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DAY 9
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"Mom? Dad?"
My mother, reading the newspaper, and my father, working on his knitting, looked up. I know you will look back at that sentence and think, "my father, working on his knitting"? But this is my family. They are different. The do not believe in normal. That is why I like them so much, except when they are total morons and don't get me at all.
"Yes, pumpkin?" my dad asked as I moved my way to the vacant chair, so I was across from them. I looked at their faces, worn-out, weary and wrinkled and I suddenly felt like crying. They were tired, and looked like they were ready to give up on life.
I looked at them, waiting for an answer, and snapped out of it. "Well, uh," I stammered. I watched my dad take a sip of his water.
I don't know why, but I guess it looked like I was going to let this huge secret of mine explode, so my mom's eyes widened, and she gasped. "EH. MA. GAWD. Lily, are you pregnant!"
My dad's eyes looked like they were going to pop out as he spit out his water. "Holy...Lily, is this true? With who? Was he a nice boy?" My mother punched my father on the arm, and he squealed.
Yeah, and I thought my parents were ready to give up on life and all weary and stuff. Right. They still act like teenagers, energetic, dramatic, and always ready to do something new.
I grinded my teeth together, and said slowly, "NO, mother. I am NOT pregnant."
"You sure? Because we wouldn't be mad," my momtried comforted me.
"Yeah, we would just ground you until you were 60." Again, my mom reached out and punched my father, hard. And finally my mind clicked. So that's where I got my punching ability.
I rolled my eyes. "Actually, NO. I am not pregnant. Geez, you guys are such morons."
"Morons?" my mom's eyebrows raised. "We are your parents, child. Don't back sass us!"
"Whatever. I was going to ask you for permission to go on a road trip with Audrey, James and Robbie to go see Ray, but you know what? You guys are going to say no anyway."
I rose from my seat and started to walk out, but my mother said some words that stopped me dead in her tracks. "Sure, you can go."
My mouth fell open as I spun around, trying to confirm that's what she just said. My mind was whirling around; I was so confused. "What? Did you just say I could go? Are you serious?"
I never got to go to Six Flags when I was a little kid, because my parents though I would get lost or I would get raped or something. And they're agreeing to a road trip. Oh my freakin' God.
"Yeah," my dad answered as he went back to his knitting.
I blinked. I slowly started to test them. "Well, we'll probably have no parental supervision."
"Oh?" Their eyes didn't glance up from what they were working on.
"Yeahh..." This was way too weird. Was it April fools and I didn't know? I looked at my watch. It said the 29th. "And, uh, well, there would be boys there. Don't you think I would get raped or something?"
My mother snorted, and she replied, "Right. You know Lily, that was before you mastered your punching skills. And it was when you were seven. And that Travis guy will be there anyway, right? And doesn't he know tai chi or kung fu or karate or something?"
My father added, "Anyway, we trust you."
"So? Danny on Full House trusts DJ but would he let her go on a road trip to Texas! I don't think so!" By now, I was getting hysterical.
Peering over her newspaper, my mother gazed at me for a moment. Then, she put down her paper and said in a will-you-just-shut-up tone, "Okay, Lily. Didn't you want to go to this thing?" I nodded. "Then, why won't you just accept the fact that you have cool parents?"
Cool parents. I looked at them in disgust. Right. They're the ones that humiliated me when i was nine by dressing up like clowns on Halloween and walking around in public like morons and saying, "We're Mr. and Mrs. Randall! Lily's parents!" Yeah. Cool parents. Right.
But they did have a point. I wouldn't believe that they would just let me go on a road trip. Why? Well...
"It's just too unbelievable! I mean, honestly, what parents would let them go on a road trip?" I screeched.
My mother creased her newspaper and put it down next to her. "Oh, Lily," she got up and hugged me softly. "You love Ray don't you?"
I was stunned. "H-how d-did you..." I couldn't finish my sentence.
"Lily," she stopped holding me like a child and put her hands on my cheeks and stared into my tearing-up eyes. "Lily, we know things. We know you love Ray, and that's why you want to go on the road trip." She let go of me. "We don't want to see you sad anymore."
"Oh, mom..." I started sobbing again and I fell into her arms.
My dad snorted. We looked over at him, and he rolled his eyes. "Oh, cut the Hallmark crap. The real truth Lily, is that Audrey and Robbie came over and they told us that they wanted you to come to a road trip with us."
Huh? I was confused. Audrey and Robbie?
"They begged us, seriously. They told us about Ray. We gave in after a while, and you can go to the road trip. Your mother, I suppose, wanted to be a cool and caring mom, like she knew about Ray and that she trusts you and thinks you're mature enough for a road trip, but she knew nothing about you and Ray before they told her, and if those friends of yours didn't beg, hello? You would not be going on a road trip."
What. The. Hell?
"Geez! Why did you have to ruin it!" my mother yelled at my dad.
My mouth fell open. "My God! I hate you two! You play about with my emotions like they're a toy! Holy...God, I HATE YOU!" I ran to my room and slammed the door, furious and angry and upset and confused, but then realized something important. I opened the door quietly and went back into the living room.
"Uh, but I can go on the trip, right?" I asked my parents who were sitting down, reading the newspaper and knitting, except my dad had an ice pack on his arm from my mother punching him because he gave her act away.
They looked up, smiled, and nodded. "Score!" I gave them both a hug and kiss, and screamed. "You two are the best!" I started to walk out of the room and then turned around and added, "But I still hate you guys."
"Of course," my mother nodded.
"Why wouldn't you be?" my dad asked.
Their faces were expressionless, but their eyes were smiling and laughing along with the joke.
Mine grinned back.
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Mm, that was fun. Did you guys like it? I did. It was fun to write. I remember writing a chapter similar to this...three months ago? And the laptop went DEAD, and I was so pissed. I finally got around to re-writing it, thank God.
And, yes, I am doing the road trip. Lily's going to meet a lot of people, learn things about herself...stuff like that. It's gonna be superly cool. This chapter didn't have much Ray in it, but Lily needed a break from crying. Except, she did cry in this chapter...but it wasn't depressing, you know?
Hope you enjoy it!
Allie