Unsteady

Chapter 6

When I arrived home after running errands I went straight to my room. I unpacked my bag and put my new clothes in the closet. I looked over at the clock on the off white walls. It read four thirty. Michelle was planning for five. I sighed and walked out my door into the hallway. I turned left and walked to my dad's room. When I walked in the room was cluttered with various empty alcohol bottles and old food. My dad was laying on his bed in just a pair of beige shorts. His beer belly was hanging out making my stomach curl in disgust. His eyes were closed and he was asleep, and I didn't want to wake him in fear of what he would do. I would feel horrible if I canceled on Michelle this late into the evening so I just decided to go on my own.

I freshened up my makeup in the bathroom and walked back to my room. My phone was on my desk, so I walked over. I looked out my window and stared at the blue house in front of me. Why do I feel like this is such a bad idea? I then realized that the blue house had a window on the second story that looked directly into mine. I saw a bed pushed up against the back wall with a figure sitting on it. I realized it was Cody on his phone, and that was Cody's room. Great, now I have to make sure I keep my curtains closed. Growing curious if he had noticed the room placement before me, and had seen something he shouldn't have. I grab my iPhone that has a plain black cover on it. I walked quietly down the stairs and out the door. I checked the time, 4:59 right on time. I walked across the blacktop over to the White's house. Becoming more aware of the noise my footsteps were making, and how strangely my heart was beating. It was fast and rapid, it was usually slow unless I was really nervous.

I took a deep breath and then pushed down the door bell. The door didn't have any glass on it so I couldn't tell if someone was coming. I had a pit in my stomach from waiting. I told myself I'll be fine. Finally the door swung open and I looked up from my feet. Cody was at the door, his black hair was messy, but it didn't look bad. His blue eyes lit up when he saw me.

"Fable so nice to see you" he opened the door more and made an arm gesture to let me in. The entry of their home was beautiful. It had tall windows on the ceiling and looked into the big living room. The staircase was just to the left of me and all the walls were a light grey.

"You have a very beautiful house," I said to Cody. His mom came from around the living room into the entrance.

"Fable! I'm so glad you came." She looked around me confused. "Are your parents coming later?" I had to think of a better excuse then 'yeah my dad's home passed out cause he's drunk and I don't know where my mom is, maybe Washington' So I played it safe and said "I'm sorry my dad had to work late tonight, so it's just me" I said smiling at her. Her confused look disappeared and was replaced with her signature smile.

"That's alright, I'm sure we'll all meet eventually. Now please come in, dinner is almost ready. Cody will you please go get your brother" she nodded upstairs. She then walked back into the living room and I followed her. The kitchen was just off the living room and she walked in and I saw that she was making Spaghetti. I smiled because it's been such a long time since I've had a home cooked meal, and even if it was so simple I was thankful for it.

"It smells delicious Michelle" I said, setting my arms on the island in the middle of the room.

"Thank you sweetie" she said, pouring it into a big white bowl and setting it on the dining room table. There were already bowls set out and silverware. Michelle took a seat at the end of the table and I sat to the left of her. After a few seconds we heard pairs of feet stomping down the stairs. Cody and what I assumed was his little brother came around the corner. His brother looked like he was about eight compared to me and Cody's age fifteen. He had light blonde hair and green eyes just like Michelle's. They both sat down to the right of the table.

"Hi I'm Mike" said the small child. I smiled at him, he was cute.

"Hi I'm Fable" I responded to him. When he smiled you could see all of his teeth.

"You're pretty Fable, Cody said you would be" he said holding out his plate for his mom to put food on it. We all laughed at his comment and got our food. For some reason it made me feel self conscious that Cody had told Mike about me. I noticed that I haven't seen a father figure around. It was probably nothing but maybe his parents are divorced as well.

"So Fable where do your parents work?" Michelle asked. I set down my fork and wiped my face with a napkin.

"My dads a mechanic and umm I'm not sure about my mom. She doesn't live with us" I said truthfully because I'm positive they would have found out eventually. I was waiting for the awkward silence but it never came.

"Oh, the boys Dad doesn't live with us either" she responded, there was no hint of sadness in her voice. Cody was quick to change the subject, obviously he wasn't comfortable talking about it. I made a note of that so I could remember.

"So Fable, what electives do you take at school?" he asked.

"I do art, and piano" I said, taking another bite of my food.

"You play piano," Mike said in a shocked tone. He dropped his jaw and looked like he was in utter awe. I laughed and nodded my head.

"That's lovely that you play dear, we have a piano in the basement but none of us play" Michelle stated.

"Well it's never too late to learn," I said.

We ate the rest of our dinner and simple conversation. I learned alot about their family. Cody plays the linebacker for the school football team, not quarterback like I had assumed.. Mike really likes me and thinks I'm beautiful and Michelle is a nurse for the nearest hospital. They just moved here to Colorado from California and they love it here. Before I knew it, I had to go back home it was almost seven o'clock. I said my goodbyes to all of them then went back home. My dad was still asleep so I quietly made my way upstairs. I noticed that Cody was sitting at his desk in front of his window in his room, I sat at my desk and pulled out my phone. I picked up the paper he had put in my backpack and typed in the number. Should I actually text him, would that be sending a single I like him. No, not at all maybe I'm purely doing this because I want to learn about him, and exploit his secrets. I texted him a simple "Hey" and waited. I watched from the window as he picked up his phone and looked out the window. We made eye contact before he looked back down at his phone I watched as a smile played at his lips. I got a text from him saying "hello". He looked back up at me. I watched him for a second. I made sure he saw me see his text and put down my phone. Then I waved at him and he waved back. I closed my curtains and turned around. Why did I get butterflies when he pays attention to me?