The whole package

Chapter 8

Chapter 8 

 It has been almost two hours since we woke up and no one came to get us. The small clock on the floor said 1:00 and we were usually rushed out to get ourselves presentable at 10:00. In getting ready we were supposed to do our hair and put on a minimal amount of makeup so we, as Chris ever so kindly put it, wouldn’t make him throw up at the sight of us. What a lovely man.  

                “What do you think happened?” Halle asked timidly.  She was rolling her orange back and forth on the ground.  When I woke up Halle and Kylie had said that around 9:00 the door opened and a plastic bag full of oranges, waters and a big bag of chips had been carelessly been tossed in.

                “Listen.” Lena spoke for the first time this morning.  Her eyes were still puffy from crying last night. “I don’t hear the usual conversation contaminated with profanities.”                

 “They left.” I said, turning back to Halle. I stood, went over to the door and lay my head against the wood. I heard nothing for a while, but then the scraping of chair legs broke the silence. 

“Do you hear anything?”  Kylie asked hesitantly.

I pulled my head back a nodded.  

“Just the scraping of a chair,” I clarified. “Someone is home but I don’t think we will be let out of this room much. “  I lay my head back on the door and listened for a bit. “I think most of them have gone out and they left one guy to guard us.”  

"So are we going to just sit in this room all day?" Halle sounded somewhat miffed. I picked up a pillow and slammed my face into it. Not that I'd miss the daily hell that we've been subjected to, but the thought of staying in our room all day wasn't too appealing either.

“Come on, Nelly, we can’t change anything, so we might as well make to best of it.” Halle reasoned. I wanted to scowl at her and respond sarcastically but I knew she was right, so I dropped my attitude.

                “Parents,” Kylie said with the topic. We decided we would continue with the game from yesterday.

                “My Mom and Dad are divorced.” Lena said. “I live with my Dad because my Mom travels a lot.”

“Are you on good terms with your mom?” Kylie asked.                                          

“Yeah, I just don’t see her a lot.” Lena nodded as if decisively.

“What about you, Nelly?” Halle asked.

I was staring off into space and turned when I heard my name.  “My parents are awesome. They’re both great role models.” I took a sip of water and motioned for Halle to go.

“Umm… I live with my mom and her husband Adam. My mom was pregnant at 18 and my dad left her because he felt that a baby would mess up his chances of getting a quality job. But it’s all good, Adams taking the role of being my dad. Every time I call him Dad I can see his eyes light up.” Halle chuckled in thought. “So yeah… that’s it.”  She turned to look at Kylie. “You?”

“Mine are the same as Nelly’s. Nice Mom and Dad with no special back story.” Kylie shrugged. “Boyfriends next?” She sounded timid at first, but  then smiled excitedly when she saw our smirks.

                “Well you guys can talk boyfriends, but this girl just got out of a relationship so I’ll pass.” Halle said with a laugh.

I turned to her and frowned.  “What happened?” She dropped her obviously fake laughing mood.

“We broke up at the beginning of the month. We both decided that we were just too different. I like to go out sometimes but Lucas can’t sit still for a single minute.” Halle let out a deep breath. “Sorry about that, guys, I guess I’m still not over it. I mean I did agree that we should break up so why shouldn’t I be over it?” Halle seemed like she was more talking to herself then us, but I nodded sympathetically anyway.