Daya

35|Packing

The next morning I'm the first person to wake up and make myself breakfast. I walk out of the kitchen and almost drop my plate at the sight of Vince hunched over the couch tying his running shoes. I've been in the kitchen for 20 minutes and didn't hear one peep over the sound of my burning sunny side up egg.

"Good morning to you too," he says as I take a seat on the couch next to him.

"Where are you going?" I ask when Vince hops off of the couch and pulls his earbuds out of the pocket of his sweatpants.

"A run around the block, it's been a week." He smiles and starts stretching. I want to argue with him, but he's right it's been exactly 7 days since Vince was rushed into the emergency room.

"You should take it easy though." A run in Vince's head isn't just a slow jog it's a breathtaking sprint with no breaks, and his face covered with sweat.

"I took it easy all week didn't even do a push up I'm good." He bends down and touches the tips of his sneakers. At least he's doing the right thing and stretching first.

"Are you mad I'm going to sleepover at Vicki's?" Vince doesn't pop his head up at the mention of his ex girlfriend and starts doing cherry pickers which I only see kids do.

"I couldn't care less I'm probably going to Darian's anyway." He stops touching his toes and does lunges.

"If you say so." I take a bit of egg and turn the tv on.

"So how are things with  you and Ziyah?" What perfect timing he has to start being interested in my relationships. This must be payback for asking him questions about his breakup.  I swallow my food, but don't answer his question and flip through the TV channels. My stomach gets all tight again and I take a bigger bite out of my toast. Vince did tell me he broke up with Vicki before telling mom and dad, so it's only fair. His breakup was a bigger deal though this kiss is small and I'm trying to push it out of my brain.

"Ziyah looked right at me and kissed another girl." Vince continues lunging and my words don't hit him.

"That suscks," Is all he manages to say. No yelling, no threatening Ziyah's life, all he can say is a simple that sucks. Maybe I should've added the part that Ziyah hasn't texted or called to explain or at least apologize.

"That's it, you're not going to at least say I told you so?" His reaction could be an example of how I'm supposed to act because I shouldn't care about Ziyah, and go back to being bitter Daya. All I need is to check my phone for the 16th time  and not see any texts from Ziyah and bitter Daya will come back to life.

"It doesn't matter, whatever you guys had is over and now you can go back to focusing on the important things in life and not some scrawny boy." My first instinct is to defend Ziyah, but I stuff the rest of my food in my face and turn on How I Met Your Mother. 

"You're right I don't care about him anyway he was just a friend for a little bit of time."

"If you say so." Vince grabs a water bottle from the package by the dinning table and gives me a wave as he heads out the door. When the door shuts, I check my phone again and my only notifications are spam and the news announcing that a celebrity couple got engaged. The part of me that hated couples is back and as of today it's replacing the miniscule gates that let me open up and let people in. Those gates are closed, and no one is to blame, but Ziyah did manage to have the key and throw it away.

I slouch back on the couch and stare at the TV and don't bother thinking about my phone or the possibility of what could appear on my lock screen. 

After the catchy theme song I immerse myself in the episode where Ted fails at another relationship. I've watched this series numerous times and know how its ends, but all the jokes make me burst into laughter like I don't know they're coming.

The writers make 6 people failing at their love life so funny, it's truly genius. It's an inspiration to me, and one day I want my name at the end of a show similar, but hopefully better. I get the basics behind it, show the surface and not the true emotions, then like a child adding toppings on ice cream you dump a large amount of comedic relief. They don't show the feeling of insecurity and pure loneliness, that's drama's job.

I spend the rest of the day stuffing and taking out clothes from Hannah Montana duffel bag. It was the only bag I could find in my house that was empty and didn't smell weird. I will just be at Vicki's for a night, but I have taken out about 5 different shirt and pants.

I sleep in an oversized t shirt and nothing else so along with trying to find the one outfit I'm going to need for tomorrow I look for a set of shorts or pants. It takes a second, but in the back of my bottom drawer I find a pair of sweats and stuff them into my duffel bag. The last thing I pack is my headscarf and I struggle to zip the bag.  When I'm done zipping my bag I take a breath and turn around to see my mom standing in the doorway. "Your probably not going to need all of that."

"I packed all the necessities." And some other things that are probably making the bag heavy. My mom walks over to me as I look at my bag on my bed. She takes a look over at my bookcase then puts her eyes back on the bag.

"So where is your screenwriter's bible?"  I open my mouth, but I can't muster up a lie and start unzipping my bag. I swear this woman knows every one of my moves. Right in between my underwear and my pajamas I pull out my screenwriter's bible and give it to her.

"Mhmm you thought you were going to take a 500 page book to a sleepover." My mom laughs to herself and shakes her head. I was so close. She puts the book on my dresser and I zip the bag up again.

"Also I know how you girls are don't go sneaking over to that Ziyah's house while you're over there." And I had just cleared my brain from that name, with packing and How I Met Your Mother reruns.

"You don't have to worry about that, Ziyah and I aren't friends anymore." I plaster a smile on my face. To avoid seeing my mom's expression I put the clothes I didn't pack in my dresser. Too bad I have a vanity and when I'm done putting my shirts in my drawer, the first thing I see is her crossed arms and knowing look.

She's tries to hide it, but a big smile flashes across her face. "Do you want to tell me what happened?" Great at least she is giving me a choice.

"I know I'd say I'd remain 100% honest about my relationship, but I really don't want to talk about it."

Surprisingly she doesn't badger me for an explanation and says, "Ok when you feel like it  you can talk to me."

She walks out of the room and sit back on my bed and picks up my phone. This is the last time Daya you can't be that girl who waits by the phone, I tell myself. No notifications from Ziyah, just a reminder that I need to update my software. I go to my messages and hit Ziyah's name. I smile at our past texts, but go back to my frown and delete our messages. He's not blocked,  but unless he texts me I won't be texting him or looking at his name when I want to tell my dad good morning.