I pulled on the robe I had laid at the end of the king size bed (with canopy), and sat on the bed again. I was still waking up and my eyes were adjusting to the light.

I yawned loudly and lay back on the bed. Either my yawn echoed or someone else was in there.

“Hey.” Someone lay down beside me and squeezed me against their body.

“Hey!” I said angrily. My sudden awareness informed me that it was Jonathan, and I couldn’t understand how it had slipped my mind. He breathed into my neck and I tried to push him away.

“Get off! You’re suffocating me!” I didn’t really mind, but he hadn’t brushed his teeth yet. “You’re killing me!”

Oh come one Trinny, you act like we’re already married.” He kissed my neck and put a finger on my collar I was wearing. (It was a gift for Valentine’s Day.)

“You went out partying last night,” I paused and sat up, “And you left me here; all alone!” I walked out of the room and went down the stairs.

“Wait, Trinny!” he called, following me.

“Uh how about…No!” I said from the bottom of the stairs.

I started to make oatmeal and while it cooked I had some orange juice. I guess I was making myself at home.

A few minutes later he came into the kitchen, fully dressed. Jonathan wore baggy pants with a chain, a black shirt with a white strip across the chest, and Converse All-Star high tops. “I called to invite you but no one answered, so I thought you were in the studio or something.” He put a hand on my shoulder and noticed something.

“What?” I asked looking over my shoulder.

“When’d you get that?” he pointed to the bat tattooed on my arm.

“Oh. I got that yesterday.” I rubbed it with my hand. “I wanted you to be there.”

“I’m sorry.” He sat across from me and ate his oatmeal. “It’s really neat if that helps any.”

“Thanks.” I bit my lip and felt bad for blowing it out of proportion. We weren’t married so naturally we didn’t have to spend every second of every day with each other. “Brian sure is nice to let us sleep over his cousin’s house, ya know?” I said.

“Yah…” he paused. “They always liked us…well you at least.”

You wanna go find the guys and hang out or something?” I asked putting my bowl in the dishwasher. “It’s already like 2 o’clock.”

“I guess. Munky’s working though, so he can’t go anywhere.”

“Don’t you have band practice today? I wanna watch,” I said excitedly.

“Ok. It’s not that fun, but ok.”

“I’ll go get dressed and then we can leave.” I went upstairs and changed into a black mini-skirt with a red tank top. I wore my black ADIDAS sneakers and a studded belt.

“Shall we?” Jon said reaching for my hand. I put mine in his and we walked outside to the rusty-red, station wagon he drove.

“Hey! Whoa Jon you scared the shit out of me!”

“What the fuck is up?” Jon asked as he greeted him with a big hug and a handshake.

“Brian!” I hollered as I ran over to him with my arms out. He hugged me tightly, but Jon grabbed me hand and pulled me to his side. What’re you doing here?” I asked.

“Well…I was coming to kick you guys out cuz my fuckin’ cousin is coming back within an hour.”

“Well that’s ok cuz we were just coming to pick up you, David, and Marky.” I felt Jon glare at me for the sweet, flirty tone I was using with Brian. “You can just come with us now.”

“No I’m sure he drove his car so that wouldn’t make sense. He can’t just-”

“Actually, I didn’t. I walked here,” Brian said.

“Well then come on. Jonny’ll drive us.” I cuddled against Jonathan’s side and put my arms around his slim waist. Jon’s arm hung over my shoulder and I knew he was jealous.

“Let’s go then.” We got in the car, Jon driving, me sitting next to him, and Brian in the middle of the back seat.

“You got and music?” Brian asked as we pulled onto the street.

“Um-”

“I brought Metallica!” I said whipping out a tape from my pocket. “It’s Master of Puppets. It’s the best one don’t you think?” I put it in and turned it up because the intro was soft.

“Your girlfriend’s pretty tight Jon. Not everyday you find someone like her,” Brian whispered to him.

“Yeh I know!” Jon burst out in jealousy. The music started pounding and the car sides vibrated.

It wasn’t till 15 minutes later that we found Mark and David at the high school, hangin’ with some other punks in the parking lot. Some of the people were in their 20’s but most of them were Mark’s and David’s friends of about 16.

“Hey guys! ‘Sup?” David said walking up to Brian.

“Oh my god, Jon!” Mark ran over to Jonathan and grabbed him by the shirt. “Mom and Dad are gonna kill you! They told you Aunt Margaret was dying and you were s’pposed to go visit her last night with us!” he yelled.

I stared at him. So did David, Brian, and everyone else.

“And?” Jon trailed off.

“She DIED!” he yelled pushing him back. Jon stared, bug-eyed at Mark, not saying a word, and then he burst out laughing. No one saw what was funny.

“Serves the fucking bitch right!” He was seriously happy…I guess, but something didn’t seem right when tears streamed down from his eyes.

“Jonathan!” I ran over to him and held him for a moment, but he didn’t stop crying. “Why don’t we go over here, ok?” I whispered in his ear. I helped him walk towards the stadium bleachers. I heard someone following us and I motioned with my hand for them to go away; which they did.

Jonathan sat on the end of the closest row of bleachers, and I sat beside him.

“Do you…wanna talk about it?” I asked, my hand in his. He squeezed my hand.

“I…” His voice crackled and he sniffled. “I’m glad, she’s dead,” he choked in between crying.

“Was she the one?” He knew what I meant.

“Yes.” His answer held anger, hate, and sadness.

“I’m sorry Jonathan. It’s over now.” I stood up and wrapped my arms around him while he buried his red face in my shirt. I heard him whimper a few times and I didn’t realize I was crying as well. “I love you, Jonathan.”

“What?” he sniffled, lifting up his head.

“I love you.” I kissed his forehead and waited until his crying stopped.

“Geez! Someone go kill my Aunt!” Brian said crossing his arms. “He’s so lucky.”

“Shut the fuck up Brian! You have no fucking idea what he’s gone through!” Mark shoved him into the car, and Brian pushed him back.

“Eat shit you little midget!” He punched him in the nose and Mark fell to the ground with blood dripping down onto his upper lip. “If you weren’t Jonathan’s little brother I’d fuck you up so bad you wouldn’t remember your fuckin’ name!” Brian yelled kicking him in the side.

“Come on guys just be quiet, Jon’s coming back with Trinny. Try to get along at least for once huh?!” David yelled pulling Mark up from the ground.

No one messed with David. Your leg was probably as wide as his arms and he may have been shorter those muscles packed a serious punch. You follow?

“Yah ok,” Brian said rolling his eyes. He went back over to the car and leaned against the passenger door.

David walked towards Jon and me. He patted Jon on the back and told him we were all there for him when he needed us.

I’m sure it made him feel a little better, but when it cane down to it Jon always felt close to me. He even kept some things secrets from Munky. (Munky or James was Jon’s best friend.) And I guess I told him everything as well. I think I just never felt judged by Jonathan, but my girl friends would look at me funny when I said something like, “Jonathan’s so cute don’t you think? I love it when he puts on his kilt and plays his bagpipes! It’s sooo sexy!” We needed each other so bad that for us to be apart would probably only be in death.

The older guys there had already gone back to their game of street basketball.

“Hey, how about you guys just go to the bar and skip band practice today?” It sounded like a good idea even if it came from Mark.

“That sounds good,” Jon said through a stuffy nose. “You can’t go Mark! Why do you even suggest it?” one of David’s friends said.

“Well at least they can go. We’ll go and hang out at Jack’s house. He’s always got something fun goin’ on!” Mark said as he and four other guys hopped into a black Honda Civic. It was David’s friend’s car and he was the only one old enough to drive.

“We should pick up Munky from Debbie’s Deli Delivery. I would feel bad leaving him while we go have drinks,” David said.

“You’re so innocent Silvy,” Brian said. “You don’t even drink either!”

“Well someone has to drive you drunk-shits home when you’re hella wasted,” David said shrugging his shoulders.

I didn’t really like ‘bar hopping’ with the guys. I didn’t like to have the feeling of being unable to control myself. Sometimes it embarrassed me when I was drunk and I remembered what I did. I wouldn’t have gone if David weren’t going, because then I could talk to David while Munky, Brian and Jon got wasted. Munky sometimes passed out but they usually held their own. I’d never seen Jon or Brian pass out, I didn’t think I ever would. When I met Jon he was drunk and not a day goes by that he doesn’t have a beer…well maybe I’m exaggerating. If he had a drink every day then he’d be considered an alcoholic. But, he never got violent, he never yelled, well…once he almost ripped my shirt off cuz he fell over. It was an accident really, and he didn’t get my shirt off either. He just fell on his face and got a black eye; which in the morning was, ‘Hella cool.’ He didn’t know how he got it. “Ya know-“ I stopped myself. Jonathan’s arms wrapped around my waist and he pulled me against his side. Maybe I would go…just this time…just for Jon.

Boy was that a mistake! I should listen to my inner voice, the little thing that tells you what’s right…oh what’s it called…

“…Conscience.” Apparently David had been talking.

“Huh?” I said. Oh that’s the word! Conscience.

“You have such a good conscience Trinny, but I don’t see how someone like you can be with someone like him,” David said from the bar stool beside me. He pointed to Jonathan.

“Oh.” It was the only thing I could say.

“You really don’t look like a couple that would ever work, but I guess it has, hasn’t it?”

“For a few months…” The whole ‘bar atmosphere’ was giving me a headache. The people smelled, the beer as strong, and the band sucked. The group was one of those pop-punk bands, trying to sound like Nirvana. The singer even fell over and jumped/fell off stage once like Kurt Cobain. Right now he was screaming something totally random (I couldn’t decipher it) over the guitars playing the same chords over and over again.

“Kurt Cobain’s dead!”

“Get off the stage!”

Some people continued to yell and boo them but I just ignored them. Jonathan got booed off stage once at a show outside LA. They called him a fag and a queer. It hurt me to see him up there taking shit from these people with no talent when all he wanted to do was sing. Then they started ‘Blind’, except back then it was Jon’s old band ‘Sex Art’. They just let everything go and you could feel the rage their music was sending into the audience. After that song Jon and the band walked coolly off the stage. It was one of their funnier gigs.

“What’s so interesting about him? I mean don’t tell me it’s his good looks!” He laughed, I didn’t.

“Well if I had to choose between Jon and a popular jock I would pick Jon. He’s so different and unique. Everything about him is far from being average and that’s very important to me in a relationship,” I said. I wondered if that had even explained anything. “And as for his looks… I do think he’s very cute. Someone like you would only look skin deep because you are shallow!” I was very annoyed every time someone said something…anything about Jon’s looks (I could say anything because it was never a positive comment.) Girls always said I was crazy for even talking to Jon, and guys only said I was crazy because they were jealous. I wonder if Jonathan got told things like, “She’s too good for you,” or “Do you really think she loves you?” ‘Does it hurt him as much as it does me? What if he started to believe them?!’ I thought.

“He wouldn’t just leave me would he?” I accidentally said aloud.

“What?” David said looking over at me again.

“Nothing.” I was quiet for a moment. “What goes one between Jon and me is none of your business!”

The guy beside David looked at me with a judgmental stare and whispered something to David.

“Ha ha!” he laughed and looked at me, then whispered something back to the guy. Well, they weren’t whispering but I had no idea what they were saying so they might as well whisper.

“Guess you ain’t been getting’ none from Jon lately huh?” one of the guys said.

“I don’t have to take this shit from you guys!” I hollered and stood up in a huff. I turned quickly and ran into someone.

“Oh sorry,” I said and turned back towards the exit. I weaved my way through groups of people, mumbling the occasional, ‘excuse me’ or ‘sorry’. I reached the exit and sat in a chair. It was much cooler outside and quieter. I t was almost dark and the sun was in the process of setting. I wished Jonathan were there to hold me, kiss me, keep me warm, whisper to me how much he loved me.

What if David and everyone else were right? Maybe Jon and I weren’t meant to be. He never was there when I needed him. Well that’s a lie. He was there half the time, but that’s not enough for me. I need someone who’ll-

“Trinny?”

I didn’t respond. What would I say?

He crouched down next to my chair and held my hand.

“What’s wrong?” he asked looking me in the eye.

“Nothing.” Nothing was always a good answer for something. I pulled my hand away and turned my head the other way.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“If we could go somewhere else I might talk,” I said looking at him, mocking him.

“Anyplace you had in mind?” he asked raising an eyebrow.

“I was thinking about the car…while you drive me home.” I said ‘home’ a little more forcefully than I had meant to, but he got the point that I wasn’t implying anything other than talking.

He stood up and looked at the ground. He took a step towards the entrance to the bar…and then two more steps towards me.

“Ok. Let’s go,” he spoke softly and held out his hand.

I ignored his hand and led him to the car. He watched as I absentmindedly tried to open the car door. Of course it was locked.

Jon took the keys out of his pocket and jingled them…taunting me.

“Come on! I want to go home!”

He didn’t move. I would walk home. If he wouldn’t drive me I’d walk all the way home from here.

“Jonathan! I will walk!” I yelled. The wind picked up and I wondered if I could actually make it home if I walked.

“No. You talk to me first. Then, I promise I’ll drive you home.”

He sat down on the bench next to the chair I had been sitting in.

“I don’t feel like talking now. I just want to go home. Please…just let me be alone. Why don’t you just listen to you friends?! They’re right!”

“What’re you talking about?” He ran over to me and I began to cry.

“You and I don’t look good together and we have nothing in common at all!” My words slurred and my lip quivered. Maybe I was wrong before. I couldn’t tell Jon everything.

:You never thought that before. What’s gotten into you?” He held my shoulders making me look him in the eyes. I shouldn’t hide things from him. All Jonathan wanted was answers and the least anyone could do is give them to him.

“Everyone thinks that I’m crazy for loving you and they have no problem telling me so. It makes me so angry and….and,” I didn’t have any idea what I was saying anymore.

“And?”

“I love you so much that it might be better for us to be just friends…”

“No.” He said it so quickly and forcefully it scared me. I suddenly realized he wasn’t drunk at all. He was sober.

“You listen to people’s comments about stuff and take it to heart? They’re only jealous that we have such a perfect relationship.” He hugged me close, tightly and warmly.

“Do you love me?” I asked, I knew he would answer with, ‘Yes’, but I wanted him to say ‘I love you’.

“You know I do.” I could imagine that he meant, ‘I’ll love you forever,’ but we all know that it wouldn’t last that long. It would only last the rest of the night, but maybe that was enough for now…till he said it again.

My mouth was dry and Jonathan only made my thirst worse. His gentle hand found the curve of my lower back and his thumb stroked the left side of my hip. I giggled and moved away from him because I was very ticklish there and I guess he knew this.

“You like that?” he spoke into my neck where he had probably put a hickey by know. His hand glided over my side and I giggled and twitched again.

“Stop…” It wasn’t very effective. “I might kick you there if you keep tickling me. My legs keep spasmming every time…”

“Kick me where?” He looked at me innocently, like a child.

I brought my fingers up his inner thigh. “Right there.”

“Oh, well you can kick me after we have kids,” he said as I burst out in a laugh that was cut short when I realized what he had said. Did he really want kids? Or was it just a thought because kicking him in the balls might actually do damage.

“You really want-“ He kissed me and ended my sentence.

“Maybe,” was all he said. He reached over to the stereo and pushed play. It was The Cure.

I grinned from the couch and he smiled and lay back down on top of me. The couch creaked as he lay down and we both laughed.

“You’re sure Richard and your mom aren’t coming home until tomorrow?” Jon asked.

“That’s what they said. Richie has a thing for gambling so they probably won’t be home till the day after tomorrow.” I smelled Jonathan’s spicy cologne stronger than I could before.

“Jonathan…” I whispered. My eyes squinted and I couldn’t cry even though I wanted to. I would lose control any second now.

“I haven’t even done anything yet,” he laughed, kissing my lips so softly I barely noticed till my own mouth was letting my tongue inside his.

My breathing was so unsteady and I got chills down my spine every time he answered my kisses. At least I didn’t feel odd because I could feel Jonathan’s chest heave up and down with his breaths.

He exhaled his warm breath on to my cheek and his hand went up my shirt. I felt more awkward in the situation now but it didn’t matter.

“I love you so much…” He paused to try to catch his breath but it wasn’t coming. He tried again, “God I-“ I kissed him hard and gave his lip a little love bite. There were tears in my eyes and I had no idea why…maybe because it felt so good?

“I love you too,” I said but my voice quivered as I spoke. I knew my eyeliner was making little blurry lines down my cheeks but Jon wouldn’t care.

“You’re wonderful Jonathan…I love you.” This time my voice was steady. I got another chill down my spine and my stomach tingled with butterflies. Jonathan broke his kissing and reached down over my bare stomach towards the button to my jeans. It came undone easily and so did his. I felt my pants slid off gently and his hands came up my spread legs. Had I spread them? Wait a second…when did my pants come off? What am I doing?!

“No!” I cried. I couldn’t move because Jonathan was holding my wrists back. How did I get so out of control? This was way too far.

“What?” he asked letting my hands go free. I pushed him off and ran to the bathroom still crying those tears I had been crying the whole time. “Trinny!” He followed after I had slammed the door closed.

“I…ah…” I couldn’t breath. My lungs heaved but my heart was still racing. “Air…” This time my tears were for the pain I was in. Jonathan opened the door slowly just in time to see me puke in the toilet. It burned my throat but I could breath again.

He knelt down beside me and waited till I was done throwing up. It tasted bad, nothing like Jonathan. I flushed the toilet and sat there.

“I’m sorry.” He held my hand. “I went too fast huh?”

I shook my head yes and he swore under his breath. I felt pathetic. I loved him but when he wanted to show how much he loved me I threw up. How stupid is that?!

“Why do you even keep me around?” I asked wiping my eyes on the back of my hand. There were streaks of black from my eyeliner on my hand now too. “I’m not good for anything.”

“Oh, don’t say that!” He put his head on my shoulder. “You’re so good Trinny. There’s more to love than sex.” I winced at the word ‘sex’. It sounded so…bad. “Your hugs and kisses…when you just smile and say, ‘I love you’ it’s enough. But I thought tonight you were trying to…give more than that. I’m sorry.” He pulled me against his side and I told him he should go home, that I wasn’t together anymore and my mind was messed up. He looked at me and then at the couch whose pillows were rearranged. He wasn’t trying for seconds was he?! But instead he pouted out his lip and begged.

“May I spend the night? Please?” Before he could finish that off with another, ‘Pleeeeaaaaassseeeee?’ I interrupted.

“No!” My tone surprised me. I had never been so harsh with him.

“Why not?…” he whined. He was so cute…

“Because…my mom could come home and second?” I closed the bathroom door just in case they did. With the door closed I had some time to at least hide Jon. “You really should go,” I said softly. He sat against the wall.

“I don’t want to go home,” he mumbled. “I just want to runaway with you and the band…it’d be so much fun, and you could become and artist. Our house would be full of your sketches and you’d have your own car; even though I do like to drive you places.” He hugged his knees to his chin and softly whispered, “We’d have kids too. A boy and a girl…” His voice got too low and soft for me to understand, but I got the gist of it.

“It would be fun but…that would take years before either of us had the money to buy a house,” I said.

“We’ve got plenty of years left!”

“But what about our families? They’d never let us do that!” I shouted.

“My parents don’t care…they never care. All they do is feed me.”

“Jonathan…you haven’t been home in weeks. They’re probably worried sick.”

“No they’re probably partying,” he said rolling his eyes.

“Look! They’ve gotten you this far! They must’ve done something right!”

“Oh yeh! Sure! They got me to my 17th birthday! Do they deserve a medal for that?!” he yelled.

“Well if you hadn’t turned 17 I would never have met you! Are you saying that you should have never met me?!”

“No!” His voice squeaked.

“Then what’re you saying!” I yelled.

He was quiet for a while, a long while.

“I’m sorry for yelling at you,” I said softer.

“Me too…” He looked at me and motioned for me to sit down with him on the floor. I did and held his hand tightly. He closed his eyes and looked up, maybe imagining the night sky instead of the ceiling. He sighed.

“I wish I could have a family that cared about each other and didn’t ignore their children; a family with parents who really loved each other. Where no one yelled,” he paused and we looked at each other and he added, “Well as long as the yelling wasn’t too loud. And no one tells their kids that their dreams are too unrealistic.” He sighed heavily. “I want that so bad…so that maybe the kids would have what didn’t.”

I thought he was just talking, but maybe he was trying to hint to me something. I didn’t care. It sounded so good. I want that too…it would be nice.

“I want to share that family with you…” My heart stopped. “I want to marry you…” He said and smiled widely. My jaw was shaking but I still tried to speak.

“M…m-m…. marriage??” I stuttered.

“Yes. You don’t want to?”

“No…yes….wait-“ Which was the answer I wanted to give. ‘Yes I want to marry you’ or ‘No I don’t want to marry you’. A sudden chill came over me and I fainted. A moment ago I was overheating on the couch with Jonathan’s warmth and now I was frozen over with his words.

It seemed hours later when I woke up, but it gets dark really early so it’s never what time it seems.

It was warm and I was covered with a blanket. I had to know what time it was so I sat up and noticed the plainly decorated room to be mine.

“2:30 am…ugh,” I groaned and lay down again. I pulled the covers up to my chin and curled on my side. I was 17 and had a guy propose to me! I needed sleep or I would sleep all day tomorrow. Not like I never did that, but I wanted to go somewhere with Jonathan. I hugged a penguin close to my chest and whispered to its non-existent ears, ‘goodnight’.

Suddenly the door burst open and the closed. I screamed but a hand came over my mouth.

“Ssshhh!!!” the person hissed.

Jonathan! I squeezed his arm against my face and kissed it.

“I have to come in here cuz your parents just came home. I’ve gotta hide.”

I got up and locked the door, then went back to bed. I knew he was still standing there.

“Well? Do you sleep standing up?”

“No….”

“Then get to sleep,” I whispered incase my parents were near.

He looked at me blankly, wondering what the hell I meant.

I rolled over and threw down a corner of the covers. “Hurry up. I’m really tired.” I looked at him and gave him a half smile.

He took off his shoes and pulled the blanket up over him and me. I was too tired to be nervous or whatever I was supposed to feel. All I wanted now was sleep…a nice long sleep…time to dream and think.

“Goodnight,” Jon said n a whisper. I pulled the covers up to my chin and rolled over to face him. His arm wrapped around my side and the other lay across the pillows at the top of the bed.

I rested my head right next to his and gave him a small kiss on the lips. “I love you.” I hadn’t expected to say that. I was going to say goodnight. It was easy to fall asleep in his arms and if I got cold I just scooted closer. It wasn’t till I woke up that I realized just how close I had gotten.

The light stretched across the room towards my eyes but his arm shaded it. My body was right up against his. When did that happen? I had actually slept with Jonathan! While my parents were home no less. It felt ok though. It didn’t feel wrong or nasty. I mean we hadn’t had sex but we slept together. I kissed him and then reached under my bed for my diary. It was really old; the first entry was from 1999, the first of November. I had written something about this girl at school who teased me and the cute, geeky, kid with glasses in Art. From then on he was known as Jonathan instead of ‘the kid’.

I picked up my pen and turned to the first empty page. I dated it and wrote down the time, ‘8:56 AM,” I wrote. I didn’t have anything to say except for 5 words, and I was sure of those words. ‘I’m going to marry Jonathan.’

I closed it and locked it. Then I put the key under my lamp.

“Trinny! Get up! We’re going out for breakfast at a restaurant!” my mom yelled down the hall.

“Oh my god!” I said and tried to shake Jon awake. “Get up,” I said next to his ear.

“What?” he said rolling onto his back.

“You’ve got to hide. My parents are taking me out for breakfast and what’ll they think if they see you?!” I kind of yelled.

“Did you sleep with my daughter?” Jon said answering my question.

“No kidding! Where are you going to hide?”

“Your closet?” he said pointing to it. Before I could answer-

“Are you up yet!?” my mom yelled. She was really close to my door.

“I told you that girl is a problem child. Always out partying,” Richard’s muffled voice sounded down the hall from the kitchen.

I pushed Jon out of bed and into the closet just before my mom burst open the door.

“Why didn’t you respond?” she asked. I was on my knees halfway inside the closet. “And what are you doing?” she asked putting a hand on her hip. There was a new bracelet on her hand and a matching necklace on her neck. On top of that we were going out to eat…Richard must’ve won something for a change.

“What’s the occasion?” I asked pretending to look for my white dress shoes. If I hadn’t kept my mother’s reputation in mind I would have put on my black kilt and black heels, but everything with my mom had to be Barbie pink.

“Richard thought it was time that we went somewhere as a family. Breakfast seemed like a good start.” Mom intertwined her fingers so that it looked like she would drop down and pray any second. The black light in the corner of my room cast an interesting color on Mom’s pink fingernails.

I was quiet for a while as I tried to pick out a ‘mom’s-daughter’s-little-angel’ outfit. I was stuck.

“We aren’t family,” I said dryly.

It was Mom’s turn to be quiet.

I decided to go with a pink dress that I would’ve worn to the Homecoming dance if I had had a date. Mom thought I should get a dress anyways and she picked it. I guess I was glad I went though because I wouldn’t have met up with my friends; who had Jon with them.

“Are you done?” I asked Mom.

She left without a word and closed the door behind her.

“Sometimes you’re too harsh on your mom,” Jon said as he crawled out of the closet.

“Then maybe she’ll leave me alone.” I turned my back to him and laid the dress on my bed.

“She really cares about you. Why don’t you just cut her some slack?”

“No one cares.”

“That’s not true. Stop being so fucking dramatic.” He shook his head and sat on the closet floor. “You’ll miss her when you get older.”

“Oh are you the wise man now?! Are you fucking Reverend Jonathan huh?!” I accidentally shouted. “Like you even care about your mom,” I whispered roughly.

“Well she did kind of leave me, and my step mom ain’t too much to brag about if you haven’t noticed!”

“Stop yelling! Some one will hear you!” I shouted.

“You’re yelling too,” he said harshly.

“Look just don’t tell me what to do with my life and I won’t tell you what to do with yours,” I said putting my head in my hands.

“Fine,” he said softly.

My stomach gurgled and I clutched at it in surprise. I wasn’t hungry though.