Let Me Explain

O N E

THE house was pitch black, completely dark as night fell over. My parents were sleep and I was sure that they thought I was too.

The memorized format of my house was engraved in my brain. I easily moved through the hallway, heading to my parents room. The door was already open, a glowing light visible from it.

I stood beside the doorframe, staring inside the room for a silent moment. My mom was on the left side of the bed, sleeping on her stomach with her left arm under the pillow. Her dirty blonde hair was messy.

From the lamp on the nightstand beside her, I knew that she had fell asleep reading one of her psychology books.

My assumption was confirmed when I saw the book laying on the ground, the spine of it broken as the pages were open.

It was a normal occurrence.

Looking back up, I noticed my dad who slept beside her. He was knocked out cold, sleeping on his back. The long overtime hours were catching up to him, and I could tell by how he was snoring. His snores were consistent, ringing out through the room at a same rate. The constant sound wasn't going to wake the neither of the them.

After standing there for another lengthy moment, I turned back around to head out of their bedroom.

Once I made it to my room, I closed my door and locked it afterwards. Locking my room at night at night was something I had always done.

It was an ongoing fear since I was younger that someone would break in, somehow knowing that my parents were heavy sleepers and I was the only one who would be awake at night.

I was an only child and that fear weighed on me deeply.

It was also a plus that my mom was a therapist, so she understood most fears like that.

Even though the fear was hardly had disappeared by now, I pretended that I still had it. It allowed it to be easier for me to sneak out whenever I wanted.

My mom wouldn't question why the door was locked.

I turned the lights off in my room, leaving it completely dark as I walked back over to my bed, lifting up my mattress so that I could retrieve my trap phone. It had been my cousin's at first, but she realized that I needed it more considering how often I ended up grounded.

I pulled my hand out from under the mattress and found the phone. It was severely broken, the screen cracked and shattered. I was surprised that it was still able to work.

My real phone was left on a charger, my location staying on. If my mom had any worries about that, the AirTag I had was still in my room.

I placed my phone in the back pocket of my ripped jean shorts. After doing so, I made my way out the window, lifting one leg over the sill as I slid out.

Stepping out on the rooftop, I closed my window, just halfway so that I could open it again. I bent down, not fully standing up as I made my way across the roof, heading towards the side of the house where the fence was.

My room was positioned at the front of the house. Had I gotten off where the driveway and front door area was, the house cameras would've caught me. I had planned out every single step ever since I first snuck out.

It was too risky to get caught. My mom was already crazy as it was.

The fence became more visible as I fully made my way to the side of the house. I sat down on the ledge, turning over as I held my weight, pulling myself off of the roof.