This choice: On second thought, Reese talks her Mom into letting her staying home. • Go Back... Reese had almost gotten out the door. The keys to her crappy little sedan were in her hand, her backpack was riding high on her shoulders. She was all ready to go and face the unbearable agony of social stigmatization from both her classmates and her former squad members. Reese had held her head high and taken a deep breath, pushed against the door that lead out to the garage, and...
"On second thought... Mom, I don't think I can do this..." Reese turned around slowly, "Do you think I could—"
"Stay home today?" Mrs. Poplar said knowingly, one hand on her hip as she let slip a motherly smile, "Reese, you know you can't just run away from your problems."
"I know, but..." Reese's big blue eyes started to moisten as her throat caught, "I... I just need another day. You know?"
Her mother's impressive chest rose and fell as she took a deep, contemplative breath. Her father had been listening, but merely scrolled along his newsfeed. At first Reese could see the telltale rebuttal of her proposal, but it wasn't long before that flash of motherly mercy overcame her parenting duties.
"All right." her mother said with a smile, "One more day."
"AWWW!!" Abby wailed, "If Reese doesn't have to go to school, then neither do I!"
"When you experience your first identity crisis, you can skip your first day too." their mother said to the smaller girl, "Now eat up. We've got to get you to school."
"MAAAAAN."
***
It wasn't long after that until the house was empty.
Mr. Poplar had left first, kissing his wife and daughter as he grabbed his blazer and straightened his tie. He worked in the old business district of town, so he had to leave a little earlier than the rest of them. Meanwhile Abby slung her backpack across her shoulders begrudgingly and had to practically be pushed out the door to her first day of fifth grade. Leaving Reese all alone, in their two-story rambler.
For a while this house had felt like a prison. No TV, no phone, no friends, no internet for the Summer had meant Reese was practically dying to get out. But once she could, and was informed second-hand from her former squad members about the "changes" that they'd made to the lineup in her absence, all Reese wanted to do was crawl back under the covers and die.
Compared to what lay in wait for her at Valentine High School, self-induced exile was a welcome fate.
Now Reese had the whole house to herself for a few hours at least—the only question is... how was she to spend her day now?   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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