Leap Year (✔)

April 12

Rosie's dad slammed open her bedroom door at six thirty in the morning. Rosie's eyes sprung open as the door rattled in its frame.

"We're going to church," Her dad announced. "I'm converting so it's about time I start learning about whatever the hell Christians do all Sunday morning."

Rosie began to drag herself out of bed, her head heavy and pounding. She didn't celebrate Easter, but she knew Dina and Sophia did, and Rosie's mom had told her to do whatever her dad said.

"Not you," her dad barked as Rosie's feet hit the floor. "There's no reason for you to come."

"So... I'm just staying here alone all morning?"

"I figured you wouldn't complain about skipping church," her dad grumbled. "Or is it too big of a sacrifice for you to stay home and watch TV while I sit through Bible readings in a room of sweaty old people? Who's making the bigger sacrifice here?"

It took all of Rosie's self-control not to scream. Some religious convert, her dad was.

"Sure, I'll stay here."

"Good. I'm taking Sophia and Dina out for a fancy brunch and ice cream after-- Dina insists on me spending as much money as possible, it's aggravating really-- so we'll probably be back... sometime in the afternoon."

"Great." Rosie gritted her teeth. "Can I go to mom's during the day?"

"No!" Her dad's voice boomed through the walls of the apartment. "It's my weekend with you. You're staying here. Wait until we get home. And so you don't get any funny ideas..."

He picked up Rosie's key to the apartment from her desk and stuffed it in his pocket.

➣

After the door to her dad's apartment shut, Rosie paced her empty bedroom, throwing everything she could find on the floor. If she threw her books and pillows hard enough, she could pretend like her lashing out in her bedroom was causing her dad pain. She was sick of following her mom's orders to appease her dad. Blindly following his outrageous rules. Being the nice daughter.

When her breathing steadied, she examined the dent in her wall, tracing her fingers along the brass mark the doorknob had left when her dad slammed her door shut.

From the doorway, she stared at the mess she'd made on the floor. Pillows scattered, with their little feathers still floating in the air likes snowflakes. Her SAT guide laying on the ground, its pages crumpled and mangled. One of her curtain rods hanging bent and broken after a particularly forceful hit from the SAT guide.

Rosie opened her window and lay back on her bed, exhausted.

It was one of the rare April days in Chicago where the temperature hit seventy degrees, leaving everyone hoping summer had come early. Rosie knew better; it was just a warm spell. But after six months of winter, she was unused to the swampy summer weather. It wasn't until her t-shirt began to stick against her back that she realized her dad still had the heat on.

Rosie went downstairs and tried to turn off the radiators, but she couldn't figure out the switch. She fiddled with the rusty switch, wiping sweat from her forehead, when the little white knob flew off into her hand.

Abandoning the radiator, she opened the window in the kitchen and stuck her sweaty face against the screen. A hot breeze pushed back against her forehead.

Frustrated, she slammed the window closed and picked up her phone to text Brie.

-Rosie- Is mass over yet??