MISTY (DISCONTINUED)

Chapter 2 - Home sweet home

On the drive back home, something seemed... off. It's around 9-ish around this time, and usually, there are dogs barking at each other from yards, there's kids being yelled at to come back inside because the street lights came back on, but... tonight. It was dead silent.

It didn't seem right, but it was peaceful. Too peaceful. Maybe it was because of what was said on the news? I'm not sure. I enjoyed it because in this car ride, I could actually hear myself think. Shocking, right?

My dad parked on the side, directly next to the sidewalk. I got out and sprinted to the front door. My dad got out after me and moved to the door with the slowest pace imaginable. I'm not exaggerating. He unlocked the door and pushed it open, I flew past him. I was excited to finally be able to relax. I ran to my room while my dad shouted he was going to start on dinner before we went to bed.

I jumped on my bed and laid there for a few before suddenly the phone in my dad's room started to ring.

"Eli! Would you answer that for me?" My dad asked which, I knew wasn't really a question.

I stood up and went to his room, picking up the phone and putting it to my ear.

"Hello—"

"Hey William, it's Carol from the nail salon next door to your coffee shop listen-"

"I'm sorry Ms.Carol but uh, my dad's actually cooking in the kitchen right now."

"Oh, well. Can you take a message for your dad?"

"Sure."

"Tell him that I hope both of yall are okay and to be on the lookout for that Vivan lady, whatever her name is."

"Will do Ms. Carol, is that all?"

"Yup, take care now, Eli."

"Take care." She hung up after I said that. Ms. Carol usually never took things seriously unless it was a genuine concern.

I went back to my room and was planning to tell my dad what she said after dinner. I grabbed my old 9th grade yearbook and looked through it to feel some nostalgia, I flipped through it mindlessly. I flipped onto page 113, Misty. Misty was the girl I liked and still did.

Everybody calls her Misty, but her real name is actually Melissa. Misty is cuter, though. Man, if only she actually noticed me. She's been acting off lately. Don't ask me how I knew.

I got distracted and flipped onto other pages, laughing at other people's photos until dad called me down for dinner.

I came downstairs where I was greeted to my dad already having the plates set out for both of us. He sat down and looked at me.

"Eli, come sit." He said, grabbing his fork, getting ready to dig in. I sat down across from him. Usually, there was a plate for mom even though she's not here psychically anymore.

"Dad, where's mom's plate?" I asked, glancing at the empty chair next to me.

"There wasn't enough to make her a plate. The food usually goes to waste anyway." He responded, taking his first bite. I nodded and grabbed my fork, starting to eat as well, even though it just felt wrong to not leave her a plate.

After that talk, we just sat in complete silence while you could hear bushes and trees moving within the wind. You could hear crickets outside, too.

After some time, my dad finished his plate and stood up from his chair, grabbing the empty plate. He went to the kitchen to place it in the sink with the intention of washing it "later."

"I'm off to bed. Don't stay up. You have school tomorrow, and I don't want you giving me any kind of attitude when you're too tired to even get the hell up." He said, I rolled my eyes and continued eating soon to be done with my plate.

"And when you're done, I want you to place your plate into the sink, I'll wash it later." He continued, going upstairs after he was done talking.

School nowadays is just getting high and sitting in a classroom, mindlessly. While an adult, you know for what? 9 months just talks about things you don't care about and won't use in the future.

I finished my plate and went to the kitchen to put it in the sink, I went upstairs into my room and closed the door behind me. Was I gonna sleep? No.

My dad isn't the kind of parent to check on you through the night, so staying up wasn't an issue. I sat in my room reading until about 11:30 pm, which was when I knew for sure my dad was passed out and probably snoring. Old man.

I slowly opened my door and slowly made my way back downstairs, making sure to move a certain way so the stairs wouldn't creak as loud as they usually do.

I went to the living room and sat down on the couch, grabbing the remote and turning the TV on.

"Duck season, Rabbit seaso—"

I immediately made the volume go from thirty-five to zero. I don't remember watching that. I looked around, and I only heard my dad turning onto his back, meaning he didn't wake up from it.  Lucky me.

For the rest of the night, I watched multiple TV shows until, eventually, I started to get tired. I yawned every now and then, but I still hadn't slept, and it was about 1:34 am. I stared at the TV, and my eyes started closing themselves, I couldn't keep them open. They were like weights. Lights out.