A Missed Opportunity

46

𖥧𝙲𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚗𖥧

My mom and dad are kind of weird.

Auntie Jenny said that Dad used to be a huge weirdo when he was smaller, so it makes sense that he's weird right now. But I don't think Mom was weird.

They keep looking at each other weird. I think they're mad at each other. They've been really mad at each other for forever. Dad doesn't like hanging out with Mom anymore. And Mom doesn't like to talk to him anymore. Not even at night when they think I'm sleeping.

Grammy told me one time while we were watching a movie that sometimes, people who like each other do something called 'rough patch'. She said sometimes they don't like each other anymore for a long time but then go back to liking each other. And in the movie, the parents said they were breaking up. She said sometimes they give up when they're on their rough patch. She said it was bad.

I think they're on their rough patch.

"Don't worry." Someone's hand hits my shoulder. My friend Carter looks at my mom and dad. "My parents broke up too, and it's great." His smile gets really big when he looks at me. "I have two birthdays."

I make a face. I don't believe him. "Really?"

"Yeah!" He takes his hand off my shoulder. "And two Christmases."

"Liar." I shake my head really fast. "Nobody gets two Christmases. Santa only comes once."

"Santa's not real."

"Liar!"

"Cam!" Dad yells out my name. He points to my classroom while Mom walks inside with Mrs. P. I wave goodbye while he walks in too. Mrs. P closes the door.

I frown at Carter. "Do you think she's going to tell on me?"

Carter nods fast. "Yeah."

"Oh," I look down at my new shoes. I like them. They're purple. I think Dad only got them because he felt bad that him and Mom are breaking up. Carter said his mom and dad gave him bunches of gifts when they broke up. "They're gonna be mad."

I get a funny feeling in my stomach. Carter and me wait at the wall where everyone else is. I keep looking at the door, waiting for them to come back and be mad at me. I try to breathe like how Kinsley told me to. She said the funny thing in my stomach was aniety.

Wait, no. Not aniety. Ana...something. Anaya...tie?

Whatever. She called it something, and said it was okay to have it. She said a lot of people have it. Even kids in my class. They all probably feel it in their stomachs when they come to school without their homework like I do sometimes.

That made sense, but Carter says he doesn't feel like that. I think Kinsley lied two times. One because she said everyone gets it and two because she said breathing helps it. It doesn't help.

"Anxiety!"

Carter jumps like if we were watching a scary movie. He makes a mean face. "Why did you yell?"

"Sorry." My smile is so big it hurts my cheeks. Mom says she likes it when I smile like this. "Anxiety." I say it again so he knows too. Maybe Carter has it too and doesn't know it yet.

"I think my mom has that." He squints his eyes at someone in the hallway. "Look, it's Ava."

"Where?!"

Carter points at Ava and her friends. I don't know their names. I know hers though. At the start of school, I sat almost next to her. She didn't talk to me though. Mom told me to talk to her, but then Dad said not to. Carter said to be cool.

I haven't gotten to talk to her yet.

"Oh, look. Your mom and dad are done."

I gasp and look at the door again. "Really?" Mom and Dad and Mrs. P are coming out of my classroom, but they don't look happy. Mom looks sad. Dad too.

"She told on you."

I sadly slouch like Mom told me not to. "Yeah." I mumble like how she said not to too. She said not to do a lot of things.

"Cameron," Dad says my name again. The funny feeling in my stomach makes me feel like I'm going to throw up. I wave goodbye at Carter. He waves back at me. His mom says his name too. It's his turn now. Mom and Dad whisper at each other when I come to them.

"Am I in trouble?"

"Yeah, Nut. Just a little."

Mom makes the sound she makes when she's mad. "A little." The mean look she has on her face makes Dad hold my hand without looking. We're at school and it's not cool to hold hands at school, but I squeeze his hand really tight. "He beat up a kid with a backpack, he's interrupting his teacher mid-lesson, and he's gotten called into the front office five times already. He is in more trouble than just a little, Noah Donavan."

"Hey—Why am I getting government named? I'm not the one who was doing all that. That was him!"

I gasp. He's not being with me like he said he would.

Dad makes a sorry face. "Sorry, Nut. Every man for himself when the full names come out. You understand."

"No, I don't!"

"You are in trouble because you like to coddle him." Mom's mad look gets madder.

"Oh, like you don't do the same thing."

"Not as much as you!"

"Bullshit."

I gasp again. Dad looks sorry again but quietly.

Mom shakes her head and stops looking at us. That means she's really angry. "We'll talk about it when we get home." Dad looks down at me with a scared look.

My dad is cool. He's not scared of spiders or ants or the dark or Angela. But he's scared of Mom. Like, really scared of Mom.

Dad clears his throat really loud. "You're, uh, still thinking about it though, right?"

Mom doesn't say anything back for a really long time. "Yeah." I forget what Dad asked when she says something.

"...Yeah, you will or yeah, you're still thinking?"

"Noah."

"Right—Yeah. Not the time. Gotcha."

My parents are really weird.

"Cameron," Mom says my name when we're in the car. Dad helps me buckle when she goes into the front seat.

"Yeah?"

"We need to figure out how to fix this. Because this isn't okay, and you know it."

Dad looks sad when I look at him. He goes away from me when I'm buckled and shuts the door. "Okay." I mumble like I'm not supposed to. Mom doesn't get mad at me.

"Dad and I are still here whenever you want to talk to us too." She moves around in the front seat to look at me. Dad gets into the other front seat to drive.

"Are you guys mad at me?"

Mom and Dad look at each other first. Dad moves in his seat to look into the back at me too. "We just want to help you, Cameron." He doesn't tell me if they're mad at me.

My lip hurts when I bite on it. "But are you mad?"

Mom sighs. "No, baby. We're just...trying to figure out how we can help you."

"Can...Can we get ice cream then?"

Dad laughs at me. Mom hits his shoulder. She smiles. I do too. We haven't gotten ice cream in a really long time.

"Fine, but this is not a reward. It's sad ice cream, got it?"

"Yes!" Dad and me say it at the same time. Mom doesn't like it when we do that.