(REVISING) LET THE SUN IN | matt sturniolo.

[ CHAPTER FIVE, tv ]

TV
billie eilish

i don't wanna talk right now
i just wanna watch tv

and i'll be in denial for at least a little while
what about the plans we made?

THIS WAS THE part Arlo hated most. The girl stood at her front door for the first time all day. It was past midnight, and while she is 18, her mother still has rules.

She unlocked the door quietly, letting out a dreaded sigh before making her way towards the living room. The lights were on and her mom sat on the couch, with the TV off and phone in hand. Arlo placed her stuff down on the table before walking over and sitting on the opposite side of the couch.

"Hi." Arlo whispered.

Her mom didn't look up from her phone once, mumbling a simple, "hi," back. Arlo pressed her lips into a thin line, her fingers dancing over her knee, playing with the rips in her jeans.

"Do you wanna watch a movie?"

Arlo's mom sighed, closing out all the apps on her phone, shutting it off and placing it down, before looking at her daughter. "Yeah, sure." She replied, sending her a closed mouth smile.

As Arlo searched for a movie, her mom got up and off the couch, heading towards the kitchen for some water.

"Is 'Little Miss Sunshine' okay?" Arlo called out, as she started playing the movie.

"Yeah, sure. That's fine." Her mom replied, walking back out. "I'm gonna go wash my face real quick, don't pause it for me."

"Okay." Arlo whispered back, sinking further into the sofa, watching the movie begin. Here she sat, alone in the living room, while her mom actively avoided her. Or doing what felt like avoiding her.

Fifteen minutes into the movie, and Arlo's mom comes back out and sits back in her previous spot, opposite from her daughter, and grabs her phone. Not looking up once at the TV, or speaking with her daughter.

Arlo looked over at her for a split second, noticing her mother's full attention is on her phone, feeling the same heaviness in her chest that she was all too familiar with by now. She didn't say anything. She didn't sigh this time either, knowing it would've started another fight. Arlo just focused her attention back on the movie and kept quiet.

"I'll be back." Her mom gets up once more, heading back to her room, and this time Arlo pauses the movie.

She waits.

She waits in the living room, alone in silence, for her mom to come back so they can watch the movie together.

Arlo just stares at her lap while she waits, playing with her fingers and trying to keep herself distracted. Trying to ignore her negative thoughts.

It wasn't until about forty minutes later, that Arlo's mom comes back, without her phone his time.

Arlo smiles to herself.

She watches as her mom sits down in her spot on the couch, and reaches for the remote pressing play.

"So, I blocked Noah." Her mom abruptly spoke the second after Arlo resumed the movie. Noah was a guy that Arlo didn't like very much. Her mom had started out as friends with him, before she started cancelling plans with her daughter to go hang out with him, which eventually led to more. Turns out, Noah had been lying about going to Fresno every weekend for work, and was actually seeing another woman the entire time.