Hearts Without Chains

17.

~Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion~ Rumi

Josephine-

On Thursday morning, I woke up at six o'clock and couldn't make myself fall back to sleep. I tried burying my face into my soft, cotton pillows. I tried snuggling further into my fluffy duvet, and spreading out on my king sized bed, but nothing lured me back into the state of unconsciousness.

Since being off Aderrall since last week, I've been sleeping in late and going to bed early almost every day. But today, it seems I've slept all I could.

While walking quietly down the stairs of my house, I gather the strings of my pale pink bathrobe into my hands, wrapping them around my waist. My pajama shorts don't give much warmth to me, so my legs form chills as I step onto the hardwood floors.

"Good morning sweet heart." I hear my fathers voice say.

To my surprise, both of my parents are sat at the kitchen table across from one another, sipping at coffee, my father reading the news paper. He got back from his business trip yesterday, and my mother and I had prepared a welcome home dinner for him.

His gray/dark brown hair is shaggy from sleep, and he wears fluffy slippers that I can see underneath the table. My mother wears a warm smile, her brown hair in a bun at the back of her head, her bathrobe bright with polka dots.

"Good morning." I tell them both as I walk further into the kitchen.

"Do you want coffee?" My mom asks me.

"I can get it." I tell her, and begin to walk into the kitchen when she says she will do it for me.

My father asks me to sit beside him at the table, and when I do he wraps a warm arm around me for a hug. He smells like coffee, and the familiar cologne he's worn since I was a child. Even in his pajamas he smells of it.

When my mother hands me a cup of coffee I wander into the living room, and flick on the tv as my parents discuss something related to business. They will both be leaving today to go to work, so I plan to have the whole day to myself. As I half watch Friends on tv, I think about calling Tyler to invite him over later. And before I know it my parents are both leaving to be at the office by eight, and my father is planting a big kiss to my temple, my mother leaving a lipstick stain on my cheek before going out the door. I make a second cup of coffee, and apprehensively call Tyler, because I don't know if he will be awake or not.

"Joey?" He answers the phone, and I can tell I awakened him by the rasp to his voice.

"Oh, I woke you. I'm sorry." I apologize immediately, and I can hear the yawn he releases.

"No problem." He tells me.

"What's up?" He asks me after a few seconds with no response.

"I'm just alone. My parents left about ten minutes ago and I was wondering if you wanted to come over." I tell him in suggestion while stirring sugar into my coffee.

What's sad is that the last person I've hung out with was Harry on Sunday. And I don't even know if I would consider that hanging out.

"Yeah, of course." He tells me, and I smile.

"But," He adds on.

"Last night I told Kim I would get breakfast with her, and then maybe see a movie or something." He speaks.

I nod my head to myself in a bummed understanding, and lay the metal spoon I'd used to stir my coffee into the sink.

"Okay, no problem then." I tell him, deciding not to say anything about when he told me she wasn't his type at the fair. It's not my business whether he wants to date her or not.