Death Watchers

Quirks

When I woke up well after noon, I grabbed a book from my bookshelf and headed upstairs. It was Saturday, meaning Clay would be at a friend's house and Dad worked later than normal. Pam had always tried to leave me with my weekends off, hoping to better my social life, but I preferred the solitude. Sticking my nose in a book for hours on end was just what I needed.

And so, I did that, reading until Dad came home and demanded to know where Clayton was. I shrugged and mumbled something about a friend, to which he grumbled but accepted.

"How come you never go out on Saturday?" Dad asked when he got back downstairs from changing out of his work clothes.

Sighing in frustration, I put the book down and turned to him. He always seemed to ask me questions when I was at a good part. "I don't go out, Dad, you know that. I don't have anyone to go out with."

"Well, what about Cole? You seem to go out with him a lot."

"Dad," I groaned, "Cole and I are not going out. It's not that serious."

He put on a look of innocence. "I was only talking about hanging out, Jocie. Don't get all huffy. It's clear there's more between you two, with the way you were moping—"

"Moping?"

"—when he dumped you or something," he finished, talking right over my question. "All I'm saying is you need to find more people like him. People you want to spend time with, hang around for days on end and never get sick of each other. It'd be good for you to socialize some instead of constantly sticking your nose in a book or hiding out in your room like some crypt keeper."

I flinched at his word choice. "I don't have friends, Dad. I'm more like Mom than you, so you should understand. She didn't have any friends either."

He frowned. "Are you sure, Jocie? I was sure she had at least one."

"Yeah," I joked, smiling, "you. You were her only friend because you were the only one who wanted to talk to her."

"Like you and Cole. I'm guessing he started talking to you first, huh?"

"I guess. It's not like we planned it." Well, I hadn't planned it, but apparently he had. And him showing up in my dream hadn't been cool, especially since I didn't know if he had legitimately told me to go to the coffee shop or hadn't.

"Well, call him up then. You need to get out of this house more often, Jocie. Boxing yourself up isn't going to do anything for you but make you feel more alone than you already are."

"I'm not alone," I argued weakly. "I have you and Clay."

"We're your family, Joc. You're forced to deal with us." He grabbed my book so it was out of my reach and gestured to the door. "Now go meet up with Cole. I'm sure that boy will love the attention, especially coming from you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Go!"

"All right, I'll go. Just know I'm not happy." I narrowed my eyes to prove my point.

"Already known, but I don't care. Get your happy butt out that door and go meet some new friends." He pumped his hands up. "Yay! Socializing!"

"Whatever."

I didn't call Cole. Instead, I stopped by the bookstore to talk to Pam and complain about my dad demanding I find friends. She laughed, of course, and said it was about time that man stepped up and made me do something about my social life. I playfully socked her on the arm, even though she was old, when the bell rang.