Ch. 13 Delicate Subject Matter
Nessie POV
I was in a state between asleep and awake. I thought I might be dreaming, but then I heard something in the distance. I tried to fall back into my dreamy slumber, but I heard noises again. The noise continued.
I reluctantly opened my eyes. It was dark. It must be the middle of the night. I stayed still and listened for the noise. It was faint. I listened for a moment. The hums and tones I heard, I realized were my mother and father. They were speaking to one another in loud whispers. This was very unusual. I knew my parents couldn't sleep, but never did their midnight conversations ever wake me.
The voices continued, so my dad must not have realized I was awake. Rarely, did my father miss hearing my thoughts. I tried to keep my mind silent and hide my thoughts. I closed my eyes, quieting my mind and continued to listen to their conversation.
They seemed to be arguing, rather than having a normal calm conversation. This was extremely odd. The whispers were quick, almost harsh. I heard my name. They were talking angrily. Mom was disagreeing with dad on how to handle something involving me. My mother wanted to tell me something, but my dad was against it. I couldn't hear everything thing they were saying. This was so frustrating. Why were they so secretive?
Suddenly they went silent. My dad must have heard my thoughts. I hopped out of my bed and went to their room. They were standing in their bedroom. My mother looked surprised to see me.
"What are you doing up, sweetheart? It's only two in the morning." She acted like nothing was wrong. Why was she playing dumb?
I looked to my dad. He remained silent.
"I woke up because you two were arguing about me." I said as I crossed my arms.
"We weren't arguing about you, we were-" She began, but I interrupted.
"Don't lie." I couldn't stop myself from glaring straight into my mother's eyes.
My father spoke, "We were having a disagreement on a parenting technique."
That was honest, but his response still gave me no answers.
"Why do you want to be so secretive? What does mom want to tell me?"
My mother's eyes looked to Edward. I looked back to him waiting for a response.
"What mom wants to tell you is something that we should not be discussing with you. It doesn't just involve us. Other people are involved in this conversation, so the conversation should not take place with just us. It's a delicate subject matter to explain."
Although my dad's rationale was meant to calm my nerves in his quiet, smooth voice, it had the opposite effect. To me, his deflection from the truth was just as bad as the lying. I was hurt. Aside from my Jacob, mom and dad had been my best friends. Even though they were my parents, I had a very close relationship with them. I never kept secrets from them and they never kept secrets from me, until now. Our family dynamic was changing and I was confused and speechless.
What was delicate about the subject matter that my own parents couldn't tell me. They should be able to tell me everything that may have an effect on me or involves me. It's not fair that they know something about me, but can't tell me.
I felt myself begin to get frustrated and angry. Before I could respond with anger, I ran off to my room. I shut the door, a little harder than I expected, and laid in my bed. I tried not to think. I tried to forget this conversation because it hurt me too much to think that my parents were hiding secrets from me. They were isolating me from the secret and now, I was isolating myself from them.
Please let be alone.
My father heard me and they respected my request and let me be alone.
I closed my eyes and tried to fall asleep.
In the morning, I awoke with sunlight filling the room. I might have slept in a little. I was surprised no one had come in and woke me up. I sat up in my bed, remembering the fiasco from yesterday. How could have started off so great with so much promise and end so terribly.
I thought of my argument with my parents and about Jacob leaving.
I looked up to my door, expecting a knock from my father. There was no knock.
I got out of bed and opened the door. There weren't here.
I looked across the room and a yellow post-it note caught my eye. I walked to it and picked it up off the table.
It read:
No homeschool today. We are giving you some space and alone time today. We have left the cottage to you today and gone hunting. There is breakfast made for you in the refrigerator. Jacob gets off work at 4:30pm and will housesit for Charlie later tonight. If you want to see him, have him pick you up. Use the cellphone to call him.
Love, Mom and Dad
I put the note down and looked at the cellphone lying on the table.
I smiled thinking about how my parents were finally giving me some breathing room. I grabbed the phone excitedly and was about to speed dial Jacob, until I remembered what happened yesterday.
He had been angry with me. He left me because he thought I didn't want him. That was so far from the truth. I had planned my whole day around seeing him and he had the audacity to say that I didn't want him to stay. Just thinking about how wrong he was made me simmer with anger. I closed the flip phone and put back on the counter.
I ate the breakfast my mom had prepared for me still thinking of my conversation with Jacob. I couldn't understand how he was so unsympathetic to me. My Jacob who was always on my side, even when my parents were against me, was not on my side.
I finished my breakfast and remembered the left-over snacks I left in my backpack from yesterday. I unzipped my backpack to retrieve them and found a folded piece of lined paper. I unfolded it and quickly recognized all the names and numbers and emails of the high schoolers I had met yesterday. That seemed like the only happy memory from yesterday and I hadn't been able to think about it, since I didn't want my dad knowing I had gone to the high school. Now that he was gone, I could think about think all I want. It had been hard to keep secrets from my parents because my dad could always read my thought. But since learning to hide my thoughts, I could keep a few secrets of my own. My parents weren't the only ones who could be secretive.
I took the piece of paper and walked back to the cellphone. I typed Kat's number into the phone and sent her text saying, "Hey, it's Nessa! Where and when are you guys hanging out today?"
I looked at the phone waiting for a response. I patiently waited. No response. I figured she must be busy doing schoolwork. She would probably text me back when she had a chance after her class or at lunch. I put down the phone and walked back to my backpack to get the snacks. As I reached my bedroom I heard a ring of the cellphone.
I dashed back to the phone and flipped it open.
"We r goin to La Pushe beach 4:30?" Kat replied.
I responded with, "Cool. I want to go."
"R ur rents letting u go?" She responded back quickly.
"I think so." I lied. I was getting used to lying.
A minute later she replied, "You can come!? Awesome!"
I texted back saying, "Yes, I can come."
Hope you enjoyed this week's update. What do you think of Nessie's lying and Bella and Edward keeping secrets from her.
It's been hard for me to post long chapters every week, so I'll start posting shorter chapters weekly.
Thanks brankel1 for commenting on my latest chapters. I appreciate it!
xo
