A Nightmare's Fate

Right From Wrong

Chapter Twenty-four: Right From Wrong

A Saturday afternoon was lazy to everyone. Errik's father has been working the past two days non-stop, so he hasn't said much to me, which I think is good so I can avoid his pestering questions that Errik has told me about. The only thing that he has said to me is to ask for my name and to call him Johnavine, which I will only do whenever he's here, under his request.

            It's the only day where Johnavine is off and he's sleeping, since he got home around nine this the morning, which was about two hours ago. I'm the only one awake in the house, leaning against the table; drinking coffee.

            All I can think about is the questions that Errik's dad will ask me, the pressure makes me nervous. But why am I so anxious when he hasn't even asked? As I keep my hands wrapped around the warm glass, I smell the coffee in thinking of how fresh and minty it tastes on my taste-buds.

            The sunlight seeps through the curtains in the back of the kitchen behind me, just above the sink. The beams go through the window and shines throughout the entire home. I go to the window and on the other side of it is the backyard, which is just a large tree with a tire swing hanging from three chains that wrap around the branch.

A door creaks open and I hear footsteps walk silently through the hallway to the middle of the two separate rooms. I don't turn around; instead, I wait for them to talk.

            "Sometimes, I envy the cup of coffee that touches yer lips every cold and bitter morning," I hear Errik say. My head snaps back to him and I look at him like he just insulted me. "It's a saying that my father told my mom whenever they woke up," he begins. "They built that swing together and every morning they would wake up and look at that ole swing hanging from the tree. My grandparents owned this place and every time my mom and dad saw each other, he would say that and they get building on the swing, and with that in the backyard, it always reminded them of their friendship, their bond that made them be together. He would tell my mom that saying even when they were friends, it's because she wasn't allowed to date and he wanted her."

            "So why would you say it to me?" I ask, furrowing my brows and looking straight at him. It's quite confusing to hear something so romantic that someone says it and it feels like they said it in the wrong way. That's how I feel in this position. As I block the rays of light coming through the window, it darkens the cottage and makes Errik's silhouette more obscure.

            "Don't know." He shrugs. "You were right there and I just ‘membered the line, so I thought it was good to say it." Stepping forward towards the table, he leans in and grabs an apple from the basket that is in the middle. He takes a loud, crunchy bite and half smiles at me while the food is on the inside of his left cheek, making a ball on the outside. "This is good, you should have some breakfast," he says, grabbing an orange from the basket and tossing it to me.

            Once I grasp the orange in my palm, I suddenly remember the time at my birthday party, where he asked me out and I refused. Does he still like me? I think. Hopefully this trip isn't so he can try to pull another move. One rejection was good enough.

            “Okay then . . .” I trail off in awkwardness. “So you just happened to think of the line right then and there?”

“Yup,” he replies. “I still don’t know why I said it though, but whatever.” Taking another bite, he adds, “Come on, have some breakfast ya anorexic person. Ya need to get fatter.”

When I look to the supplies in here, I say, "Can't you make breakfast?"

            "I could, but I'm lazy right now." He chuckles as he takes another bite of the apple and sits on the couch in the living room.