Love Me | Series Book #1

THIRTY

He didn't answer, but I left a message anyway.

I stared at the stars on my ceiling, and rose my hand to my face, pinching one of the stickers between my index finger and thumb. I put those stars up when I was seven years old. This moment seemed so far away back then. About the same distance as the view of the ceiling from where I lay.

There was a new life out there, waiting just for me. I hadn't thought too much about it until now. In only a few months, the problems that seemed so significant now would be forgotten. It was hard to even imagine my future when I didn't know where tomorrow would lead me.

I turned over in bed with my phone still resting in my palm.

***

"Do you want pizza or wings  for dinner?"

My eyes strained at the bright light filtering into my bedroom. Aaron's silhouette stood in my doorway, outlined by his large jersey and kneepads.  I sat up, rubbing the crust out of my eyes. My phone, laying against the pillow, told me that it was just past six.

"Um," I rose my arms over my head. "Pizza sounds good."

I sat on the edge of my bed, trying to piece together the time I'd lost in my head. If we were ordering food, then that meant both my parents were home. At that, I stood and headed for the door, carrying the good news on the tip of my tongue.

"Mom, Dad!" I started, taking two stairs down at a time. From over the banister, I saw that my father's lounge chair was occupied. His eyes were trained on the television which meant I'd have to fight the game for his attention.

"Dad," I said, entering the room. As I closed the distance, I saw that it wasn't an NFL game after all, unless the players shrunk about two feet. It was a taped practice of my brother's team.

"What is it Kay?" he asked, without one glance over.

"Wait, I need mom to hear this too."

But, he wasn't even hearing it because the conversation was one sided.

"Look at this! Did you see that?" he lifted the remote, and paused the video before the pictures began moving backwards. "I tell Aaron time after time that he's gotta throw with his shoulder and what does he do? He uses his elbow. He never listens to a thing I say."

And, you could only imagine where he got that from.

I tried again.

"Dad there's something I need to tell you-"

"Can it wait? Your brother's got his first game of the spring season coming up in just a week. I've gotta figure out a new line up because this is just horrible." he shook his head, "This is just pathetic. You see that don't you?"

He finally met my eyes only to motion between the screen and where I stood.

"Yeah, I see."

As I left the room and entered the hallway I stopped before I could take another step forward. Standing around the corner of my mother's office, I heard her end of a telephone conversation traveling my way.

"I faxed you the files before I left the office, they should have been there....well I don't know who would have moved them, maybe you didn't search hard enough."

She rounded the corner, stopping in her tracks when she found me standing there. She covered the mouth of her phone.

"Kaya, did your father call for dinner yet? I haven't got the chance to, I've been on the line since I stepped into this house."