I rip my sweaty work clothes off and thrust them on the floor. A sigh escapes me as I glance around my room, piles of clothes and books are chaotically spread everywhere, but the mess makes the room somehow comforting. While I was looking over my room it dawned on me that I was home alone even though I was expecting to meet Skye. I take my phone from my pocket and the digital clock reads 9 pm.

A worried pang flows through me, though I know it’s unnecessary. Skye always comes back at around midnight without fail, but for some reason I can't shake this feeling away. I nervously send her a text, hoping that it would calm me down, but it didn’t. I leave my room and explore my house, trying to keep my mind off the whole situation. I stop to look at a picture of my family. We all have smiles on except for my dad, who hates pictures. I look at my brothers and I laugh, we all looked so similar when we were young. I gently move my hand towards the glass frame and suddenly the picture drops.

I brace myself at what I thought would be a loud noise, but was only greeted by a gentle thud. I look down and was surprised to see that the picture as well as the frame was still intact. I bend down and place the picture back on it’s stand. Relief and disappointment swirl inside me, I wish I wasn’t so clumsy. I explore the house a bit more until I forgot why I started walking around in the first place and return to my room.

I place my phone onto my ear and call Nina. She picks up by the second ring.

“Hey Levi, what’s up,” she says.

“Nothing really, I’m just home alone and kind of bored, what are you up to.”

“I’m being responsible and completing the English paper that’s due Monday, maybe something that you should be doing.”

“Woah, it’s only Friday, I got two whole days left.”

“Ugh, you procrastinate too much, I don’t know how you have straight A’s.”

“Doesn’t matter as long as I’m getting it done, but the real reason I called was that I was curious about something.”

“I hope it’s not what my parents think of you, I told you the dinner was perfect and they seem to really like you.”

“No, not that, I just want to know if you noticed anything weird about Jay the day I got back from the whole police incident.”

“No, not that I saw, why, is everything ok?”

“Yeah...yeah, well anyway I’ll talk to you later so you can finish your paper.”

“Awh, ok, I’ll see you Monday.”

I end the call and insert myself into my bed. The scene of Jay and I after anatomy played in my head. He was definitely angry and Jay being angry for some reason doesn’t sit well with me, I’ve known him for years and we’ve done some pretty messed up things to each other and I still have not seen him change from his usual calm demeanor. A headache started to inch itself into my brain, I know sometimes I worry too much about stuff, but I just can’t help it. I find myself getting tied up into my emotions more often than not, but I always found that to be a good characteristic of mine, though other people would say differently.

I decide that wallowing in my stress is not how I want to spend my night and I grab my laptop. It’s a small black window seven that’s filled with a multitude of cracks and scratches. I probably have enough saved to get a newer one, but I’ve had too many memories with it that the thought doesn’t even seem like an option. I press the power button and after a few moments the screen comes to life. I navigate through the apps and windows and bring up Netflix. I scrolled through the shows and ended up on the old cartoon Teen Titans. I sit back and watch episode after episode as the hours rush by.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

As I’m about to click play for the fourth consecutive episode the creak of my front door startles me. A breath catches in my throat and I wearily slip out out of bed.

“WHOS THERE,” I shout from inside my room.

“It’s me, jeez what got you so worked up.” My dad’s thunderous voice rumbles the air.

“Nothing, just been a weird few days,” I say to him as he enters my room.

“The only thing weird is how dirty your room is, seriously you have got to clean up.”

His words make my eyes roll, but a stench pulls at my nostrils that stops my annoyed expression midway.

“Where have you been? You reek,” I say.

Instead of answering me, he suddenly jolts back and covers the back of his neck with his hand. However, he regains his composure rather quickly.

“I’ve just been out and about just doing Dad things, anyway let me get out of your hair.” With this phrase he ends our conversation. Though when he leaves I spot a faint wetness covering his shoes and the lower part of his jeans. Out of everyone in the house, my dad is the most mysterious, I just can’t seem to get a read on him sometimes. Though I do have to admit, my curiosity and attachment to him diminished after I spotted him try to cheat on Skye back when I was in elementary school, he said it was just a mistake due to primal urge, but I still view him less after the whole incident.

After out conversation came to a close, the door opened once more and by the faint footsteps I can tell it came from Dante’s lithe body. I sauntered out to the living room and saw him, he was smiling, but when was he ever not smiling. His tiny dreads of hair were flung around wildly and he had a certain swagger to him.

“I’m guessing Florina’s was a success,” I say to him.

“Of course, it always is.” He closed his eyes like he was trying to relive the moment again.

“Florina’s was always so independent and cool, she’s way out of your league.”

“There’s no such thing as leagues, if you want something you just gotta go take it.”

I couldn’t stop myself from laughing, if only that was true. Dante is what you call an oblivious optimist, he doesn’t know that some people are just born with not that much going for them. His looks and athletic abilities made him super popular throughout school so he’s used to getting anything he wants, I just hope he learns soon enough that their are just roadblocks for people like us, but his optimism does have a way of motivating you.

“That’s not true, but I don’t want to argue tonight. Anyway, do you know where Genesis is,” I say.

“No, I called him like thirty minutes ago and he said he was on his way home, but still pretty far away.”

“Jeez, Kian and him are closer than I thought, I wouldn’t go on a road trip even with Ally,” I say.

“That’s because you don’t do anything out of your comfort zone, your always letting your talents go to waste.”

I can’t fault him for thinking that, I like to keep to myself most of the time and though I still do well in high school, one of my fears is my mediocre social skills and academic laziness is going to make my college a living hell. I still have a year left in highschool as I’m only a junior, so I just hope I can grow more before that sudden shift into adulthood.

“Anyways, goodnight, I’m tired,cya tomorrow,” Dante yells while dashing down the stairs towards his room. I take his lead and head back to my bedroom for about the fifth time today. I turn off the lights and snuggled into my bed, but even though I feel exhausted I can’t stop thinking about Skye.

I restlessly toss and turn in my bed until my eyelids finally start to droop, but just before they do I hear the click of my front door once again. My attention again comes to it’s peek, but this time I stay in bed. I try to just ignore the door, but sharp, hushed whispers keep me from my lovely slumber.

“When are you going to tell them,” I hear a voice that sounds recognizable, but I can’t seem to guess who it is.

“When I’m ready, you told me you’d be fine waiting.” This time I knew that voice belonged to my little brother.

“It’s not for me, their going to be pissed though if you keep waiting, even if it was an accident."

“Whatever, just let me think about it more, love you,” Genesis says. The closing of the door pushes the conversation to a halt and a scurrie of steps takes place after.

My already feeble mind starts going in circles, my thoughts mixing like an old blender. I close my eyes and try to get a grip on what just occurred. Who was Genesis talking to? Why was the voice so familiar? I ponder about the events even more. Was it Skye? Maybe she was tired and decided to go downstairs and sleep, she’s slept down there before. It would explain why he said “love you”. My mind rest on this thought and forces me to view it as the truth, most likely trying to avoid more hours of constant abuse.

For the first time in the day, I start to feel relieved. I don’t let the feeling go to waste and I snuggle deeper into my cover and get into an optimal resting position. My ears pick up on a conversation coming from downstairs, but it’s too late as I’m already in the world of dreams.

However, my ideal sleep doesn’t last long as my eyes shoot open once again, but this time it’s not to the sound of our front door, but to the sight of two pairs of shining blue and red lights.