A Material Change

Chapter two- a rebellion

I ate the waffles in silence. They were chocolate chip, so I savored them before they were entirely finished.

“Man, you can cook,” I said in awe to Jude.

“I kind of had to learn. When me and Levi moved out of our parents house, there was no one left to cook for us. One of us had to learn to cook.”

I glanced at Levi for verification of his story. He shrugged. “I learned how to do the laundry.”

Suddenly it dawned on me that it was morning. I had stayed the night here. My mom was probably panicking. What if she had called the cops? “What time is it?” I asked, suddenly panicking.

“5:40. Why?”

“My mom is probably freaking out right now. Can one of you two take me to my car?” My mind was thinking a thousand things at once. I knew I had to go and grab my phone and then I'd need to sneak in the house somehow. My mom had probably called a million times.

“I'll take you,” Levi offered.

The drive to my car was quiet, but my mind was racing. I couldn't help but wonder what kind of trouble I'd be in when I got home. When we finally got to the car, my first thought was that I had to get to my phone. I climbed into my car through the hatchback due to the fact that the rest of the doors were locked and snatched my phone off of the front seat.

No missed calls. Only one text from Finley that read: Told mom you were staying at a friends so you could go be with your mystery guy. You can thank me later.

Secretly I was thankful. But I also wanted to kill her, so there was that too. I leaned my head against the window just as someone tapped on it.

There outside my window was Levi. I jumped at the sight of him, then hurriedly rolled down the window.

“You gonna get home okay?”

I smiled at his concern. “Yes, I'll be fine. Don't worry. My sister covered for me.”

“Some sister you've got there.” Then he paused. “Will you do me a favor?”

“Depends. What is it?”

“Go check yourself out at the hospital. Make sure you don't have pneumonia.”

“I'm fine, Levi. Now go home.”

“See you in class today, Darcy Elizabeth.”

With that I rolled my window up, and pulled out of the parking lot, driving home in blissful silence.

Finley was waiting for me when I got home. She bombarded me with questions the minute I walked through the door.

“Where were you? Were you with him? Where did you go after school? His house? Jesus, Lizzie, gimme something here!” she exclaimed in a hushed tone. I just glared at her before rushing to the shower. My hair was tangled with salt water and my face was dry and pale. My limbs felt sore and my chest felt like I had an elephant sitting on it.

I shut and locked the door behind me to ensure that Finley wouldn't rush in and pry more while I was at my most vulnerable and proceeded to shower, my entire body feeling like I had bathed in salt. Which, in a way, I suppose I had.

I reached over and turned up the heat and I just savored the burning feeling of the water slamming against my skin.

Eventually, though, I was forced to get out and towel off. And face Finley's questions. And my mother's undoubtedly, since she'd want to know who my new friend was. I groaned. I was not prepared for anything this day had to offer.