. I went downstairs and grabbed the small mattresses we normally use for guests to sleep on the floor and draped them in sheets and put them into the fort. I placed the pillows around the mattresses and then covered them with blankets.

I went back into my bedroom and took my laptop and charger with me into my fort and set it up. I then threw my sketchbook and colored pencils into the fort then went into the kitchen to grab snacks that consisted of chips, cookies, crackers, some fruit and a mini trash can for more convenience for myself.