Life, Love & A Little Coffee

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Waffles and Meltdowns

The squeal of an electric guitar on full blast amplified through her silent bedroom, causing Ada's body to break out in a spasm. Shooting to consciousness caused muscles to jolt in an unattended direction and she fell out of bed in a loud thud that even she couldn't hear over the music.

A crash of a symbol caused her body to twitch, and the rug rubbed against her forehead in a fast burning movement. Ada readjusted herself to face upwards, and she held her palm against her aching head. It took Ada's eyes a few seconds to adjust to the sight of her mother standing above her, hopping up and down to the beat of the Alice Cooper song with a psychotic look on her face, holding her three fingers up in the air in the symbol of 'rock'.

As Ada sat up further, she noticed her dad was there, doing a dance where one leg was lifted and he was just jerking his body forward while playing air guitar to 'School's Out'.

If her parents were anyone else, she'd just assume she was still dreaming or that the head damage she'd received from falling out of bed was more extensive than she thought. But these were her parents, and this did not surprise her one bit.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Ada asked as she pulled herself upwards. "Is it even time to wake up yet?"

Her mom pulled her up the rest of the way before turning down the boombox enough that Ada could at least hear herself think. "Ah, but today we have made a bountiful feast to mark this very special occasion."

Her father continued the overacted monstrosity of a speech. "Join us upstairs and we shall devour frozen waffles, overcooked scrambled eggs and burnt to a crisp bacon. We will enjoy conversations that all begin with 'it seemed like just yesterday'."

Ada closed her eyes and pressed her palm to her forehead before allowing it to travel upward to her tangled short blonde hair. "Is Peter up yet?" Ada's voice came out just above a whisper, her vocal chords seeming to be as tired as the rest of her.

"Nah," her mother said with a wave of her hand. "We've fed the kid enough this month. Don't want to spoil him."

The sound of footsteps trembling down the stairs above answered her question. "I'll be up in a minute."

Her dad walked over to her bedside table, grabbed the boom box, and placed it against her shoulder. "I'd say hurry your ass up, but the food already went cold awhile ago, so take your time."

Her mom followed her dad halfway up the steps before yelling out, "Your forehead's red."

Ada rushed over to her mirror just as the door above closed behind her parents and saw that her forehead was red and felt a little warm. She'd received rug burn for all to see on her last day of school.

"Son of a bitch," she muttered before walking away from the mirror. She grabbed her red robe that lay beside Tom's sweatshirt on her dresser, noticing the wrapped present in the corner and placing it next to her book bag.

She'd ordered it for Tom a week before and it only arrived yesterday, making it a close call.

Though this wasn't yet his last day of teaching since the remaining grades still had a week left, it would be his last day teaching her. Their growing feelings and relationship aside, he had been an incredible mentor, her strength, her confidant and an irreplaceable friend these last four years. He'd taught her lessons beyond literature and beyond her own writing. He'd taught her to see the beauty within herself and made her feel important when she'd spent her entire life in the background.

She dragged her fingers across the present, wrapped in a simple brown paper that resembled newspaper. Ada was ornate with her wrapping, but this style felt more like Tom. It was peaceful and earthy. She hoped beyond hope he would appreciate the present, since it was personal for him and rather difficult to find.