Monday came and Jonathan had to get up early to return to school. Since the registration was officially settled on Sunday, I could only attend school next week, meaning I would be home alone until Jonathan came back. Of course, Dad and Mr. Brad had to go to work as well.
I thought they had left an hour ago to send Jonathan off but I was greeted by the both of them in their work suits in the dining room.
"Good morning, Mr. Brad, Dad," I chirped.
"Good morning, Jeremy," Dad replied with a slight smile.
He seems a bit better, I convinced myself.
"Morning, Jeremy!" Mr. Brad greeted back with expected enthusiasm. "Man, it really does sound like we're a family!"
"Quit that." Dad narrowed his eyes at Mr. Brad.
"Sorry," Mr. Brad apologized with a guilty smile only for a genuine one to shield his shameful look. "But what I meant was the amiable vibe. Isn't it good we all get along well together?"
A late realization hit Dad which forced out an embarrassed apology out of his mouth. His lips curved upward to present his calm joy. "Well, it's great, I suppose."
I nodded to myself as I noted to apologize to Dad if I had made an uncomfortable joke. I could definitely learn a lot from Mr. Brad—and even he seemed more mature than Dad. Though he seemed to be a playful adult, he knew when to be serious. His words would be humorless and his eyes would be filled with concern. To me, he was like a second—well, third parent who could teach me manners and respect well. Not that Dad hadn't done that before already but Mr. Brad seemed more suitable for the job, ironically.
"What are you doing standing there, Jeremy? You should get breakfast," Dad stated as he sipped his coffee.
"Right," I agreed before feeling a sudden awkwardness wash over me. Was I even allowed to look through the fridge? Though this was where we would be staying for a while before finding a house and getting enough to buy one, it didn't feel like I was completely at home. It felt strange to be here and to treat this place like my own.
"There's cereal if you want," Mr. Brad suggested. "It's in the top right cupboard."
I nodded with a smile, but not enough to convince anyone that it was genuine before saying my thanks and walking over to where Mr. Brad had left the cereal box at. I shifted my gaze at the cupboard which showed off the vibrant colors of the cereal box that was peeking through the transparent glass. I reached my hand up and pulled the cupboard open easily before grabbing the cereal box out of its place.
In Ms. Harrison's house, I could barely reach the cupboard at all. I would be on my tiptoes, stretching my toes more to lift myself higher just to open it. I definitely wasn't short but I could really use some height booster. However, Ms. Harrison was slightly taller than most girls, beating my seemingly puny height by a couple of inches. I always had to get a short wooden stool to support me if I had to get anything from the kitchen cabinets.
Conveniently, I was able to achieve my lame goal of opening a cupboard without any help from smaller furnitures now, but sadly, it wasn't because I had grown at all.
I placed the cereal box on the counter before opening the fridge and sticking my head inside to feel the cool temperature. It was a pleasant habit of mine, but of course, Dad never liked it when I do it and would always scold me.
Before I took too long and got myself punished, I pulled my head out along with the milk jug in my hand. It was an enjoyable few seconds at least.
After consuming a few minutes just to pour the cereal and milk into a bowl and returning everything back to its original spot, I went over to the dining table, gently setting the bowl down to refrain from spilling any milk or cereal and plopped myself onto the chair with an involuntary sigh. I looked down with an immediate thought of wanting to eat as soon as possible only to find a missing object that would usually be submerged midway into the milk.
"Ah, crap," I cursed with a frown.
"Language," Dad warned with a glare only to raise a brow at me after. "You forgot to take a spoon?"
I nodded with my commonly seen pout, trying to ignore Mr. Brad's unhelpful chuckle in the background and Dad who sighed at my stupid mistake.
"I didn't know where I could get it!" I whined and continued to puff my cheeks out at Dad who only shook his head at my awaited excuse.
He stood up and brought the mug filled with his daily coffee to his lips and finished up the dark bitter liquid before disappearing into the kitchen with the now almost empty mug which trapped a thin ring of coffee residue at the bottom. Mr. Brad soon followed after, not before ruffling my already messy layers of hair into an even more untidy hairstyle which had strands of hair sticking out in unusual places.
"I'll get it for ya," he let out another small laugh and sipped up his remaining milk coffee which was accompanied by a loud, purposely done slurping sound.
I watched him vanish into the kitchen and slumped in my wooden seat. The cream-colored cereal soaked in the gradually-turning-lukewarm milk as I waited for Mr. Brad to show up with a spoon for me so that I could start eating my breakfast.
Please don't get too soggy, cereal, I mentally pleaded as if the cereal was a living being which could somehow read my mind.
I was busy having an illogical staring contest with the bowl of cereal in front of me that I'd almost missed my chance of thanking Mr. Brad once he'd laid a metal spoon into the white bowl. I looked up to give my thanks to him and realized that it was Dad who stared back at me while meaninglessly adjusting his already neat tie around his white collar.
"You're welcome," he replied with a stoic expression to my unsaid 'thank you' and flattened the tie to cover the column of buttons which held his shirt together in the middle.
"Thanks . . . ?" I finally said with an awkward smile, earning a nod.
"We're heading off to work now," he stated after, now standing beside Mr. Brad who had also stepped out of the kitchen not long ago.
"Have fun at home," Mr. Brad added on with his usual everyday smile.
"Don't forget to ask Jonathan what he learned today so that you can easily catch up once you get to school," Dad reminded.
"Hmph," I let out with a childish glare before sighing. "Yup, I got it."
Dad nodded once more. "We'll see you two later tonight. Have dinner before us."
"Have a safe trip," I grinned which influenced a small unanticipated smile to form on Dad's lips.
"Will do!" Mr. Brad responded with a smile back before patting Dad's shoulder. "Let's go. You got everything with you, right?"
"I'm not you." Dad rolled his eyes playfully and walked off to the door, grabbing his work bag off the couch and slinging it over his shoulder on the way. It was now Mr. Brad's turn to sulk before catching up to Dad who was already outside with the door left open.
The door swung shut behind both of them, assisted by a click sound to indicate that the door had been locked. I finally ate my cereal which turned out expectedly soggy and drank the leftover milk which sat in a lonely manner without its mini partners which had been floating on its surface just mere minutes ago.
I heaved a sigh after abandoning the bowl and spoon in the sink. What was I supposed to do now? No one could accompany me, and I couldn't go out because I didn't have a key to spare, let alone the unfamiliar neighborhood Jonathan and Mr. Brad resided in. Though, I could blatantly visit the gaming room since Dad was unable to prevent me from entering without a long lecture about why I shouldn't be playing too many games.
I refused to give in to my temptation of playing or touching any of the game consoles owned by Mr. Brad as I didn't have the permission. Though Mr. Brad allowed both me and Dad to treat their home as ours, I couldn't simply just do things without being allowed to.
Until Dad was able to even just rent an apartment, I would not dare request any game consoles from him until he had enough for daily necessities. And so, I refrained myself from entering the very inviting room which probably contained many consoles along with game discs and such. However, I did try to find out which door led to the enticing room just to have a peek. Since I would be here for quite a while now, I should know where each door would lead me, was what I thought.
I wasn't going to have even my finger tip make contact with any of the entertainment devices except for my own, so I shouldn't get in trouble for anything—unless I was actually forbidden to look into the different rooms unless I had Mr. Brad's approval, which I doubted that I needed.
In conclusion, I only depended on my phone to keep me diverted and left solely to either get a drink or to the bathroom when necessary. I wasn't aware of how much time had passed since I started scrolling through social media on my phone or watching videos uploaded online, but I had completely missed lunchtime. I was only reminded when my stomach let out a loud grumble which impersonated a groan from some sort of monster.
I ignored it, however, and continued to stare blankly at the video which was displayed on my screen. If I had Jonathan's number, I would probably ask him to get me something on his way back home as I was feeling slightly lazy to get up and make a phone call to another pizzeria for delivery. I also didn't have consent to snoop around the pantry.
I should probably ask him for his number once he gets back, I thought in a daze and had no longer any interest to watch a popular gamer play a walkthrough on a random RPG.
I hopped onto the floor and stretched my arms out into the air, letting out a sound from the pleasant feeling. I made my way down the stairs and grabbed my used cup from the dining table to the sink allocated in the kitchen and turned the tap for water to dispense out into my glass.
As I refilled my fifth cup of water, the door opened with a quiet creak. I gulped down a mouthful of water before turning around to greet who I assumed was Jonathan only to flinch at a sudden jab into my side. I let out a yelp, almost dropping the transparent cup into the sink followed by an expected laughter from the one and only person who would be back the earliest out of the three who had left the house today.
"Jonathan!" I exclaimed with a glare as I rubbed the side which had been nudged. "The heck, man!"
"Just my way of greeting you when I get back," he replied with a snicker.
"Not cool. I almost dropped the glass."
"Sorry."
He only shrugged without concern and didn't even seem to mean his apology whatsoever. I groaned at him and slapped his shoulder lightly with a frown before spitting a name at him jokingly. I wasn't entirely upset but I could have gotten into serious trouble if I had broken something. Dad would have probably taken my phone away for a month if he had witnessed such accidents—and it didn't aid the situation at all that it was something that was not of our belongings.
Out of the blue, I remembered about being hungry and wanting to get Jonathan's number. Now changing the topic entirely, I asked him, "Just curious, but you didn't happen to buy any sort of snacks or food, did you?"
"Why—"
"Oh, and can I get your phone number?" I interrupted him on impulse, cutting him off rudely. "Ah, sorry about that."
He only stared at me with a raised brow before smiling. "It's fine. But why did you ask? For snacks, I mean—since having my phone number is understandable."
I didn't even need to open my mouth to answer as my stomach growled back in reply out of nowhere. Jonathan chuckled once more as I tried to hide my embarrassment by adding on, "Y-yeah, that's why," as if to show that I was not ashamed of the awful monstrous sounds coming from my stomach as an abrupt answer to his question.
"You didn't eat?" Jonathan questioned, now in concern.
I shook my head and laughed nervously. "No, I didn't . . . I was . . . kinda lazy."
"Seriously, Jeremy? That's so unreasonable," he snickered at my unacceptable reply.
"Jeez, I know, so stop poking fun at me for it," I moped, still unable to get over my embarrassment from before, even though it seemed nothing be ashamed of to Jonathan.
"Sorry, but you're out of luck, bud." Jonathan patted my head as if I was a dejected small dog who wanted his owner to feed him more doggy treats. "But if you want, we can have a late filling lunch so that we can skip dinner, considering the time now."
"Wait," I paused as I rewinded his words. "You haven't eaten either?"
He shook his head and laughed. "I was tired during break so I decided to nap."
My eyes lit up like a child's as if I had gotten a new video game and tugged at his sleeve. I was just relieved that I could finally get something to eat after hours of only plain water, and not to mention, I could hang out with Jonathan as well. I just hoped that during our meals, we wouldn't be conversing about what he had to go through during his lessons today.
"Let's go," I insisted as I pulled his arm childishly. I just wanted to hurry since I was suffering from an empty stomach filled only with stomach acid and no proteins to digest.
"Calm down," he tittered. "Have your wallet? I can pay first if you don't have any pocket money."
"Ah, right." I released his wrist only to smile at him with pride. "I would like you to pay, but I have enough money for a meal, so I won't lie to you."
"You shouldn't be proud of lying to people, Jeremy," he chuckled.
"Don't be like Dad."
"I'm not trying to."
"Yeah, yeah, I know what you're trying to say anyway . . ."
I stuck my tongue out at him as I watched him shrug with a tranquil smile before heading up the stairs to grab my wallet. I shoved it in my pocket without checking the actual amount I had for spending and just hoped I had enough before meeting Jonathan at the bottom of the stairs, almost giving him a fright as I was on the verge of toppling over the wooden steps.
"Relax, will ya?" he requested sheepishly. "The last thing I want is for you to end up in the hospital."
"My bad," I simply stated, not sounding sincere enough.
"Jeez, are you a kid?"
"Mentally, yes," I laughed before looking at him with a genuine serious look. "I'll be careful, I promise."
"Good."
"Let's go!" I exclaimed in a cheerful way and dragged Jonathan along with me.
YOU ARE READING
Lost With You
Romance(Note: Short hiatus until end of first week of June.) A young boy's struggle with grief finding the solidarity he longed for through love.
