Taga Long

Day Out

My muscles cracked as I stretched and yawned deeply. The sun was coming in through my curtains, so I was sure that it was later in the day. I rolled over, realizing shortly after that I was able to, which meant that Caleb wasn't there.

I sat up hastily, looking around for nothing in particular. With a heavy sigh, I pushed my hair out of my face and made my way out of bed. I was sweaty because I chosento sleep in fuzzy lounge pants and a long sleeve. I still felt like I had to be extremly modest if Caleb and I would continue to sleep in the same bed. And for some strange reason, I hoped that we did.

With another yawn, I made my way towards kitchen. Dad was in the living room watching the news while Andrew played with blocks on the floor.

"Morning dad."

"So, you've decided to join the world huh?"

With a roll of my eyes, I scavenged my way towards the kitchen, settling on a bowl of cereal.

"What timeis it anyway." I asked.

The kitchen and the living room was seperated by a large bar, so I could see straight into the kitchen and vice versa.

"Quarter till one."

I gawked. "Seriously?" Before I couldn't seem to sleep past eight in the morning. Nights were just too painful. The aroused feelings that didn't seem to surface during the day. I'd sometimes have nightmares, and I'd wake up screaming.

But last night, had been so peaceful. I slept deeply for the first time in god only knows how long. And even as I sat eating my breakfast on the couch, I felt lighter, like I had somehow relieved myself.

We sat there quietly, him watching tv, and me eating my breakfast. It was a nice moment. Even though we were doing simple every day things, I felt good. For once I wasn't plagued by memories or haunted by the past. I was simply jist in a state of being.

"Hey dad, where's Caleb?" Now that my brain wasn't focused on counting chews, I could focus.

"Oh ueah, he said to tell you that he'd be back before you could even miss him."

"Oh please. What is that suppose to mean?"

He shrugged. "You tell me. You're his girlfriend."

"Best friend. We're just best friends." I corrected.

"Well, your best friend said to be ready in a little bit." The way he annunciated best friend made me roll my eyes. Was my father excited that I actually had a human friend, or a guy that he approved of was sleeping in my bed? Neither made sense, and the last one was kind of weird.

"For?" I prompted.

"Him and his friends are going to the mall."

I gagged. Anything that included Caleb and his friends in the same sentence, I didn't want to be a part of. It never went well.

"No thanks dad, I went yesterday."

"But did you buy anything?" He eyed me from the top of his newspaper.

"No, why?"

"Because you need new school clothes." He said simply. "And you can't back out, I already gave Caleb's mom the money to give to Caleb.

I sucked in the air around me. The last thing I wanted to do was shop with a bunch of strangers.

"Dad." I whined.

He shook his head, clearly aware of where I was going. "Uh-uh. You haven't been to school in a while, it's time you got ome new things."

At that, we both sombered, knowing the reason why I'd missed out on the end of junior year and almost didn't pass. And we also both knew who the person was that took me shopping, and we knew that she'd never do it again.