"Bren?" a voice called accompanied by a light tapping on the door.
She let out a large groan before stuffing her face into her pillow. She felt like all of the life had been sucked out of her by some mystical sleep god.
"Get up. You don't want to be late," her father said shaking her shoulder. "It's already seven."
She quickly sat up giving herself a migraine from the rush of blood.
"Why are you just now waking me up?!" she exclaimed jumping off of the bed. She tripped over her slippers as she stumbled to her closet. Half of her clothes were already packed leaving the majority of her closet bare.
"You only had three hours of rest, I didn't want you to be exhausted," he replied picking clothes and paper off the floor.
"Exhaustion is temporary. I can grab a cup of coffee on the way there."
"No need, I made a healthy and nutritious breakfast for you to start of your college life."
"Breakfast? We only have ten minutes if we want to make it there on time! I only allotted an hour and a half of down time and you know with L.A. traffic you can never be too saf—"
"We're not leaving until you eat something," he challenged walking out of the room, she followed.
"Dad, Look. I have to complete my registration today and if we don't leave now we're going to be late. Do you understand?" she said as they walked down the stairs.
He didn't respond as they entered the open kitchen. Instead, he had a seat and flipped open his newspaper.
"Dad!" she exclaimed.
"Look, we're not going to be late! You really need to get the clocks in this house turned back an hour right after you clean your room. I was just up there and that whole place is a safety hazard!" Emma announced entering the kitchen with a cup of tea in her hands.
"How did you get into my house..." Bren sighed, resting her head in her hands.
"I let her in," Matthew replied. "I thought you two were best friends?"
"Yeah, that's why I can't understand why she treats me like this. It's okay, when we move in together she's going to love me!" Emma replied beaming with happiness.
"Speaking of moving, have you two found an apartment?" Mr. Parker asked.
"I'm glad you asked," Emma replied pulling a giant stack of papers out of her bag. "I came prepared."
Mr. Parker raised an eyebrow as she set the papers in front of him.
"I see..."
He flitted his fingers along the edge of the thick stack before filing through it.
"So, what do you think?" she asked smiling. "They're really close to the school if that helps."
Bren rolled her eyes, knowing Emma they were probably even closer to the clubs, but she bit her tongue.
"This one looks nice," her dad agreed. "You two are paying for cable, internet, and groceries."
"Wai-" Emma began.
"If I'm paying three thousand dollars a month for an apartment then you girls can handle that. Otherwise, you can drive two hours everytime you want to use the internet, watch TV, or eat something. Your choice," he replied.
"Fine," she grumbled slumping back down in her chair.
"So, I guess you two are leaving for good then?" Matthew asked as he looked up from his phone.
"Well, I am all grown up now and it's time for me to leave the nest, but I'll be back on holidays and to vis-" she started before he interrupted.
"Oh... I don't really care. That was test of naivety which you failed. Just as I thought, you are not prepared," he replied shaking his head.
She gripped her fork in her hand contemplating on whether stabbing him would be worth getting arrested. Emma elbowed her in the rib diverting her attention.
"You were the one screaming that we needed to leave but you're not even dressed."
She remembered she was still in her faded Doctor Who pajama set. She looked down at the gaping hole in her sock before glancing at her now soggy waffle.
"I'll get dressed now," she said.
"Yeah, that's a good idea," Emma replied typing away on her laptop.
Bren stood from the chair and put her dish in the sink before heading up the staircase to her room.
She was dressed and ready just in time to help her dad load the rest of the boxes into the two cars before the all headed off.
