Against all Sanity

~25~

Well hello again, it's so nice to see you ;) this first part will seem a little weird but it's crucial to the story so pay good attention. Oh and don't forget to enjoy!

Drumming my fingers on the keyboard of the computer I stared out of the window, contemplating if this was really the right thing for me. It was a risk, I knew that, but the worst thing that could come out of it was a no.

I could hear voices coming from downstairs where I knew that my parents were. At first the voices were quiet, but gradually they grew high and higher, until it almost sounded like someone was... crying. Quietly I got up and moved towards the door, my sock clad feet moving almost soundlessly across the floor, and I slowly opened the door just enough so that I could poke my head out without making much sound. Why I was being this quiet I didn't really know, but somehow I felt like I wasn't supposed to listen to their conversation.

"If only we had had a year or two more." I recognized the voice as my mom's, but it was a little shaky and followed by a sniffle, which confirmed my suspicion that someone was crying.

"I know honey, but the sad fact is that we don't," I heard my dad say in his usually calming voice. "I want or daughter to have an education as much as you do, but we also have to pay the bills. Maybe she can take some online classes, or hopefully she can attend the local community college. No matter what she's smart, she'll pull through."

I froze. This was about me? Slowly I moved my head back and soundlessly closed the door, not wanting to hear any more.

I had been saving up for college too, but what I made at Mr. Joe wasn't eve near enough, and I wanted my parents to pay the bills instead, so that we could afford to stay in the house. That meant that I was relying almost entirely on a scholarship, and while me grades were good there was still a pretty good chance of me not getting it since I came from a double income family.

Hearing that conversation settled my mind, and without thinking further about it I went back to sit on my bed where my computer was waiting for me. My finger hovered over the button for just a second before I took a deep breath, exhaled and then – finally – pressed send.

---

"Can you believe it's almost Christmas?" Skylar asked with wide eyes as we walked out of the school on the last day before Christmas break. Skylar's favorite holiday had always been Christmas, and her eyes always lit up brighter than a Christmas tree whenever she talked about baking cookies, eating turkey or decorating the house.

"I know, it feels like it's only just been Halloween," I agreed, but I'm not quite sure that she heard me since she was busy skipping-slash-dancing down the hallway as if she was one of Santa's elves. I almost expected her to break into a Mariah Carey Christmas single at any moment.

Since Landon's surprise birthday party a little over a month ago everything had gone back to normal between us. It was as if addressing the problem actually removed the actual problem itself. I wasn't complaining though, I loved having my best friend back and the relationship – completely platonic sexual relationship of course – between Landon and I had never been better. Everything was really perfect at the moment.

However, I couldn't help but wonder – or fear – when would this stop? When would my amount of happiness reach its peak? I mean everything couldn't be great forever; it had to turn at some point. Though not wanting to be sad about something that hadn't happened yet I decided to push these thoughts to the back of my mind, and focus on the present instead.

"Hey, you're coming to the bonfire tonight right?" I asked Skylar as we each walked to our separate cars.

Over the past few months our group of girls had started hanging out with Landon's friends and to be honest they weren't as bad as I first thought. Yeah, they were still boys and insufferable sometimes, but they were also really funny. Since it was now officially Christmas break we had decided to defy the cold and make a bonfire in a little clearing in the woods just outside of town.