Cluttered {Watty Awards 2016}

Six

After I've finished the rest of my homework on Saturday morning, Emily drifts over and leans against me.

"Sweetie, something wrong?" I ask, turning toward her warm body.

"My head hurts."

Shoving my books to the empty side of my desk, I slowly stand as she clings to me. "Here, lay down. I'll get you some ibuprofen, okay?"

She feebly nods as I help her crawl into my bed. Her body curls into a fetal position as I enter my bathroom. There's no more ibuprofen in my medicine cabinet, so I check Mom's bathroom. The other bathroom, that Rory and Emily share, doesn't have medication; I made sure of that.

Mom's medicine cabinet is so stuffed that it barely closes. Shaking my head, I slowly open it and peer at the jumbled contents. There seems to be every medicine known to mankind inside. I move aside a box of stale-looking Tums and some cough syrup to discover a bottle of ibuprofen. I pluck the small bottle out and turn to read the expiration date.

My mouth pops open. It expired over three years ago. I let it fall into the dirty sink as I continue searching for a newer bottle. Curious, I pick up the cough syrup and look at the date. Two years ago. I grab the Tums bottle, open the top, and sniff the inside. It smells so musty that I can't imagine anyone taking them. The bottle doesn't even have an expiration date.

I continue to check every bottle that I come across—and they are all expired. Everything except for the toothpaste, some baking soda, and Mom's latest painkiller. Rounding up the expired medicine, I deposit it all into a plastic bag and march into the living room. Mom is actually home for once, laying on the couch with her eyes transfixed on some television show. She looks up at me as I enter.

"Mom, these are all expired. Do we have any ibuprofen that's in date?" I ask, holding up the bag.

She sits up, her eyes narrowing. "Who said you could empty my medicine cabinet? Put it back!"

"But Mom. This stuff is all...bad."

She shakes her head. "Didn't you learn anything the other night? Stuff doesn't go bad that quickly. Stores just put dates on there to scare you into thinking you need more right on that date. They just want more money. All of that is still good."

I reach inside the bag and pull out a bottle of prenatal vitamins that expired over seven years ago. Probably the same vitamins that Mom was taking when she was pregnant with Emily. "This expired seven years ago. It's older than Emily."

"Still good," Mom insists.

"When will you need prenatal vitamins again? Expecting to have more kids?" I can't help but ask, and not nicely.

"Just put it back. Why can't you just leave my stuff alone?" she suddenly shouts, bringing herself to her feet.

"Fine. Whatever." Rolling my eyes, I march back to the bathroom and shove everything back in. I shake my head as the cabinet becomes filled again. Filled with over-expired stuff. My stomach suddenly feels queasy. There's no way I am giving Emily ibuprofen that expired that long ago. Thankfully I still have a few pills left in my purse when I check; They're good for another year. I give these to Emily along with a glass of water and let her sleep in my bed as I leave our cluttered home with my drama notebook and my purse.

"Hey, how are you? I can't work long; I have a shift. Is that okay?" Jake asks as I approach our regular picnic table.

I nod. "It's fine."

After I sit down and open the notebook to where we last left off, I feel his eyes on me. "What?" I snap before looking up into his slate blue eyes.

He winces and I immediately feel bad. "Sorry," he mumbles, looking away.

Sighing, I reach out and tentatively touch his arm. My finger overlaps one of his freckles. I smile because I have freckles on my arms, too. Actually, I have them all over my body. They are lighter than his, but far more numerous from what I can tell. "No, I'm sorry. I'm in a bad mood. I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

He looks back at me, then down at where my hand is still resting on his arm. His eyes flit back up to mine. "I was actually about to ask if you were okay."

Removing my hand, I softly laugh. "That obvious, huh?" I give him a serious look. "I really am sorry. And yeah, I'm okay. Just fighting with my mom. Sometimes she's just—just difficult."

He nods. "Aren't all parents?"

I can't help the smile that starts to spread across my face. "Yeah. I guess so. Well, let's get to it, then. Wouldn't want to deprive anyone from pizza."

His laughter makes my smile grow.

April 1, Sat. 6:00 p.m. 624 Days.

Had a fight with Mom over expired medicine because Emily had a headache and needed ibuprofen. Pretty much the same as with the groceries. Thankfully I was able to meet with Jake at the park for a bit after to work on our project. He's really starting to grow on me.