Your Friend, Jordan

Six

  I seriously needed to go in for a haircut sometime soon. My mom wasn't a huge fan when I cut my hair though, as I often sported the medium length style. When I was a kid my mom loved how my hair looked long, as she didn't have me go in for haircuts very often. But I had that thick type of hair, which was awful to grow out long. I just found I got too hot a lot of the time with the longer style hair, and now I liked keeping it shorter, something she wasn't so thrilled about. But I was older now, I could do what I wanted, well, most of the time.

  There was a long pause in the room after my shrug, while I peered down at the table, and that sluggish but sort of calm feeling was still present inside me.

  "Hun, are you feeling ok? You seem.....off......today," my mom asked right after, while I could feel the awkwardness start to lift in the room, and my parents exchanged worried glances. I hated when they did that. As if whenever I was in a good mood, it seemed to throw them off, and they somehow thought something was wrong. Was I always just an upset person? Did I always have that sad energy around me? Was that normal for me? Did I give off that impression, that I was just a sad boy? And if I was even the tiniest bit happy—maybe not happy, maybe at peace, or more calm, then there must have been something wrong? Really?

  "What? No, no, I'm fine. Really."

  "Does this have anything to do with Jordan?"

  "No. No, it doesn't," I said, snapping back at my dad the moment those words and name left his mouth, and I instantly tried to think of something else. I could feel the memories starting to come back, and the realization of some things, although before I could grasp the full memories of what happened the day before, I tried so desperately to push them away. Wanting to hold onto this calm and peaceful feeling a bit longer, I pushed away the thoughts from the days before, the weeks and months before, and I tried to think of other things. Other things going on in my life.

  Don't think of all the bad things. Think of the good. The more you dwell on the bad things, the more you'll be upset. Think of all the good. You have great parents, ones who love you and look after you. You have a nice home, with a pantry and fridge full of food, and nice clothes. You have a great group of friends, who are always there. You made the hockey team this year, again. Hell, you are even the captain of the team! You guys won your first game the other night, and it was a great night. You are doing pretty well in school and got good grades. This is your last year of high school, and then you're graduating. Look forward to that. You've started talking to that girl you've liked for awhile who's on the volleyball team; Morgan. You made plans to hang out sometime next week. Everything is good in your life. You have a lot of things to look forward to and be happy about. So why worry about the one or two things that are bothering you the most? It's over. It's done. Stop worrying about them. They're over. Well, one of them is, so stop thinking about it, and getting yourself more upset.

  A few minutes going by, my parents still didn't say a thing, as the tension and silence only grew louder it seemed. I couldn't take it anymore. Finally grabbing my bag and tossing it over my shoulder, I headed out of the room, speeding off towards the door as I was about to get my shoes on.

  "James, wait," my dad called after me as I turned and both parents followed behind. I stood there in the doorway, ready to leave if the topic on that person, that guy came up again. Although, a few seconds after I turned around, my dad tossed me his keys, as I caught them instantly. Confused, I stared up at both of them after examining the car keys. "You can take the car today. Your mother and I were just gonna stay home this time. We don't need the car, and you're gonna be even more late if you walk."

  I felt a slight grin began to inch onto my face after a few moments, while they caught on and began to smirk as well. Nodding my head, I lifted the keys to them, before I was about to head out the door.