Once Upon A Twisted Fate

Five. - Limited Patience

Mom opened the door for Ashton and I, beaming like a child getting candy. The genuine smile on her face was quickly shrunk by the grimace on Ashton’s. She stepped aside, letting us through the front door. Ashton paced upstairs to his room silently, not making eye contact with Mom, or Dad, who was walking down the staircase and witnessed Ashton’s expression along the way. “I’ll explain,” I said, sighing as I walked to the living room. Mom and Dad followed.

                Summarizing everything that happened just now, excluding anything leading to my obvious dislike towards Dillan, Mom and Dad were filled in. Silence poured in for a few minutes. I waited for the dreaded time to pass by, for my parents’ verdict to be disclosed. They could think it was a better idea for me to stop working at the café, after just one unofficial night shift. And what a shift it was. If I were them, and not a repulsive teenager, I might agree. But I didn’t want to stop. It felt so wrong to.

                “Why did he take your clothes again?” Dad asked, sounding confused. Leaving out every single detail did have its downside. I could imagine mom and dad asking me to quit because of Dillan. Not going to happen.

                “Dad, that’s not the point,” I stressed.

                “Is he alright?” Mom asked, which I guessed she was referring to Dillan.

                “I think so,” I said, remembering how badly swollen Dillan’s face was and how he didn’t even want to look at me after that.

                “I’ll talk to your brother later,” Mom said, scrunching her forehead when she left the living room.

                “Eryn, I think, maybe—”

                “Dad,” I cut him off, not wanting to hear what might come out of his mouth. “It was just a misunderstanding.”

                He sighed. “Alright, Eryn. But I don’t want anything like this to happen again.” With that, he patted my knee and left the room as well.

                That night, I cleansed my face, brushed my teeth and slipped into my pajamas. I thought the second I laid on my bed, I’d be completely knocked out. Instead, the opposite happened. Every side of the bed and every side of my body that I turned to, couldn’t be satisfactory enough to lead me into slumber. I just felt so wrong. As to figuring out why, my mind navigated back to Dillan. Ashton was wrong for punching him, definitely, but I couldn’t help but think I was partly the blame. If I had just accepted his offer. If I had just controlled myself. If I had just pretended to be nice to him. Perhaps, none of this would have happened. I got fed up of trying to fall asleep and went over to my laptop on the study table and turned it on, surfing the net until my eyelids became heavy and my head fell on the table.

                                                             .~'.*.'~.

Cassandra could hardly believe me when I told her about last night. Her eyes widened throughout my storytelling, gasping so loud when I talked about Ashton punching Dillan that it turned heads in the cafeteria.

                “Mom said I can walk to the café after school, but she still wanted Ashton to fetch me home,” I explained when Cassandra asked about my to and fro. “She talked it through with him last night and he agreed to come by after Dillan leaves.”

                “And what time will that be?” Cassandra asked.

                “I don’t know. 10, maybe? ‘Cause yesterday Ashton came at about nine thirty but Dillan’s driver hadn’t arrived yet.”