Country Mile

STARS FOREVERMORE

Though the days were still long and the heat indicated otherwise, summer quickly approached its end and the first day of school was a mere 17 hours away.

Genna stood before her floor length mirror with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face. She let out a primal screech of frustration and began stripping out of the hundredth outfit she had tried on. She threw the peach colored blouse on top of the overflowing pile of other tops she had discarded on her bed, and kicked her jeans into the equally large pile of bottoms on the floor.

She pulled on a light blue T-shirt and grey athletic shorts. Slipping into her silver flip flops, she stomped out of her room and slammed the door shut as she went. She stomped down the stairs, into the kitchen, and over to the fridge. Yanking it open, she stood there glaring at its contents.

Adam leaned in the doorway and crossed his arms lazily. "You're gonna put holes in my floor with all that stompin' if you ain't careful."

"Maybe I don't give a shit right now," Genna ground out.

Adam raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Though he knew it was inevitable, he had been dreading this moment. Everyone had been getting along so well, this was their first time butting heads since they bared their hearts to one another. But Adam had felt this moment building all day. Genna had quite the attitude and it seemed to sour further with every passing minute. Not wanting their first negative encounter since making amends to be due to him falling into his old strict ways, he instead offered some lighthearted humor when he could or kept his distance when he couldn't.

"The only thing I care about is how I have nothing to wear tomorrow!" She slammed the refrigerator door and mimicked Adam's stance by crossing her arms.

"Sure you do," Adam countered gently. "I've washed enough of your laundry to know you could clothe half the girls at your school."

Genna shook her head, "Maybe if it were the middle of fucking winter."

Adam's jaw twinged. It was a well known fact that one of his biggest peeves was when she and Delilah used foul language, and he had already warned her about it several times during her three hour wardrobe purge, but all of his reminders fell upon distressed ears.

"Language, Genevieve."

"All the new clothes I bought will be too hot!" She flung her hands up and gestured to outside, "This fucking state is still knob gobbling the devil's dick when it's supposed to be fucking cold out there!"

Adam's eyes widened and he slowly uncrossed his arms. Pushing off the door frame, he stood to his full height. He was mentally filing that one away because he'd never heard such a description, yet also appalled that it was his own daughter who taught it to him.

"Well, this ain't New England," he tersely pointed out. "Now I know you're upset, but you best reel in that temper before it lands you in trouble. We don't use language like that in this house."

Genna rolled her eyes. A small part of her brain knew she was treading troubled waters, but the bigger part of her brain was overrun by hormonal fury. With her hands thrown to her hips and her voice raised an octave, she emphasized, "I don't think you're grasping the full concept of my fucking dilemma right now!"

"That may be, but if I gotta warn you again, your dilemma will shift from the inability to find an outfit to the inability to sit comfortably. So, for the last time, you can be mad, but we don't use language like that in this house."

"FINE!" Genna screamed in exasperation. She stomped across the kitchen, slammed the back screen door open, and thundered down the steps. "I'm not going to school, so FUCK IT! From OUTSIDE this FUCKING house!"