I opened my eyes to see I was in bed, on top of my comforter, but underneath a blanket. Next to me, on my bedside table was my two pills and a glass of water. I looked down to make sure I was still in the same clothes as yesterday, releasing a sigh of relief when I discovered that no one had changed my clothes while I was unconscious.
Flipping my feet off the side of the bed as I sat up, I took both pills at once and swallowed a gulp of water. I sat on the edge of my bed for a second, noticing the house was awfully quiet. I crept down the stairs to where the kitchen was and only found a mess left behind from breakfast. I furrowed my eyebrows as I made my way to Elton's room, creaking the door open slightly. his laptop caught my eye as I realized he was editing a video for YouTube. He smiled, then gave me the I'll be done later look. I shut the door with a huff and searched around for the others. I finally found Colby and Sam in the backyard filming a video for 'Sam and Colby'.
"Hey, guy-"
"Shhh! Its a wild Katelin in her wild habitat." Colby said, turning the camera to face me. I caught a glimpse of myself in the viewfinder ad was utterly disgusted at my appearance as my hair was sticking out in all different directions, I had some mascara creating a home on my under eyes and I was wearing Sam's sweatshirt from last night which was a couple sizes too big.
"Ah, Colby! stop!" I yelled, pushing his camera away. "I look like I just rolled out of bed."
"Yeah, and to be honest, it's kinda cute." Sam interrupted.
I rolled my eyes, trying to keep my smile at bay. "No filming me."
Colby put his hands on his hips, "Then go back inside." He said sternly, though I knew he was kidding by the look on his face.
I put my hands up in defeat and trudged back inside. I went back upstairs and knocked on Corey's door.
"Whaaaaat?" he groaned.
"Corey, open up! It is important." I said to the door that divided us.
I heard him sigh, then stumble around before coming to open the door. When he opened it, he was shirtless with only bugs bunny pajama bottoms on.
"What?" he asked, groggily.
"Nice pants." I laughed.
"Thanks," He laughed, "What's up?"
"Well everyone is busy and I'm bored and there's nothing on TV until SpongeBob at 3:00pm" I explained.
"Kate, It's not even noon. I'm so tired, we can hang out later. I promise." He said.
"Oh...well, do you know where Aaron is?"
"He left early this morning to fly home for the weekend." he said, smiled, then shut his door once more.
I sighed, heading back to the loft and plopping down on the beanbag chairs like I did the first day I was here. I wondered if my dad was having fun in Europe and a part of me wished I was there right now. For whatever reason, being here in LA was making me feel trapped. I had barely been outside the four walls of the house since I arrived there and what was once a seemingly huge house, was now small and lonely.
I looked around the room, noticing everything. It was composed of one staircase, four large windows, two smaller windows, two hallways on either side, the door to Corey's room, a painfully boring, white ceiling and 3.5 painfully boring, white walls. The two brown beanbag chairs were in the corners by the large windows and there was a white shag throw carpet on the floor next to them. There was an oblong coffee table that sat in between the two chairs and the two small windows were directly across from the beanbags.
I let out a groan as I stood up from the chair and walked mindlessly to my room. I changed into a pair of skinny jeans and a muted pink shirt and a green army jacket. I took off my makeup from the night before and let my hair fall down my shoulders after brushing it smooth. I checked myself in the mirror before heading back downstairs to the kitchen. I picked up the dirty dishes and tossed them into the sink then put the rest of the food in the fridge or pantry. I cleaned the dishes and wiped off the counters, satisfied with how clean everything was.
I took a deep breath, then wandered out the front door. I kicked some stray pebbles that fell on the cobblestone driveway. A penny board that was leaned up against the side of the house caught my eye and I tentatively set it down. I stepped up onto it, riding it around the driveway. Stopping down by the black gate that separated me from the road, I felt my back pocket to be sure I had my phone, then opened the gate and took off down the sidewalk. I skated to the end of the block and took a right, heading down the street, then taking a few random turns, just admiring the sights Los Angeles had to offer. The main road lead me to a suburban-ish area where there was a cluster of restaurants and small boutiques. There was a small coffee shop on the corner of a strip mall that I went into. I ordered myself a tea, then took a seat at a table in the corner. I pulled my phone out and plugged in my earbuds which were in the upper chest pocket of my army jacket.
I felt someone tap on my shoulder firmly, yet softly. Pulling out an earbud and turning to face the person, I found a tall, muscular boy standing before me. He wore a black t-shirt and ripped blue-jeans. His caramel brown hair was in short, wavy-curls on the top of his head and he had a little dimple in his left cheek as he smiled down at me.
"Hi?" I said awkwardly.
"Uh you dropped this..." He said softly, Holding out a twenty dollar bill in my direction. I frowned, checking my pocket to find my money still secured in my pocket.
"I don't think that's mine." I told him.
I watched as his face turned a rosy pink and his hand reached up to hold the back of his neck. "Oh, wow. You got me..." he mumbled, "I'm sorry, I just wanted a reason to talk to you." He shrugged.
Slightly confused, I shoved my phone back into my pocket and tilted my hand toward the seat across from me, "well, uhm." I thought about what I should say, "I mean, as long as you aren't a rapist or murderer... you can sit down."
"Oh, uhm, okay. Thanks." He smiled, the dimple popping up again.
I nodded, "So why exactly did you want to talk to me?"
"Well, I saw you sitting here all alone and I hate seeing people sit alone." He said, shrugging again.
"Oh, well thanks." I smiled.
We started with small talk like introducing ourselves (his name is Brandon), where we went to school and such, then we moved onto more deep subjects. He told me how his dad died when he was little and he helped his mom support his little siblings since he was old enough to work. I told him that My parents were divorced, but nothing else. I told him I was here, living with my brother and his friends for school reasons.
I was in the middle of telling him about how I was homeschooled when I felt a buzz in my pocket. I pulled out my phone, finding seven missed calls from Elton and at least one from each of the other boys. I found texts from Sam,
From Sam; 12:56 pm
Hey! Were done filming come down and hang with us
From Sam; 1:13 pm
Where r u? Just looked in your room and you aren't there.
From Sam; 1:42pm
Kaaaaaaattttttteeeeelinnnnn
From Sam; 1:55pm
Kate! Elton is freaking out. Where are you????
I then looked through my messages with Elton.
From Elton; 1:33pm
Hey where are you?
From Elton; 2:03 pm
Kate! Seriously answer your phone!
I looked up at the time on the clock in the shop; 2:17. My heart sank, "Im sorry Brandon, I need to go!" I said, Grabbing my coffee and tossing it in the trash, running outside and tossing the board on the ground, then skating off as fast as I could.
Once I was home, I threw the board on the porch and tentatively walked through the front door. The house alarm beeped a few times when I opened the door, which also alerted the boys I was home. Elton walked through the archway of the kitchen, "Where the hell were you?" He growled.
"I just went skateboarding."
"And where was your phone?"
"It was on silent..."
"Hmm. So, do you have any Idea how worried we were?" Elton asked, his voice growing in the intensity of his anger.
"I know, I'm sorry I was just-"
"Three hours Kate! Three! how could you possibly not look at your phone for that long? God, it's been so long I forgot how inconsiderate you are sometimes." he shook his head.
"Yeah, it has been a long time. So that means we can't just suddenly move in together and then you can act like you're the boss of me. No!" I yelled back
Sam entered the room, running to me and enveloping me in a hug. "Where were you?"
"I'll tell you where she's going to be; grounded!" he took a second then added, "Until further notice." he said, turning back into the kitchen.
"Are you freaking kidding me, Elton?" I said, following on his heels. "You can't ground me! I'm seventeen years old for Christ's sake. I can make my own decisions and go places on my own, You're not Dad!"
He whipped around to face me, "Damn right I'm not dad, but right now your only other guardian in a radius of 10,000 miles is our druggie mom so it's up to me to protect you and be a stand-in dad. So, I say you're grounded, got it?" he growled, "Also, you are seventeen, so act like it. Don't go off in unknown places by yourself and not tell anyone where you are."
"Maybe you aren't dad, but you sure as hell are acting like him. And it's not my fault you've had me cooped up in here for a week and a half. I'm not going to live in LA and not go explore. I've been out of the house to eat and go to the hospital. I'm not a hermit, quit trying to make me be one." I said, angrily staring at him, feeling as if I were leaning towards him. My whole body was shaking in anger.
"Grounded." was all he said, not even bothering to look at me. I stormed off with a grunt, climbing the stairs and slamming the door behind me once I was in my room. I jumped onto my bed, burying my face into a pillow.
-
A few hours later, Sam was knocking on my door, holding two hot chocolates.
"Come in." I said, pulling my knees to my chest as I sat on my window seat. He closed the door behind him and took a seat across from me, handing me the white mug.
"How you doing?" he asked, noticing my splotchy, tear stained face.
"Not so good." I laughed dryly. He smiled at me.
Things were quiet for a long time before he finally broke the silence, "Why'd you really leave today? and don't tell me you wanted to 'explore'" he said.
I looked away, searching for thee right words to say, "My whole life I've been cooped up in a little house with my dad and his girlfriend. I was taken out of school, I never went out, I just sat I my room doing school work and wallowing in my self-hate. Then, I almost took my own life because I was a horse in a dog's cage. I can't stand being forced into a box. I just wish someone trusted me. The doctors didn't, Dad didn't, Elton clearly doesn't. It's my life, let me live it. There is so much more outside these walls that I'm not going to get to experience in my lifetime, but I want to experience as much as I possibly can before it's too late." I said, letting out a sigh.
"Wow." he mumbled in surprise. Sam pulled me closer to him, letting my head lean on his shoulder. "Can I confess something?"
"Sure." I shrugged
"I like you...A lot."