Keep Holding On

Chapter 2

Picture of Haley --------------->

“Hey Mom, hey Dad!”  I exclaim as soon as they open the door.  They’re finally back from their four day trip to Seattle to see my sister.  Norah has been away at college for a couple months now and my parents miss her terribly.  I’m not sure what it must be like for them, raising a child for eighteen years only to have them leave.  I mean, I know it’s all a part of growing up but it can’t be easy.  My sister and I have weekly dates over webcam, so I don’t miss her too much.  For the most part, the house just gets lonely sometimes without her in it. 

“Hey Eloise, I trust you didn’t have any parties when we were gone.”  Dad says grinning as he pulls me into a hug.  I gulp, trying to block out the memories of Friday night. 

“Nope, trust me, I definitely did not have a party.” Does it count as lying if I don’t mention that I went to a party though?  Is it also considered lying if I forget to tell them that I lost my virginity to a stranger two days ago?  I’m going with no on both of those.

“Well good, how about your homework?  You didn’t spend all weekend watching TV with April, did you?”  Mom asks, kissing my cheek.

“Nope, we just hung out; went to the mall by their house, had a barbeque with Uncle Dan and Aunt Penny, slept until late afternoon… normal stuff.  Then I came home this morning and finished my homework a little bit ago.”  I say, shrugging.  Whenever I feel guilty about something, I seem to babble.  Hopefully they won’t ask me any questions, I’m an awful liar. 

“Okay.”  She says, smiling.  As she starts walking to the kitchen, her voice sounds through the house, “What do you want for dinner, I was thinking we could have that chicken…”  I stop listening and sigh in relief.  I seriously hate lying, and this feels like the biggest lie I’ve ever had to tell.  Mom’s voice cuts through my thoughts, “Ellie, are you even listening to me?”  She asks, her head popping around the corner. 

I blink and put on a fake smile, “Uh yeah, I was.  That sounds great!”  I say, even though I’m not sure what I just agreed to. 

She smiles brightly, “Oh good, I was hoping that was what you’d say.”  She says, clapping her hands together.  “I always love having the Rosen’s over for dinner.”  She walks away before I can even process what she’s said.

I groan and flop back onto the couch, I hate the Rosen’s.  They’re that annoyingly perfect little family who love getting in other people’s business.  The worst one has got to be Jamie, aka James Jr., though.  He’s a year older than me and instead of going away to college, he stayed behind to do some missionary work for the church or some crap like that.  Whenever we’re together, he’s always spouting bible verses like they’re going to change my life or something.  Don’t get me wrong here, it’s not that I don’t believe that there’s a God, I just don’t like being preached at.

Mom comes around the corner again to see me watching TV again, still in my sweatpants and tank top.  She gasps, eyes wide, “Ellie, go get changed!  The Rosen’s are going to be here any minute!”  I look over at her, surprised to see that she’s already done her hair and makeup.  She’s even wearing a nice dress.  I roll my eyes.  They’re just the Rosen’s. 

I run upstairs to my bedroom and look through my closet.  I really don’t care about impressing our dinner company, but I know Mom does, so that means I’ll be making an effort.  I take out a lilac colored spaghetti strap dress sundress that goes to just above my knees.  Since it’s the beginning of October, I take out a white cardigan so I won’t get cold.  I don’t have many pairs of shoes, so I take out the one that matches the dress best, a red and white striped wedge sandal.  As a finishing touch, I put on a necklace with a little flower pendant.  My hair is easy to do, since I only need to take it down from the bun it was in.  Nothing I do to my hair, besides attacking it with a flat iron, will dent the curls.  It’s annoying sometimes.  I don’t even bother with makeup before I leave my bedroom and head downstairs to hear voices in the living room.