DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Labyrinth
WARNINGS: language
A/U: Wow. I can't believe how many people have read this and I only have 2 chapters up! All of you are truly amazing...I hope I don't disappoint. Cookies to those who review! P.S. I know Jareth isn't in this chapter but that is called character building darlings...
Well, this is it. The day of the party. I have always loved Christmas but I really wish that we didn't have to throw a party for it. I don't like the noise, the people, or when everyone says "Oh, you look so grown up!" or "I remember when you were so small I could hold you in my arms." I know all of my family and family friends love me, but damn, sometimes I just don't want to be coddled. I want to be treated like an adult. I'm glad actual Christmas is only a week and two days away.
I keep running the conversations that me and Jareth had last night through my mind over and over again. I feel like the time between us went by too fast. When would he be back again? A week? A month? A year?
Maybe...maybe he's just going to forget. Maybe he was actually bored and I just happened to be available. Well, then...good riddance. I have enough going on as it is. I need to find out who I am and what I want to do in life. There's no time to get distracted by mystical things that don't exist in the real world. And yet, I still feel the tinge of fear pierce my heart and decide to stop thinking about it. If he shows, he shows. If not, well, that's his loss.
I walked up the stairs and I heard roaring laughter coming from the living room. Our neighbors were talking about how they were fixing their house up. Their names were Joey and Kim, a young couple who had moved right across the street from us and had to redo practically the entire house.
"Well, you know, when we were painting Toby's room before we knew he was a boy, we just decided on plain white walls until he came. We didn't want to ruin the surprise and he was going to have to sleep in our room anyway, so we decided we would paint it after he was born."
Oh yeah, and Kim was pregnant.
"Actually, that's a really good idea." She turned to Joey. "Hun, I think we should do that. Why ruin our little surprise?"
He laughed and said, "Because dear, waiting for our 'surprise' also means that we have to waste money on neutral colored clothing that I know perfectly well you will get rid of and replace with gender appropriate colored clothing."
She huffed. "You know me too well."
He chuckled, kissing her nose.
I hope my marriage is like that one day. I love how they talk to each other and do romantic things together. I envy them so much because they are the people who get to live in their own house, without any parents telling them what to do, and they can buy whatever they want because they have jobs, and they can have children. I want all of that so much.
My parents just fight. All the time. Ever since my mom took off when I was little, I've had a rough time of things. I can't look at any happy family without being jealous. I know that I should be happy for them. I should be happy that they have family outings and go camping and tell happy memories about the past. My parents never encouraged me to do sports, dance, play music, or do anything with my life, really. Why can't I just have that fake family photo that you see in new picture frames? Why couldn't I have had an older brother to watch out for me? Or a real mom who baked cookies and attended all parent meetings and sung lullabies? I want THAT family.
I was broken out of my trance by Emmett.
"Wow, Sarah, I haven't seen you in a long time." He whistled with this eyes raised and laughed. "How have you been stranger?"
I smiled. Emmett had been my best friend when I was in the first grade. I'm shocked that he remembers me, I haven't seen him in years. I think the only reason I recognized him was because he had that same disheveled hair and luminous blue eyes.
"Not much really...school, school, and more school. Oh, and babysitting Toby. My life is pretty pathetic."
He chuckled in a deep voice that I didn't seem to recognize from the years of his puberty that I missed. "I don't think that anyone's life gets more interesting than that. Despite what you may think, everyone's life is a little more boring then they let on. For instance, I've taken up the skill of magic. Which sounds really lame but that's what I do. That, and like you said, school."
"Magic? You've been learning magic tricks all of this time you've been away from me?"
"Yeah, I got into it from my cousin. I dunno...I was never really into that stuff until one day I saw this magician. He was amazing. he could tear a page from a book without touching it, putting it into a sealed envelope and no one could ever figure out how he did it. I used to think the whole magic act was stupid. I mean, how many magic tricks can you do before someone figures it out? But seeing that guy...I don't know...it changed my life. So, now I do silly magic tricks."
Wow. Only the truly weird things happen to me...my former best friend has been playing with cards and rabbits his whole life. My life didn't seem so ridiculous after listening to that.
"Well, I'm glad you have found something to...aspire to...but what are you going to do after high school? Do you have a job to save up for college? Or some kind of plan for the future?"
"Magic. Magic is what I'm going to do in college. Why do you think I told you about it? If it was just a hobby, I wouldn't have bothered."
He look highly amused as I shook my head back and forth, "I always knew you were crazy but now I know exactly how crazy you are."
"My mom and dad say the same thing. They don't think I'm going to make it. But, whatever, I'll figure it out."
"I wish my parents were different. But they're really not. They don't believe that I can do much of anything either, oh well. Life goes on."
He nodded in agreement. "Life goes on...by the way, what do your parents expect to do about Toby after you leave?"
I shrugged. "They'll just have to suck it up and get a babysitter. I hate that they haven't hired one already. I mean, I'm stuck in school all day then I have to go home where I should be doing my homework, but then, lo and behold, I have to watch Toby, and whoosh! there goes all my homework time unless he feels like he's in a particular mood to take a nap. I thought the terrible two's were supposed to end at some point but they have gone to be the terrible 4's."
"Ugh, that really sucks. I can't believe that your dad is a lawyer and yet, too cheap to pay for a babysitter...I thought Karen was a stay at home mom."
"She is...she just sucks at it and wants to go out with her girlfriends all the time...and yeah, they make plenty of money for a babysitter but they claim they are putting away money for my college."
"Agh, babysitting in exchange for college, you're starting to sound more and more like Cinderella."
I laughed. "Well, at least then I would have two other sisters to watch Toby."
"Yeah.." His phone started beeping alerting him of a new text. "Crap, my mom wants me in the living room so she can show me off to some of her old friends...this cannot end well."
"She texts you when you are like, 4 feet away from her?"
He grimaced. "Yes, unfortunately it's not as easy to hide now...well, it was nice catching up with you can I get your number so we can do this again sometime? I kinda miss my best friend who used to run naked in my sandbox."
Damn. I hoped he had forgotten that. "Yeah sure no problem." I scribbled my number on the nearest napkin and handed it over to Emmett, stuffing it in his pants pocket.
"Bye! Try not to light the tree on fire!"
That had to have been the most interesting conversation that I had during that whole Christmas party. I can't believe how much he had changed..it confused my mind just thinking about it.
Where had the time gone? It was already 11 and I had planned to ditch the party an hour ago.
I said hello to all the people there so that Karen wouldn't complain plus had a conversation with Emmett, my work here is done.
I headed to my new room where I could seek some solace and quiet.
I walked in to find that everything in my room was a mess. How do things get so messy after just cleaning them not so long ago?
I was starting to put everything away when I began to look at my brush on my vanity. It was white and made out of wood with flowers engraved on the handle. I remember how my mom used to brush my hair while she told me about random epiphanies or even memories that were triggered in absent thought. I remember once...
She had just got done spraying my hair with some dry shampoo and detangler as she started telling me about this theory she had on why people fall in love.
"Darling, you know what I think about couples? I think they are all fake. That there is something about them that screams desperation. Somewhere down the line, what happens, is that people realize they don't want to be alone forever, so they start dating. After they date, they notice that they would be okay with spending the rest of their life with that person, not really thinking about what that truly means. Then they get wrapped up in all the lies of love. The hope, jealousy, hate, and glory. All of it. But then they patch one of their arguments up, thinking that now they can overcome anything just because they decided on an impasse on just one of their disagreements. So then they have a child; a child who is now both of you and now you are stuck. Stuck for the rest of your life because you were desperate and naive. Slowly, you begin to wonder when the arguing will stop. You wonder: is this going to be the rest of my life? But a little voice whispers in your head: no...no this isn't all you have to offer. You are more than this...you are more." She got a faraway look in her eyes where you could almost see her soul screaming from the prison cell of her body.
"But mommy, kids can be good. They always get loved in the end, right?"
She smiled down at me in pity. "Yes, darling. The children always stay loved no matter what happens..."
That was the night she left me forever.