Every Story Matters

16

♚ Austin ♚

This morning, like every morning, I woke to the sound of rain hitting my roof. I flutter my eyes open confused by the silence. A satisfied sigh releases when I realize it's Saturday; which means Nancy doesn't have to wake me up. I find peace in the sound of rain and began to wonder off into my many thoughts about...pretty much everything - not just Scarlett - but with what happened with Levy and my whole college situation.

To start off, my mind immediately goes to Scarlett. Last night when she came over, was when I mentally admitted to myself that I'm slowly falling for her. Every time that I see or get to spend time with her, I don't realize it at the time, but my feelings for her get stronger. Just the thought of her makes me happy, but these thoughts slowly brings back what happened the other day with Levy and Carson.

After Levy stormed off, Carson left just a few minutes after he did and we haven't really spoken to each other since then. Not at the game last night either. But I guess, though, I should have at least spoken to Carson after he spoke up about Scarlett. He didn't have to but it was good to know his thoughts on the situation. It surprised me to say the least, after what he used to say about her too.

I heave out another sigh and threw on a black T-shirt over my gray sweatpants and made my way down stairs toward the kitchen. My so far good morning comes to a dead end when I find that my parents are in the kitchen, each wearing a different expression. With how scruffy his hair is, and how his eyebrows seem to meet the inner corners of his eyes, I can already tell my dad is mad at me again. And with my mom, I can tell she's nervous by how all her movements seem awkward and unsteady.

My eyes catch a glimpse at the stack of papers held in my dad's hands and it immediately makes roll my eyes. They're my acceptance letters I hid in a corner of my desk. It obviously didn't work though. He takes angry steps toward me and I mentally prepare myself for what's to come.

"What the hell are these?" He bitterly asks holding the stack of papers up.

I cross my arms in front of my chest, "my acceptance letters," I bluntly say. I honestly don't have time for this. They say the same things to me every time they get a chance to. Except for this; they never knew about the letters. I would always get to the mail before them and took them out before they had a chance to look through it themselves.

"Cut the crap, Austin!" he yells. "Half of these acceptance letters have lapsed!" He exasperates slamming the papers on the counter. My mom winces at the sound and tries to put a hand of comfort on my dad, but he brushes it off and continues his banter. "You know what this can do to your future?"

"Yes! You've told me several times!" I yell back. "And I'm making a decision! I just need more time."

"Time is something you don't have right now!" He yells gesturing with his hands. "You either make a decision or I will make one for you."

The amount of anger that has been continuously building up is becoming unbearable to keep in. My mom puts a hand up in front of my dad and gave him a warning look. "I think...what your father is trying to say is that time is of the essence and you probably can't afford to take more time in thinking this through," she explains calmly. I roll my eyes once again at her answer. My mom takes the more subtle approach in situations like this. So I guess you could say they play the good cop bad cop on me.

"I know what he meant, Mom," I sigh, running a hand through my messy hair. I can't really yell back whenever she uses the subtle approach.

"So what's it going to be, Austin?" My dad asks crossing his arms.

I heave out an exasperated sigh and shrugged my shoulders. I don't need this right now, especially on my only two days off from practice. "I'll figure it out," I mumble before exiting the kitchen and back up to my room. I ignore the calling of my parents as I slam my door shut and locking it. A disgruntled groan escapes my lips as I run a hand through my hair in frustration.

Deciding that I should go out for a walk to cool down, I change out of my sweatpants and shirt, and said goodbye to Sparky. And not wanting to walk past my parents who were down stairs, I climb out my window - thanking who ever designed this house that made it easy to sneak out of. The walk on my side of town lasts about a few minutes until the first old building comes into view that makes me realize that I'm now in the other part of town.

The only thing different I notice as I enter, is that I'm not scowling or looking at my surroundings with disgust. And the thing is, this new out look doesn't seem to bother me. Instead, I feel a sense of excitement. I guess this is what hanging out with Scarlett could do to you.

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