Fixed

Chapter Five

           Before my alarm sounded, the noise of my bickering parents woke me up. I fell asleep relatively early, so I wasn't sure how their last argument had ended. This was a definite sign that it hadn't been resolved last night.
I groaned at the time. They were arguing at six-thirty in the morning before my dad is off to work. I had at least another hour to sleep in and immediately felt myself getting cranky at this realization. I tossed the blanket aside and slipped out of my bed. I tried to be discreet about my eavesdropping. Every step was as quiet as a mouse, careful for the specifically squeaky floorboards. Sneaking out had its perks; my footwork was comparable to a spy. Once at my door, I pressed my ear firmly to the wood and listened. Their room was down the hall, but the tone of their voices made it easy enough to be heard.

"When were you going to tell me?" My dad's voice wasn't how it usually sounded. It was the voice he used when I would get in trouble; when he was disappointed. I felt my heart thud at his words. Could she have told him, or did he find out himself somehow? My mom was silent after his question. I was more interested to see if somehow she was going to include me into this, to try and throw in the fact that I knew about it; therefore making me somehow equally responsible for the act. If that was the case, I'd be in their room in a split second to defend myself. But to my surprise, she didn't.
"I don't know," She added dumbly, her voice sounding frail. There was no defense on her part, only regret in her voice. My father remained silent, and the sound of shuffling feet could be heard. He had enough of the conversation and muttered something I couldn't hear before he left the room. Once he was down the stairs, I took a step away from the door. I didn't hear enough to know if they were talking about my mom's infidelity or not. I was about to walk back to my bed until I heard my mom's footsteps coming towards my door. I froze, waiting to see what she would do. The sound stopped directly in front of my door and paused completely. She lingered for a minute before she exhaled and went down the stairs. The air returned to my lungs. I didn't realize that I was so desperate to avoid her company until I noticed that I had held my breath to avoid her. Seconds passed, and I was still frozen to make sure that I was alone upstairs now. Once confirmed, I plopped back onto my bed. It was too early to dive into the world of marriage. Situations like this made me wish that I had a sibling to confide in. Instead, I have to deal with it alone. I guess life could be worse; at least they don't bring me into their arguments.

I'm too awake to sleep now. With a sigh, I reached for my phone that laid beside my pillow. There were a bunch of texts from my friends in our chat, and two from Harry. One was from last night that I hadn't responded to, and one was sent around midnight and made me blush furiously.
"Goodnight, beautiful. Pick you up at 8"
I knew that he wasn't joking; he will be here in an hour and a half. I decided that now was the time to start my shower if I wanted to keep his presence a secret from my mother. I grabbed some clothes and headed for the bathroom across the hallway. Despite the argument; I was thankful that they woke me up before seven in the morning to grant me more time. Especially since I knew that my mother would want to talk to me when I got downstairs. Probably to question me about our alleged broken promise, or to confide in me. Normally I would rush out the door in either case. I decided that I should talk to her. Maybe the odds of her following me to the front door would decrease.
By seven-thirty, I was showered, blow-dried, perfumed, dressed-- you name it. That was the fastest I've gotten ready in this entire school year. I wasn't concerned with being late to class, I was concerned about the argument that would come from her seeing me with an older man. I can suddenly remember the words that she used to describe Jonathan when he and Felicite started dating-- "unacceptable and disgusting." And don't forget the follow-up question, "Where are her parents?"
I quickly thought about using this as a counter-attack against her if she did see Harry. Where are my parents, mom? As sick as it was to use their own argument against them. I knew that she wouldn't believe me if I told her that nothing was going on, so that was my only way to get her off my ass about it.