Braided

Chapter 21: Dusty Old Attic

I began to pull my bed away from the wall. It was perfect, If she suddenly showed up while me and Nathan are cuddling then he can easily hide on the side of the bed without worrying if she can see him from the door. Plus if she's on the bed she won't see him because he'll go under the bed, or we can just toss him in the closet again and not worry about it. Either way I'll worry about it for no reason.

"What are you doing?" Mom asked peaking into my room brushing her teeth

"Moving my bed." I turned to her breathing heavily. Who knew a bed could be so heavy?

"Oh......Why?" She held the tooth brush in front of her mouth.

"I thought it would look nicer, and plus I thought maybe I could put a table thingy there." I couldn't think of the word it was on the tip of my tongue, but it wasn't going to escape on my own.

"You mean side table?" she gave out a slight laugh.

"Yes, that!" I pointed at her excitedly, it was nice to not be angry at her.

"Well if you're willing you can explore the attic and get the one up there." She pointed towards the door I'd never passed through before.

"Really?" I questioned her.

"Mhm." She responded with the tooth brush in her mouth. It seemed my reaction was

"I'll go up after I'm finished in here." I smiled at her as I grabbed my clean sheets off the ground.

"Kay, have fun." She left the room leaving the door open leaving me to finish my first goal.

Maybe Nathan was right, that I was just going through a phase. Maybe it was because I myself was keeping secrets that I started getting mad at Mom because I knew she had to of to. Mom just wants to protect me even if it means she's a hypocrite for it. I mean I was still annoyed towards her, but I seemed to be more tolerant.

I inhaled deeply and took on my next step. Putting the sheets on the bed and making it look pretty. It may sound easy, but the first step wasn't so easy for me. Every time I put new sheets on my bed I always struggle with them intensely and this time was no different. After a few minutes I had finally put it on perfectly. I always hated putting the sheets on the stretchy ends never seem to agree with me, but I accomplished it. I also did the next steps with no struggles and my finished mater piece made me happy inside. I have to admit even though the sheets fought with me I loved the satisfaction of how pretty and nice it looked when I was done.

I left my room and walked down the hallway to the door that held the stairs to the attic. It was different than the rest of the doors as it wasn't as new. Even with it painted you could see the wear and tear that the door endured for all the years it was there. The door handle its self was even different as it is probably the original. Maybe they never changed the door because the bedrooms were used more often than it. What ever the reason it was still old.

I placed my hand on the cold metal and twisted. The door did not open for me. I began to struggle with the door until I realized something stupid. The reason that I never ventured into the attic before was because the stupid attic door was always locked. Why did I forget this important information? I had for a while wanted to go into the attic. I felt really stupid for struggling with the door. I slowly walked to the top of the stairs.

"Mom you got to unlock it." I screamed down the stairs to see her peak her head out for a second and then pop back out of my view.

"Sorry." She came up with her key chain. I don't know why the attic was locked. Maybe she just never unlocked it since we moved here. I don't know and won't put much thought into it. "Here." She leaned into the doorway and flipped a switch making it light up the attic.

"Thanks." I smiled at her as I ventured up the stairs.

"Be safe."Mom warned me. I had stopped midway up and turned to the bottom of the stairs just in case she had more to say.

"I will." I responded down to her.

"Mhm just don't do something stupid." Mom gave me the I know you will anyway face.

"I won't." I responded not leaving the step I stopped on, hopefully my face read that I was a responsible young lady who doesn't do stupid things. Okay my face probably didn't read that, but I slightly hoped it did.

"Okay." I heard her leave and go back down stairs. She was probably in the middle of one of her cheesy day time dramas.

The attic was what I had imagined. It was dusty and full of stuff. Granted there were a lot less boxes in my imagination, but it will do. I wasn't disappointed at all with it. The only things I hoped weren't in the attic were 1. Animals and 2. A body. If I don't encounter either one of those things it will be golden.

I walked towards a corner of a room that seemed to be home to an old Christmas tree and some furniture. Mom was right there was a corner table up here. It wasn't what I wanted, but it will work. It was solid all the way through instead of having thin legs to hold it up. It was pretty though even with all the spider webs covering it. I didn't want to automatically bring it down so I just carried it next to the top of the stairs.

There were so many boxes to explore, but the thing that caught my eye was the chest that sat underneath the window. I opened it to see a bunch of old things inside. There was antique looking clothes and books and an assortment of items. I lifted one of the books it had a Dark leather outside. It had matched the others inside. It was dusty and I wiped the front of it hoping to uncover any of the possibility of it was. Nothing was on it, so I opened it to met with cursive hand writing reading; 1998 Martha's Diary.

Even though it seemed intrusive it was an opportunity to get to know my Grandmother. It would be fun to learn how she thinks and how she viewed the world. It might be a violation of her private thoughts, but it would be interesting. Plus I could find out how she felt about me and why she gave such pitiful eyes to me when we'd see each other.

I looked around the room for a smaller box and or a bag. That was when a small box on top a stack of boxes caught my eye. I reached up to it and brought it down to find that it just had Christmas garland in it. I took it out and placed it on the Christmas tree in the corner. Bits and pieces from the garland remained in the box, but it didn't bother me. It was just going to be used to carry down the books. I placed the diaries and a few other pieces from the chest into the box.

"I'm getting ready to leave for work." I turned to the exit and quickly rushed downstairs. I would come back for the stuff after I helped with Mom. I had to help her get ready for work or at least tell her goodbye. I wanted mend any bad feelings between us and I thought that helping her with her makeup and hair would be a good step. I was tired of feeling that I had to be angry with her. Maybe going back to our normal routine things will emotionally feel back to normal still.

A/N: I thought I would try out something new and have images representing my characters. Don't forget to comment or vote if you like it so far!