Chapter Two: No One is Home

Elaine is home alone for a while and self reflects on how she feels.

“I’m home mom!” I called out, opening the front door.

                As soon as I stepped in, something was not right. Usually, my mom would welcome me with a warm embrace or smile. However, it was dead silent; no voices or footsteps were heard. In addition, it was as dark as night inside, as if the house itself was haunted. In a way, it gave me chills down my back. I carefully tiptoed across the hallway to the kitchen, hearing only the creaks of the wooden floors as I continued to move forward. Once I entered the kitchen, I immediately turned on the lights. I sort of felt a big sigh of relief once I did, for it did not seem like the house was as eerie anymore.

 I soon realized that there was a little sticky note with my name on it on the fridge. I pulled it off of the fridge so I could have a glimpse of what it was trying to convey.

To Elaine,

                I’m sorry this is late notice sweetie but I decided to have dinner with Mrs. Smith. I was waiting patiently for your father and you to come home... but you guys were taking a very long time and I was very hungry. There are some leftovers in the fridge if you guys get hungry. Don’t worry, I’ll be back before 11.

Love,

Mom

                I sighed to myself. I could already picture mom writing that note in pure sorrow. I clenched the note, like I would with a stress ball, and threw it on the floor without any shame. If the now crumbled paper ball was alive and possessed eyes, it would watch me as intently as I was watching it. It would be impossible not to recognize my fierce eyes and heavy breathing.

               

            After my little dramatic moment, I went upstairs to my room. My room was a place where I could truly express my emotions, where I do not have to put on a poker face. As soon as I plopped on my bed, tears overflowed my face. I did not understand why I was so upset. Nothing truly awful happened that day. I had to suck it up though because my phone unexpectedly rang.

“Why now?” I groaned irritatingly, burying my face in my pillow.

I picked it up. “Hello?”

                I tried to make my voice sound as if I was completely fine and happy. However, my fingers were trembling and I was lightly biting my lip. I just could not lie to myself.

“Are you okay Elaine?” asked Rebecca. “Tell me everything. You didn’t break down and cry did you?”

I was a bit reassured that it was Rebecca and nobody else.

“No, I didn’t,” I said with a smile. “You don’t think I can handle myself?”

“No it’s not like that Elaine. It’s just you’re so unpredictable. One minute you’re happy and the next, you can be as grouchy as hell.”

“You know me too well Reb. Besides, it didn’t go too bad. Nothing really happened anyways. I basically talked to Lydia and her mom and picked up my dad’s shirt.”

There was a momentary silence. All that could be heard were both of our slow breathings into our phones and distant car sounds from outside. It was highly unlikely for our conversations to possess such a brief pause. Normally, we would be talking for hours on ends.  

“Are you okay though?” Rebecca asked abruptly.

I took a deep breath. “I’m totally fine. Don’t worry about me.”

“All right. Well anyway, I called you because I’m volunteering for this preschool camp. Since we both got nothing to do this summer, I was thinking that we could volunteer together. If you don’t want to go though, I totally understand.”

“No, I’d love to go. Sign me up! I love working with children.”

“I thought you would say that. Well, thanks Elaine. Okay I have to go now. I’ll send you everything you need to know about volunteering. See you.”

“Bu-“

                Rebecca hung up before I could say my farewell. I closed my phone and placed it on my night table.

Through my window above my bed, the moon did not seem so far away. It felt like I could just grab it with my hands and put it in my pocket. I opened my sliding window and stook my head outside. The feeling of the night- wind rustling through my hair and touching my pale skin just felt breathtaking. I looked up at the pitch black sky. There were so many more stars out that day, for they looked like little dancing fireflies. It was as if there was a blackout and no lights were present in the city.

However, there was one huge star that seemed to twinkle than the rest. It was almost as big as the distant trees.

“If you’re a wishing a star,” I began, “I wish for everyone to be happier and for this madness to stop. It’s drifting my family apart.”

                I clenched my hands together and held them close to my mouth. Maybe if I wished hard enough, it would come true. I did not care if I sounded like I was stupidly talking to myself; anything was worth a try. I closed my eyes shut and wished with all my might.

“What are you doing?” asked an anonymous person behind me.

Reacting too quickly, I banged my head on the top ledge of the window frame.

“Ouch!” I screamed.

                When the mild pain went away, I carefully pulled my head through and closed the window. I soon realized that it was my dad and he was looking at me as if I had lost my mind.

“Did you hear anything I said dad?” I asked him.

He sat down on my desk chair. “Well, no. However, when I passed by your room, I thought someone was with you. So, I came in here to see who it was. Instead, I find you sticking your head out the window. So let me ask you again, what were you doing?”

I grinned. “Nothing dad. I just wanted to smell the night air.”

“Oh, I also found this crumpled on the kitchen floor.”

He took out the exact note I scrunched up irritably earlier.

“Well,” I began,” did you read it?”

He shook his head. “No, it seems like it was none of my business.”

“Well it just says that mom went out to have dinner since we didn’t come home early enough.”

                When I said that, I hoped that he would get the message, that mom needed for us to come home and eat as a family like what we always did before...just the three of us.

“I see I see. I ate at Lydia’s place. I was surprised that you weren’t there. I thought we could eat together. You know, just the four of us.”

I stood up from my bed so he would comprehend clearly about Lydia’s family and me. “Dad, I will never be part of Lydia’s family. You, Lydia’s mom, Lydia, and me will never be a family because that won’t ever happen. When will you understand that?”

“I know,” he said precariously. “But I want it to be like the old times. Don’t you miss it? We were all happy.”

“I do miss it dad. It’s just wrong though. For your information, we weren’t all happy. Have you forgotten about my mom? I bet she wasn’t happy with both of us disappearing all of a sudden back then.”

He sighed. “No, I haven’t forgotten about your mom. I know she wasn’t happy. She felt neglected.”

“And how can you talk about your affair so comfortably? It’s just...I’m your daughter. Do you really think I want to hear any of this stuff?”

His eyes pondered at me. “No I...”

“Dad, can we please talk tomorrow?”

He nodded his head. “Sure thing. I’m sorry for inflicting so much on you tonight. Good night Elaine.”

                Once he left, I laid back down on my bed. My head felt like it was about to fall off, for everything was just too overwhelming. I curled up like a baby and tightly hugged my pillow. My eyes suddenly began to feel heavy and no matter how hard I tried to keep them open, it seemed like they had minds of their own. Before I knew it, everything became dark and black and I was peacefully asleep.