Running On Empty

Chapter 9~ Jaylin

                                         SONG: May I                    ARTIST: Trading Yesterday

Silya Emerson, there was a certain word for her, but I hadn't still figured it out yet

Yesterday she had gave me this thing called a list. I had written one before myself, but it wasn't until yesterday that I realized another reason to write lists.

The first thing on the list was this thing called a camping trip. I had read about that before in one of the books that Madeline had required me to read. It had something that had to do with nature and I had a very good feeling about this simply because I figured out that I had really liked nature.

It was really strange that night after Silya had left because Madeline and Garrett had already started packing for the trip. I couldn't help but feel like this was already kind of planned. Madeline had a lot of bags for me and then she packed a small suitcase for her things. Mr. Garrett attended to my needs that night while Madeline took control of making sure everything was in order. The other thing that seemed out of place was the fact that my father had come to visit me for some reason. My mother was not with him. It had been nearly two years since he last visited me. He waited two years to visit his own son! Why did he do this? Rage was boiling up inside of me way before he even entered the room.

My father had aged a lot and his hair matched the color of our eyes. I wondered if Silya had ever looked in his eyes and thought of me. It would be a miracle if she did. She only talked to him because she was ordered to. She must have met my mother too. My mother would have greeted her with a warm smile. Mom would have a beautiful dress on and her hair braided into a bun. Where was my mother? Why wasn't she there with him?

My father was dressed up in a green vest with a white and green plaid shirt. He had casual blue jeans on and it occurred to me that he didn't look like my father, the Headmaster that always had a cold stoned face. There seemed to be a new glow in his eyes. The muscles that always seemed to thin out his face, seem relaxed and more plump -looking. The atmosphere that had dread displeasure and scorn had changed too. It seemed more warm and bright. It almost made me want to slap myself back to reality.

"Hey, my son," he moved to the side of my bed. "You look quite nice today."

"Sure, thanks," I replied robotically, forcing the nice words out and the venomous ones down my throat until it hit to the pit of my stomach with a downpour of hatred.

My father was the closest he had ever been to me in about ten years. I could actually see the veins that popped out of his hands and there were even some even visible scars on his face that I never saw before.

Both Madeline and Garrett had come up to him and whispered into his ears. He nodded slightly. They both went back to packing silently. My father had a very faint smile, but that still took me by surprise.

"So, that girl I met the other day...Silya...she was quite interesting."

"Yeah," I didn't look at him. I felt the way my voice trembled and my hands shake.

"You saw her list, right?" My father dragged this conservation on longer. Yeah, I sure didn't have much to say to him.

"After you finish with that list of hers, you'll be expected to get married. I have already picked out the most eligible brides for you too, so don't worry about picking one."

He was way too quick! Why was he doing this to me? I mean sure I was his only son and the oldest child, but how could he do this to me? I was only 17 years old! Surly, he loved me enough to let me have my own choices.