Poison-H.S.

Chapter 22.

By the time I get home, it's already completely dark.

The rain has lightened a little and it's hardly falling. I have a bad headache.

What happened today?

I sit in my car for 10 minutes with Four, then I kiss him, and now I'm getting strange messages again.

I feel that this is just a big dream that I'm going to get up from at any time. When I get out of the car and reach the porch, I see the big window that used to be broken.

You can't even tell there was a broken window here, this window is bright and new. The pieces of glass that used to be on the floor around the house have disappeared, and the old broken window has been replaced by a new one.

Thank god. I don't think I could have spent another day knowing that anyone could have gotten into our house easily without the window.

These past few days I've been paranoid, afraid that something would come into the house.

I open the door and go inside. The smell of sugar and cinnamon fills my lungs the moment I step through the door. I take off my shoes and hang my coat on the coat rack.

Is my father cooking? He barely cooks, only on special occasions like birthdays or Christmas. The smell becomes stronger as I walk into the kitchen.

When I enter it my father is with a woman. His arm hangs lightly on the woman's waist and they are cooking what looks like cinnamon rolls, and the kitchen is a mess. They don't realize when I enter the kitchen, so I clear my throat and speak.

"Um, hello?" I say. I feel extremely uncomfortable, I have to say. Who is this woman and why is my father's arm on her waist?

I don't know what to say or how to say it. When my father looks up and sees me, he immediately removes his hand from the woman's waist and takes a step to separate between them.

"Oh, Hunter, I didn't hear you come in" is the only thing he says. He looks at the woman he just stepped away from and then back to me. Her face seems somewhat flushed, and my father seems a little nervous.

"Who is this?" I ask politely pointing to the woman in my kitchen. She looks young.

"Hunter, this is Mary, I work with her", he says somewhat more nervous. Probably because he didn't expect me to be home so soon.

Swimming practice ended about fifteen minutes earlier today.

"And Mary, this is my daughter, Hunter."

"Oh, how nice it is to finally meet you, Hunter! Your father has told me so much about you!" she says, showing me a warm smile and offering her hand. I don't say anything, I simply shake her hand in a weird way. Her hands are soft and hot, nothing to do with my cold hands after coming from outside.

"Nice to meet you too" I say, trying my best not to judge her. My father hasn't dated a woman since my mother died, and I didn't think he ever would.

But from the tension in the air and the way my father had his arm around her waist, something is definitely happening between them.

"Mary taught me a little about cooking, we're making cinnamon rolls, if you want to try them when they're ready," says my father happily. I can see that he is trying to change the state of the environment, but it's really not working.

"I don't know much about cooking, but my mother taught me this recipe and they're really good," she says, with a radiant smile.

"No, thanks, I'm not hungry" I say, completely seriously. I mean, I was hungry when I got home, but not anymore. Now I feel sick. "I'm going to go to my room and take a nap, it's been a long day," I say and leave the kitchen before anyone can say anything.