Paradise City.

Chapter 5: I'm Just a Kid

Chapter 5: I’m Just a Kid.

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The next morning when I woke up I felt pretty good, a bit thirsty and in need to pee but good. I was surprised by the fact that I didn’t have a killer hang over. I lost count of how many drinks I had last night. I don’t even remember much of last night, I remember the shadow box and some dancing with Phil but after that I don’t remember.

I stretched in the bed, feeling the sheets under me. I lay in the bed, the feeling of cotton under my skin felt smooth and soft, warming and inviting. I could smell the rain fall from last night lingering in through the open window, it longed off the grass in the back yard. But it was quickly to dry since I could feel the morning sun bask me in its warm glowing rays.

I smiled and made snow angels in my sheets. I inhaled deeply then sank my body into the bed as I exhaled. I could hear the birds chirping outside on the oak tree. I could hear the cars driving up the street, away to their daily destinations. But what I found was odd was the fact Phil wasn’t in bed next to me. I sat up in the bed noticing I was wearing a tee shirt and my Banana Man PJ bottoms. I smiled and rolled over the edge of the bed, I pressed the speak button on my alarm clock. I know I could’ve looked to see what it said but sometimes it’s nice to have someone tell it to you without them being snarky.

“7:04am” It spoke loudly. I looked at my phone to see so many texts from my dad and Uncles and a few from Bailey, Val, Michelle and Lindsey. I think I had a drunken conversation with them last night. I wasn’t going to let this ruin my good mood. I’ll check those texts later.

My smile grew larger when I heard Dan and Phil in the kitchen boiling the tea kettle and talking happily. I walked from my bedroom, the carpeted floors soft and cool under my feet as I quickly walked around. The carpet turned to freezing hard wood. I shivered as I walked down the halls, my fingers trailing along the painted walls lightly. It was bumpy and smooth at the same time. I felt the floors turn to carpet again, the only other carpet in the house was in the living room.

Sure enough Dan was in the kitchen making three mugs of coffee or tea while Phil was sitting at his lap top on the couch while watching Jeremy Kyle. Phil was in his flannel PJ bottoms and a tee shirt. His blue eyes looked up at me sorrowfully. Seeing the empathy in his eyes the moment I walked in made my heart drop and my stomach flip. I swallowed down hard and held my trembling hands in tight balls.

“What?” I asked steadily. Dan walked back in with a trey of mug that had coffee or tea in them. His hazel eyes found mine and instant dodged mine again. Dan set the trey down on the table while Phil stared at me sadly; he shook his head slightly and rubbed the light stubble on his cheek. His eyes went down to his computer screen; I waltzed over to his side to see what he was looking at. I know that whatever he’s looking at isn’t good. I bent down slightly and looked at the screen to see a video from an old woman ranting about how metal music is Satan’s music, I’ve seen her videos before but this one was uploading early this morning. She ranted about how men in heavy metal bands need to stop making metal music when they have kids otherwise their kids turn out bad. I thought she was just ranting but then she said something that I didn’t expect. She used me as an example and then she showed a video clip from last night of me in a club pole dancing. I knew how to pole dance because Bailey taught me how. I know Bailey was a stripper back in the day. And when I told her I wanted to do something nice for Phil’s eighteenth birthday she taught me how to pole dance. Obviously my dad does not know about this.

Sudden shame washed over me when I realized what had happened last night, I got too crazy and careless. I felt the shameful tears form in my eyes and a lump form in my dry throat. I looked up at Dan; he bit his lip and looked down at his mug of tea.