I Like It When You're Angry

Chapter 5

"You're going to have to do this Mina."

I groaned as I stood up from the dinner table and dragged my feet to the kitchen sink, dumping my plate that was still full of overcooked vegetables and brick-like tofu. Why the hell did my exchange family have to freaking vegetarians?! I turned and slumped against the wooden counter, facing my exchange parents lazily.

"It's part of growing up! Your a very determined young lady, and I know this will be good for you!"

I never like Karen. She was too......perky. Sometimes to the extent where I wanted to vomit. Karen gingerly stood up from her plastic covered dining chair and smoothed out her beige cardigan and white pencil skirt. Her hair was a dull brown and sat in a prim bun on top of her head. She had a fake smile on her face though her eyes were so lifeless it wasn't funny.

Oh, and then, there was good 'ol Bob. He was really, depressing. All the way from his receding hairline, down to his perfectly ironed khakis. It was as if someone had their foot shoved up his ass since he was so uptight all the time. And Karen's leash on him was tighter than ever, especially this evening since Bob hadn't uttered one word to me.

To top it all off, they wanted to leave to the Caribbean soon, but I was clearly an obstacle. So Karen, being the snooty trust-fund baby she is, decided to buy me a small studio apartment and already sent my things away with some movers. Sure, they were my "exchange parents" but that didn't mean they weren't heartless. They have only done this for the status, and I could care less. I was using them for a place to stay, they were using me for their Christmas card photos. Its a win-win for the both of us.

Karen pursed her thin lips and walked forward to me, placing a cold hand on my shoulder, trying to act as sincere as she could.

"You've got the grades, you've got the potential, now your going to go to college, so you should have your own place! Consider this a...." Karen turned her head towards Bob, inquiring with a stern expression that he was allowed to talk. Bob snapped out of his daydream and nodded his head vigorously while murmuring " a graduation gift!"

Karen grinned, "Thank you sweetie." She turned back to me and sighed, "Tomorrow will be Saturday, Bob and I will be leaving for our Carribean trip! And, since I was so kind as to call some movers for you, you should be set and ready to go within a day to your new home!"

She clapped giddily at her ingenious plan and walked back to Bob's side. "We only want the best for you Mina, I know you understand that."

I stared down at my feet, if I didn't agree to this, then she would never shut up. I gritted my teeth, trying not to bang my head with a frying pan. "Thank you Karen, Bob. You have been........so very VERY good to me. I couldn't tell you how much you've made me happy!"

The two grinned and said their goodbyes, Karen cheerfully skipping to the bedroom while dragging Bob along by the hand. I slumped off to my room and fell backward onto my bed, staring up the ceiling for a while.

My eyes caught sight of my laptop which sat on my nightstand, and I quickly fished it from its hiding place over to my knees. Gingerly lifting the screen, I logged on to my email, a little startled when a chime erupted from my computer and I discovered that Daren had sent me a message. I had given him my email earlier in the week.

I clicked it open, the screen blaring a bright white as it opened up, reading "Hey Mina, I haven't seen you in a while since last week, I was wondering if you wanted to talk?" I sighed, pondering the question, he knew that I was online since I had logged on. All this wretched technology still had me confused. I dragged my cursor to the typing bar and started clicking away at the keys.