Infinite

Just Like Summer

𝄆 ♫♪ 𝄇
I can't wait for the end of today
Because today wasn't the best day
But if I wait a little longer
I could be in the sun
Just like the summer
𝄆 ♫♪ 𝄇

Mari was happy that it was a professional development day. She loved school, but after everything that had happened, she wanted a day away from it all. It seemed that every time she went to school, something else made her life fall apart. From her relationship with her step-family, to her friendship with Julie, to the drama that came with three ghosts coming into her life, there wasn't much she wanted to do outside of forgetting everything for a moment and get away from her home and her life for a little.

"Laura, can I go on a walk around the neighborhood?" Mari asked. Even just a thirty minute decompress away from the constant silence, she knew, would help her.

"Grounding includes not leaving the house for any activities. But, if it's just a walk, I guess. But, I expect you to be back in thirty minutes." Laura set an online timer, sent it to Mari, and Mari took the chance to leave while she could.

She put on headphones and blasted music as loud as she could and walked outside. It was freeing, at least to her, that she could get away from Laura and her rules. And she loved every second. For a few minutes, Mari even forgot that she was on a timer.

If Mari was being honest, she was almost tempted to not go back home. But, Mari also knew that Laura had yet to bring up the fact that she ditched school for an entire day. That was sure to be an interesting conversation, whenever Laura did decide to bring it up. The only reason she hadn't was because she hadn't filtered through her voicemails or read her emails to see that Mari had missed a full day of class.

It was only a matter of time before Laura saw the email or voicemail.

Mari enjoyed every second of the walk and loved feeling the sun on her face. She even had a smile on her face, which was not a common occurrence when all she felt was suffocated in the home she grew up in. The same question had been swimming in her head since Luke had come over for a "dance party".

Why don't you just leave?

And she was terrified to admit that she was seriously contemplating it. Sure, Laura had legally adopted her when she married her father, but something had seriously changed in her between then and now. How could she go through with the idea of leaving the only place she called home? But, also, how could she stick around when all Laura had done was get rid of any semblance of noise, of life, in that home?

The moment she stepped in the front door after her walk, though, she regretted not staying out longer. If she thought Laura was angry before—when she simply hadn't done the dishes—Laura was furious this time.

"Do you care to tell me where you were at instead of in school on Tuesday?" Mari's heart sank to the floor as she heard that. She thought she could last a little while longer before having to deal with the consequences of that. Mari, at the very least, had gotten the homework and classwork she missed and already turned it in. On time, no less.

Laura, on the other hand, couldn't believe Mari would dare miss a single day of school. How dare the girl she raised under her roof alone for years disrespect her in that way? She could admit she had a long list of rules in her household, but none were difficult to follow. Yet, Mari couldn't manage to follow several of them.

"I, um, I was having a bad day. I did all of the work and turned it in on time, though, for all of my classes. It won't happen again." Laura's glare did not fade in the slightest, and neither did her anger. She couldn't allow Mari to go unpunished for pulling a stunt like that.

"Well, now I can't trust you anymore. So, give me your car keys; both you and Sofia will be riding the bus for the next month." Mari didn't want to do that—most of the people on the school bus were weirdos or bullies—and she was sure Sofia didn't want to do that either.

"So I'm being punished for this, too?" Sofia yelled from her bedroom, obviously annoyed with the situation at hand. It wasn't fair to Sofia either, but she had absolutely no control over her mother or her actions. "Not fair!"

"I'm sorry, but this is the way it has to be." Mari accepted it, but didn't want to go without asking what was, in her book, an extremely important question.

"Why are you treating me like I'm the devil after all this time?" Mari asked. Laura didn't feel the need to answer the question, heading back to her home office to get some more work done. She suspected she wouldn't get an answer, but hoped that Laura's spots hadn't completely changed in the last few weeks. It seemed like they had, though, with the way Laura completely brushed off Mari's question and treated her the way she had been.

Mari just had to accept that this was her new normal. Though being villainized in a scenario where she didn't know all the pieces at play wasn't fair, Mari knew there was nothing she could do to alter Laura's perception for the time being.

Julie texted her as soon as she got to her room, telling her that she wanted answers. She wanted to know why Marietta had made it seem like she couldn't see them when she could and why she lied about all of it. Mari could only do it over text, though. A single peep out of her room and her punishment could increase exponentially.

Mari explained how she, initially, couldn't see the guys. Just like everyone else in the world. Then, one day, she could. By some miracle she turned into someone special to the guys, just like her best friend. Mari only kept it a secret because she didn't feel as though it was necessary and she wasn't even sure it would stay for long (especially when she couldn't see them when they first showed up, like Julie could), but she recognized that it was wrong to keep that kind of a secret from her best friend.

"Mari, can you take me to Katie's house? Mom said you were allowed to since she can't." Sofia popped her head into her half-sister's room, hoping for a yes. She didn't know what the root of the problems was between Mari and her mother, otherwise she would've tried to help Mari out. Sometimes, she was on her mom's side—like when Mari hadn't done the dishes one night—and others, she couldn't get her mother's side and couldn't support it.

"Um, sure. Just give me a couple minutes. If you want, go get the car cooled down a bit." Mari replied, not looking up from her phone.

"Mari, why is the car running? I didn't say you could drive anywhere." This time, Mari did look up from her phone to stare at her step-mother, flabbergasted.

"Actually, you did. I'm driving Sofia to Katie's house. She said it was alright with you since you're busy." It took a moment, but Laura remembered, sighing and letting her step-daughter go solely to drop off Sofia. What Laura didn't know was that Mari was texting Carrie to see if she wanted to hang out a little bit after she dropped off Sofia.

Usually, she'd never go against Laura's wishes, but Mari couldn't stand being in that house a moment longer. Mari wasn't a prisoner, and she never would be.

Author's Note: Well, hopefully Mari won't get in too much trouble! Breaking the rules is never a good idea... Then again, I'm sure being grounded sucks. This is another chapter, and I hope you all liked it! Make sure to vote or let me know in the comments what you think. All the best, MistyRider921.