Poesy

three sixty

On Sundays, I sleep until noon. However, today Annika and I have a date that'll be waiting for us at the skate park. So, I set my alarm for eleven thirty. Swaddling myself into my blanket, I lift myself out of bed and shuffle like a penguin across my room. The appalling image of myself in my full-length mirror stops me in my tracks. I bear a striking resemblance to a breakfast burrito.

I'm hungry.

Leaving the blanket tortilla behind, I drag my feet down the hall to the kitchen. Caught off guard, I rub my eyes to make sure I'm not still dreaming. My dad's friend from last weekend is seated at the kitchen table, sipping coffee, eyes on her phone. Her tightly bound curls sit atop her head, like a crown.

She's wearing my dad's tee shirt. I know it's his, because no one else owns Nick's Bar merch, except for me and him. He tried giving them away for a promotion, but nobody wanted them. Now we have like fifty of the same tee shirt between the two of us.

"He must really like you if you're here for a second round," I state, catching her attention. I make my way through the kitchen to make myself a bowl of Fruity Pebbles.

"That was the first round, but I'm sure he'll be wanting more," she corrects, with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. She's expecting a reaction out of me; trying to beat me at my own game.

"Well, don't get your hopes up," I shrug, sitting across from her. "My dad is, what some call, emotionally unavailable."

She lets out a long sigh, sets her phone on the table and leans forward. "I know what you're doing."

"Oh yeah," I say with a mouth full of cereal, milk dripping down my chin. "What's that?"

"When my parents starting dating again, after their divorce, I did everything in my power to scare dates away."

"Like what?"

"I'm not gonna give you ideas," she scoffs. "Look, sooner or later you'll realize that your dad deserves to be happy too."

Downing the rest of my milk, I get up to throw my bowl in the sink. Before I leave the room, I turn around to the woman.

"What's your name?" I ask her.

She smiles, kindly and says, "Briana."

"I'm going to call you new mom," I declare. "New Mom... Like most people, you're wrong about me. I don't care what he does. I see girls come through here all the time and I don't blame him or them. And just so we're super crystal clear... there is no one that wants him to be happy more than I do. No one."

Without gauging her expression, I turn on my heel and make my way to the bathroom to shower and get ready. To be honest, I don't really care what she thinks. I'll probably never see her again.

...

"There he is," I say to Annika, pointing across the indoor skate park. Jude is leaning up against a wall with a couple of other boys.

Annika tucks her hair behind her ears and flashes me a huge nervous smile. When Jude spots us making our way over, he stands up from the wall and greets me with an unexpected hug; then hugs Annika as well. He seems to be in an excellent mood today. I'm not going to question it.

"Poesy and Annika, these are my friends, Mika and Paul. Mika and Paul, this is Poesy and Annika," he introduces us.

"Who knew you had friends," I tease him with a tilted head and a half smile.

He shakes his head and runs his tongue over his bottom lip while his friends laugh at his expense.

"You gonna let her roast you like that?" Paul taunts Jude, which seems to have had the effect that he intended it to have.