"Thank you!" I called before the bus drove away. I walked the five-minute walk to my house just to find our house's driveway packed with so many vehicles parked. I walked further passing different people dancing to the loud music playing from who knows where. What is going on? I probably walked so slowly that I noticed people staring at me with looks on their faces as if to tell me to 'walk away' or something. I opened the unlocked front door to find more people crowding the house. I pushed past the almost-drunk teenagers to the stairs.
"Welcome to the party, sis!" I heard Fallon yell over the loud music. I could literally smell alcohol from her. Ew! I scrunch my nose in disgust and stepped back to form some sort of a distance. She pulled a drunk boy who wrapped his hands around her small bare waist. "This is Kevin. My handsome boyfriend" She introduces.
"Hello" I smiled even though I honestly wasn't interested in meeting her boyfriend who probably must be the fifth guy she's dating this month. I'm not lying. Fallon is always with this new guy every week. She must be a strong person if she's able to move on fast.
I leave the two who basically are grinding against each other in front of me, and walk upstairs to my room. I lock the door hoping the noise from downstairs is low and thankfully it isn't that loud. I grab my towel and towel and walk into the washroom to take a shower. Fifteen minutes later I changed into a pair of sweats and a loose fitting top. I tie up my hair loosely and start with my homework.
-
It's been almost five hours and the party is still going on. How long do these things end, anyway?
"Prolly until tomorrow" I answer my own thoughts. Since I had nothing to do I made my way downstairs hoping I'll be able to convince Fallon to end the party and send these unknown people home. I walk downstairs seeing the house or should I say a junkyard. There's red and blue plastic cups almost everywhere and even some plates are still laying on the couch. The counter is occupied with the pizza boxes and bags of drink bottles. The kitchen is a pigsty! So much for trying to maintain the house. I look around for Fallon and even ask some of the people dancing drunkenly. But all I got was shrugs and laughs. Finally, I find her in the backyard seated around the pool with her gang of friends. I take a deep breath before approaching her, who's sitting on her boyfriend's lap.
"Oh, look who it is!" Her friends shout. 'I'm not deaf, people' I mentally said.
"Can you please tell your friends and whoever in the house to leave?" I slowly asked. She ignored me with a groan. "Did you hear me? I asked you to send these people away..." I said again a little louder this time.
"I heard you, bitch!" She shouts angrily. " But sorry, I'm not gonna send them away." She mocked rolling her eyes. "Who the hell do you think you are? Huh?!" She spat which made her friends laugh.
"Please, Fallon-" I felt her hand come in contact with my cheek.
"What did I say, huh?" She said angrily before she pushed me into the pool which I hadn't expected. I was gasping for air at first but recovered after a few minutes. Now, all of her friends and a few other people were surrounding the pool laughing so hard when I was crying but you can't actually tell thanks to the water.
I got out of the water and ran towards the back yard door. "Poor girl! She's probably gonna cry her ass off!" I heard people say behind me but I couldn't have been more bothered because right now all I wanted to was yes, they're right. I wanted to cry alone in my room. I walked upstairs tripping on my own feet because my vision was blurry thanks to the tears pooling over my eyes.
I walked in my room, closing the door behind me, falling to the floor crying softly. Is it always going to be like this? This was the constant question I kept on repeating in my head whenever I cry. What wrong did I do? My cries died down soon seeing that this is an 'always thing'. I cry myself out and then move on. I washed my face and lied on my bed staring at the plain ceiling. The only thing running in my head is how am I going to get the house cleaned when there's a lot of people there? My mother is going to have my head if she sees the house like that tomorrow. Suddenly I got an idea. Maybe if I could sleep for now since I've done the laundry and I've completed my homework and packed my bag for tomorrow and then wake up around four in the morning, that's two hours before the usual time, so there's no way my parents are awake at that time and I'm hoping there won't be any people from the party.
I set an alarm for 3:50 so I could have ten minutes to get rid of my sleepiness cause we're talking about like three hours hours from now. It's already 12:15. I put my phone to charge on the plug right next to my bed so I could hear the alarm when it rings. I knock off the lights leaving only the night lamp on and turn on the fan before getting under the sheets.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
I hear the annoying alarm ringtone. It felt like only minutes ago I fell asleep. I groaned under the sheets but got up nonetheless. I yawned wearily getting out of bed and folding the thick sheet. I tied my hair up in a bun and walked downstairs thankfully finding no one but only a house full of garbage. I sighed a breath of relief before getting to work.
I plop on the floor, exhausted from all the strenuous cleaning I did. I walked back up to my room to get ready for school today. I took a quick shower feeling a little refreshed and changed into a pair of jeans and a top that's ripped in the back. I stepped into my pair of white vans. I grabbed my bag and went downstairs to get my breakfast I cooked not long ago. Minutes later I heard footsteps.
"Uh, good morning, mom." I greeted her as she walked down wrapped in only a robe.
"Did you do yesterday's house chores?" She asked, completely ignoring the greeting.
"Yeah." I say before remembering something. "Mom, can I talk to you about yesterday?" She did answer. Obviously. "Well, I don't think it was fair for Fallon to throw parties like that without at least telling me." I said and her head shot up.
"You don't come telling me about Fallon throwing parties! She can do whatever she wants!" She screams her eyes full of nothing but rage. There was no hint of care or even pity. I looked down to be lifted again roughly by her. "Don't you ever say anything about that girl! You're nothing but a piece of shit!" She spat at my face and slapped me right after. I sniffled looking down, taking that as my cue to leave. I ran out of the front door to the bus stop.
I got into the bus that arrived a few minutes later, leaving me to calm down. I smiled at the driver before sitting at one of the window seats enjoying the early morning's cool breeze. The clouds are starting to make room for the sun to shine. I pulled out my Iphone, typing in the passcode and scrolling through Spotify in search of a new album to keep me occupied. I probably would have listened to millions of albums for the past few years if that's even possible .
I stopped by the bus stop that's close to the restaurant I work at after school because I thought I'll stop by Jamie's since I have plenty of time for school. I walked by the solitary street to where she lay, finding her awake leaning on the brick wall and staring ahead. She looked in my direction, maybe hearing my footsteps getting closer to her. Her eyes lit up when she noticed that it was me.
"Good morning, Jamie." I smiled at her and sat next to her.
"Good morning, dear." She smiled warmly. "What brings you here? And at this time?" She asked
"I just got up really early today so I thought I'll drop by here. I'm sorry if I am being a bother. Do you want me to leave?" I was about to get up before she gently grabbed my hand.
"No, dear. It's alright if you stay. Thank you for dropping by here." She smiled. "For an old lady like me, I could use some company..." she says sadly but smiles nonetheless.
"I brought you breakfast..." I said in an attempt to change the topic. "I made pancakes today" I pulled out my lunch box, opened it and gave it to her.
"Thank you, darling but did you have your breakfast?" She asked, still holding the box in her hands.
"No but-"
"Share this with me then." She interrupted me by giving me a pancake and a tissue.
"Thank you." I giggled. "So, any news about your granddaughter?"
"Actually...I heard she has been adopted." She says and then the conversation goes to how she ended up being homeless which I've heard many times but still listened to her say the same story to me again. I still found myself laughing at her witty jokes even though I've heard them quite a few times. It's sad that she was only left with her granddaughter because her son and daughter-in-law had passed away on the spot in an accident a few years ago. Jamie didn't have the money to raise her granddaughter even though she wanted to. She was heartbroken to give her away for adoption but what else can she do?
"At least I know she has someone who will look after her.." she says and I nod.
"I just wish I could look after you. Maybe after I finish school I'll get us an apartment or something where we could live there. That way you'll be safe and healthy too. I'll work and always be there to take care of you." I spoke my idea out loud.
"I really appreciate you saying that, Meriliya dear, but that's too much." She says.
"It's not too much. I know I can take care of you. Jamie, please" I said, really wanting to help her out.
"No, darling. I couldn't accept that. Besides, I'm getting older day by day. I'll be gone before you know it.." she says so confidently leaving me with tears pooling in my eyes.
"Don't say things like that..." I said softly, letting the tears down my cheeks.
"I'm fine, okay? Don't worry about me." She rubbed my back. "Now, you better go to school. I'll see you in the evening." She smiled.
"Yeah I have to go now. I'll see you in the evening, Jamie." I got up from her mat.
"Have a good day, Meriliya," she smiled. I wiped my eyes before saying it back to her and leaving for the bus stop.