Death Doesn't Due Us Part (Haunted)

October 2nd

The Next Morning

            “Ahhh,” I sighed, sitting up from my deep slumber. I opened my hazel eyes to beautiful sunlight streaming through my window, the curtains billowing softly in the wind.

            Wait…

            I don’t have curtains.

            This isn’t my room. My room is a small, perfect square with lilac walls. This is a large, rectangular room with white walls and curtains.

             Suddenly, the thoughts of last night flooded into my mind.

            Jack was away from me. And he would be for a very long time. So long that I may never even see him again.

            And it’s all because of my arrogant parents who don’t understand teenage love. "You don’t know what love is at your age." Ha! Says the person who was pregnant at seventeen and married at eighteen.

            I thought back to last night. After my father tore me away from the only life I knew existed. After the quick ride to the airport, we boarded a plane that went fromVermont toFlorida. I fell asleep on the drive from the airport to this wretched home. I remember waking slightly as my father carried me up the stairs. I also remember hearing the beeps from the moving truck backing in around three this morning.

            I was sleeping on a couple blankets on the floor. My furniture was on the far end of the room, along with boxes of my possessions. I got out of bed and walked to a box with pink lettering on it. It had been the last box I’d packed, unbelieving that I’d be forced to leave, but getting it ready just in case.

            It read, “Jack and Me.”

            I slit the tape on it with my manicured nail. The item on top was a photo album of our precious memories that happened between just a couple days ago to two years ago. I glanced at the first photo; it was me and Jack at the park. I was fourteen and he’d just turned fifteen. We were on our first date. It had been so romantic. We’d had a picnic lunch, taken a walk, and watched the stars appear. It was one of the best days of my life.

            My thoughts were interrupted by the shrill ringing of our new house phone. It’d take a while to get used to that noise…

            I herd my wide-awake mother greet the caller cheerfully. Her voice turned sour as she said, “No, she’s still asleep.”

            Hmm, who would be calling for me now? My friends? Probably not, they haven’t got a caring bone in their body.

            “No, she doesn’t ever want to talk to you again, so don’t call,” she said evilly. I’ve never heard my mother be so mean. Who could she possibly be so fresh to anyone I know? And who don't I want to talk to?

            I walked to the door and stood their in silence, just eavesdropping.

            “Look, buddy. She doesn’t love you. That’s why she moved. Go die in a hole!” The phone was slammed into its dock and my mother’s heals started tapping up the stairs in the direction of my room.

            I pushed the album back in the box and slid it behind a dresser. I jumped into my make-shift bed the second my mom’s heel hit the landing. I shut my eyes, breathing deeply to fake sleeping.

            What did she mean when she said “She doesn’t love you?”  Was she talking to Jack? But why would she be so rude to him? I do love him. I love Jack.

            She walked by my room, probably going to hers to get something. She stopped at my door on her way back.

            “Honey,” she chimed. “Wake up.” She knocked on the door-frame.

            I took a big breath and tossed around. I sat up with a, “good morning, mother.”

            “More like good noon. You slept through the morning. Lunch’ll be ready in ten!” she exclaimed cheerfully. “Go and explore the house, you’ll love it.”

            “I’m sure I will,” I said sarcastically.

            What is it that prompted her to be so rude to Jack? Is she hiding something from me? Keeping secrets? Was she even talking to Jack? And I would never expect to hear my mom to tell someone to “die in a hole.”

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Author's Note: Each chapter is titled a date instead of a chapter number or title because I post a chapter every day until October ends. So you'll know if I've posted the chapter for that day or not! Thanks for reading. And remember-

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