Opposites attract

Breakfast

"Your female school captain for 2018 is...Adren Parks!"

I wasn't surprised, but I definitely was annoyed. Four of the people who deserved this position the least and who had bullied me for such a long time were up as the leaders of the school. I was more disappointed in my schoolmates than anything else.

Adren made a scene of going up on stage. Everyone was cheering on there feet and so was she. Yup. Adren was cheering for herself. She shot a smug glare at Emma and I. "I'm so done" Emma murmured folding her arms.
"I'm sorry Em. This is so unfair!"

"Your junior captains for 2018 everyone!" Mrs Dwyer announced. Everyone cheered on. I was ready to leave but Vanessa Baker, one of the members of the counting committee rushed up on stage and said something in Mrs Dwyer's ear.
"Everyone hold on!" Mrs Dwyer announced. Emma and I looked at each other then back at Mrs Dwyer.

"Everyone please be quiet!"
It took them a while, but eventually everyone was relatively quiet and sitting down again.
"So, it seems there has been some fowl play!"

Loud murmurs followed. Everyone was looking around at each other asking questions.
"The ballads were rigged!"
I raised an eyebrow and looked at Emma who looked weirdly happy. She really didn't like anyone on that stage so I understood. I was just confused.

"Karen Summerly has been disqualified due to a breach of the terms and conditions of running, Karen You were seen bribing a member of the counting committee".
"Oh god" I rolled my eyes. I honestly wasn't surprised but everyone else was, as if they didn't know that Karen Summerly was an idiot.

Vanessa said something else in Mrs Dwyer's ear. Mrs Dwyer nodded then spoke up again, "I'm sorry Adren but you didn't win fairly. Karen added extra votes with your name".
Adren looked at Karen as if she were about to jump her. Karen had her head down and was avoiding all eye contact.

"The real female junior school captain for 2018 is Blakely Wood!"
Everyone looked at me. There was no way that was right. No one knew or liked me, after what happened at the debate I pretty much lost all hope of wining even vice.

"Finally! Something right!" Emma squealed hugging me. I was so shocked it took me a while to hug her back. I walked up stage and people actually cheered. It was the most bizarre thing that had ever happened. Why did anyone vote for me??

"Adren, the badge please?" Mrs Dwyer said.
Adren looked at me then at Mrs Dwyer, "there's no way this is right!" She exclaimed shaking her head.
"Well it is" Mrs Dwyer said, "please remove the badge".

Adren slowly took the badge off and handed it to Mrs Dwyer who clipped it on my shirt.
"Karen, since you are disqualified, Adren is the new vice captain".
Adren snatched the badge from Karen then pushed her away, "this is all your fault!"
Adren stood beside me and I stood next to Lucas. "Your 2018 school captains everyone!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day was a Saturday. I was supposed to be having breakfast with my dad and mom so we could talk about where the best place for me to live was and what not.

My sleep pattern was getting back to normal again which was good, but that meant I didn't wake up as early as I did when I could barely sleep. I woke up late to the sound of my phone ringing. My mom was calling but I hung up so I wouldn't have to explain why I was late, then I rushed to the bathroom and brushed my teeth then threw on a hoodie over my singlet but stayed in my shorts like the weirdo I was.

My parents were probably already together waiting for me, my mum had gone to the gym early in the morning then met up with my dad so I was going to have to meet both their disapproving looks when I got to the restaurant we'd agreed on.

I was still a little tired and I was rushing so Without thinking I ran a red light or two. I didn't even realize until like 10 minutes after I did it. It was a pretty hectic morning to say the least.

I got to the restaurant and I spotted my parents through the window. They were laughing at something which was weird.
They didn't even notice me when until I was sitting down. "Hey sweetie!" Mom smiled handing me the menu.
"Hi guys" I smiled back suspiciously. All our encounters as a group before this one had been filled with either awkward silence or screaming. I didn't get why they were being so civilized.

"You're still in your pajamas" dad laughed.
"She was still asleep when I called her" my mom looked at me pointedly.
"Yeah" I said slowly looking down at the menu, "what are you guys having?"
"We're sharing an omelet" dad answered.
I raised my eyebrows and looked at him, "you two?" "Who else Blake?" He smiled.
"Don't call me Blake" I said firmly shaking my head.

"Sorry Blakely" he corrected himself. "Do you want to order?" Mom asked. "I do" I nodded.
We called the waiter over and he took our orders.

I got the almond butter pancakes and a glass of orange juice while my parents ACTUALLY stuck with their shared omelet.

For half the morning they were play fighting over who had the bigger half and what the omelet reminded them of. I just stared at them and tried to figure out what they were doing.

"Blakely honey" mom laughed, "do you remember in New York when your dad was taking the photo of us in Central Park, and he told you to move back and you fell into the pond?"
"That was last year mom. I remember" I sighed picking at my pancakes. "Of course" she cleared her throat.
"So was the purpose of this breakfast to announce that you're getting back together?" I asked.

Both their amused expressions immediately dropped. "Cause all you two have been doing all morning is flirting".
"We haven't" mom gasped.
"Can't we be civilized?" Dad asked
"Oh you can, but you guys look like you want to make out right now in a very uncivilized way".
"Blakely!" My mom frowned.

"What? I'm sorry that I can't pretend like this family IS a family and everything's fine. You two haven't even talked properly in 2 weeks, dad's living with another woman, and the first time we all meet up, you guys want to pretend like were a perfect little family? If that's what we met up to do then I don't want any part of it" I stood up to leave but my mom stopped me, "I'm sorry sweetie. Sit down, we'll talk ok?"

I looked at her and sighed then sat back down, "where am I staying?" I asked upfront.
"We haven't decided that yet, we want to include you in the decision" my dad said.
"Right" I nodded.
"We both obviously want you to stay with us, but that's not possible. We can't come up with a solution or a compromise without you, so what do you want?" Mom asked.

"What?" I asked.
"What do you want sweetie, do you want to stay with me or your father?"
"Wait So by including me in the decision you mean you're gonna make me decide?"
"Well we can't seem to come to an agreement and neither of us want to bring lawyers into this, we are capable of figuring this out ourselves, we just need to know how you feel" mom said.

I looked down at my now empty plate. I already had an answer of where I wanted to live, but I didn't want them to make the decision on where I was staying based on that answer. I could be indecisive and change my mind a lot, I didn't want to choose wrong then regret it.

"I didn't realize this was how it was gonna be. I thought you guys were gonna tell me where I'm living then ask me how I feel about it, that's what I thought you meant by involving me" I murmured.

"We would never do that Blakely, how you feel is really important" dad said. "I kind of wish you did that" I sighed looking up at him, "I don't know...can I think about it?"
"Of course sweetie, we know this is really heavy and we wouldn't put this decision on you if we didn't think you were capable of making it. You're 18 next year, you can and should start making your own decisions, your life doesn't have to be controlled by our decisions anymore" mom said.

It already was though. My dad's decision to cheat on my mom changed not only my life, but me. Their decision to split up changed how I viewed love and marriage, when I was a kid they seemed so happy together, it made me want to get married just so I could be that happy. It was either all an act or they both changed dramatically because a love like that doesn't just disappear.