83 nights

The Black Sheep

LOVE - Kendrick Lamar
Like Jose - Playful Ryan
Better Now - Post Malone

"Annika!" Chase's voice makes me flinch and I drop my fork.

"What! Jesus, what!" I scratch my forehead.

"Darling, are you alright?" My grandmother grimaces as she reaches for the salt shaker.

"I'm fine! Why?" I huff.

"Nothing, sweetheart, you've just been eating that soup with a fork for the past 10 minutes." My grandfather shakes his head.

"Oh." I look down.

Well.

"What's going on? Are you high?" Chase asks.

"Chase!" My grandmother yells.

"Sorry, I'm just wondering." He shrugs.

"No! I'm not high, I'm fine." I sigh and grab a spoon.

"Is it back?" My grandmother asks after a long pause.

"What?"

"You know... the eating disord-"

"Grams!" I wave my hands in the air.

"Sorry, sorry, I just... you seem weird." She shrugs.

This is probably the first time in a while I've sat down and had dinner with my grandparents. I've been running around, going to parties or sleeping the whole time I've been here. Today, my brother and I decided to actually sit our asses down and eat grandma's homemade chicken soup.

"Oh. Uh oh." Chase chuckles, staring at me.

"Now what?" I roll my eyes.

"She's in love. You're in love aren't you?" He laughs.

"Love? What are you- what?" I get defensive.

"Ooooh she's soooo in love." He can't stop laughing.

"Chase, I'm not." I wave my finger in front of his face.

"Well, of course she's in love. She's dating Lucas!" My grandmother grins.

Chase and I both fix our expressions and exchange a look. Well. I forgot to tell them we broke up. That's...

"I feel a lecture coming." Chase mumbles to me.

"Me too." I huff. "Uhm. Grams, Gramps..." I look at them smiling.

"Yes darling?" She grins.

"Well... uh. Okay I'm just gonna say it. Luke and I... well... we broke up." I spit it out and cover my mouth as I wait for their reactions.

One second seems like a very short amount of time, but it's enough for my grandfather to choke on his cucumber and half of my grandmother's face to drop.

"Grams? Are you having a stroke?" Chase asks.

"I can't believe you broke up! What are you talking about? This... this is outrageous!" She screams.

"It's not... outrageous." I defend myself.

"Well sure it is." My grandfather huffs.

"This is a tragedy!" Grams whines.

"Tragedy? It's a high school relationship." Chase squints.

"Look, it's not a big deal! Alright? You are overreacting!" I shake my head.

"What was it? He is such a great young man." My grandfather says. "Such a shame."

"Oh, please. It was nothing with him, I assure you. It was something she did. It always is." My grandmother swipes a napkin over her lips.