Chapter 38

My phone vibrating against my chest suddenly wakes me up. Oh yeah, I put it in my bra... I take it out and clear my throat.

“Hello?” I mumble/croak.

“Lucy are you alright?” Mum asks.

I clear my throat again, “Yeah I’m good”

“Right, well it’s one in the afternoon so I was a bit worried” she laughs. “How long have you been awake for?”

“About thirty seconds”

“Lazy shit. Make sure you’re home before four”

“Why?”

“We’re going out for a meal” she explains. For fuck sake. There’s nothing worse than a ‘family meal’.

“Right” I sigh. “Bye” I end the call and try and go back to sleep. I can’t... I sit up and check the rest of my messages on my phone.

From - Conor: text me when you’re awake x

To - Conor: I’m awake now x

I rub my temples for a bit before walking into Lois’s bathroom. When I’m done, I walk back into Lois’s room and sit on the bed.

“What time is it?” Lois moans.

“Um” I check my phone “Ten past one”

“Oh my god” she gasps and starts laughing. She sits up and rubs her eyes. “How long have you been awake for?”

“Only about ten minutes. Mum woke me up” I sigh and she laughs a bit.

“I thought I heard you talking. Shall we get breakfast?” she asks and I nod. I’m starving. We walk downstairs and I sit on a bar stool in the kitchen. Her house is similar to mine because we live in the same area so it’s easy to know where each room is.

Lois picks up a piece of paper next to the toaster and reads it.

“Mum’s gone out shopping” she sighs and throws the piece of paper in the bin. “Pancakes?” she gasps.

“Yeah!” I laugh and she starts making a mixture.

“Did I do anything embarrassing last night?” she asks while pouring a bit of the mixture into a pan.

“Well except from falling over loads of times while playing twister, you was alright” I tease.

“Serious?” she gasps and I just nod. “Oh god, how long was I playing it for?”

“At least an hour”

“I remember playing it as soon as we got there but I kept drinking and I forgot the rest of the night” she moans.

“Aw, you weren’t too bad” I wink and she rolls her eyes.

“I do remember yours and Conor’s kiss though” she laughs and I just look at the floor. “You’re both so cute” she squeezes my cheeks.

“Get off” I moan. She rolls her eyes and hands me a plate of pancakes. “I’m going at two” I remind her and she nods. We start having a mini heart to heart when it gets interrupted by Conor calling me. “Conor” I tell her and I walk out of the kitchen. “Hey”

“Hey are you alright?” he asks.

“I’m good, you?”

“Surviving” he mumbles and I laugh.

“We might’ve drank a bit too much”

“Just a little” he laughs. “Do you remember any of last night?”

“Some of it” I shrug and he laughs.

“You owe me for that ride home on my back”

“No way” I object.

“Well at least you remember it” he says, making me laugh. “Well I was just calling to make sure you’re alright. Is Lois ok?”

“She’s good. Still being annoying”

“No change there then” he laughs. “Well I’ll text you, see you later”

“Bye” I say enthusiastically before ending the call.

“You two can’t last two minutes without each other” she says when I enter the kitchen.

“Whatever, I’m going to start getting ready”

-

I have a shower and do my hair to prepare for this ‘family meal’ I’m dreading, and go downstairs to see my Mum.

“Are you ready?” she asks and I nod before sitting down on the sofa, with my phone glued to my hand. I haven’t stopped texting Conor all day. “Right, let’s go” she says after about 5 minutes.

“Where are we going?” I ask my Dad while I’m getting in the car.

“I was thinking Chinese” he replies and I nod. That’s lifted my mood a bit. I love Chinese.

We arrive at the huge, posh restaurant that looks very appealing. We find a table and start ordering what we want although I can’t even bare the look of food right now. I feel so ill.

“So Lucy, how are you finding school? You never tell me” Dad asks.

“Oh. Yeah, it’s good... I guess” I shrug and my Mum rolls her eyes.

“Well who are you friends with?”

“Lois, Leila, Olivia and Charlotte” I lie. Well, I’m telling the truth technically.

“Oh right, is that who’s you slept at last night? Lois’s?”

“Yeah!” I say enthusiastically and he looks at me like I’m a freak... Our meals come and my parents get lost in their own conversation. I’m literally forcing this food down me. I know my Mum will only go mad at me for drinking too much last night so I’m trying my best to be on the good side of her.

 “Lucy?” My Dad catches my attention. I shake out of my thoughts and look up at him. “On Monday, I have to go away with work for a week”

“Why?” I snap.

“I get extra money for it” he shrugs.

“It was never like this at home” I refer to Cheshire. “We were always together and you never went away for work. I fucking hate it here” I snap and storm off to the toilets.

Ok, I’ve not a clue what that was about. I don’t know why I got so angry about him going away for a week. If anything, I should be happy. One, because I get to invite boys round and I get away with being drunk. And two, because my Dad’s getting extra money for this...

I guess I just needed some air from that table that I couldn’t bare being around. Staring at that food I was forcing down myself was making me want to be hurl.

Me and my Dad used to be so close and he used to be so much fun but since we've moved here he's completely changed. He's more strict and I blame it on the new job he's got. He has to be all sophisticated and shit...

I decide to leave the restroom and go back to the table that I’m scared to go back to. I just swore in front of my Dad...

“Sorry” I mumble.

“It’s fine” he sighs. “I don’t want to hear that language again though ok?” he asks sternly and I just nod.

“I’m full” I moan, dropping my fork in my plate and slouching in my chair. I have the worst table manners ever. I decide to sit up again to make it a little less disrespectful.

“You’ve barely ate anything” my Mum raises her eyebrow. I look down at my rice and see an almost full plate.

“I’m not hungry” I shrug and she lets out a huge sigh.

We finally leave the restaurant and go back home. I talk to my parents for a bit in the living room before going upstairs in my room, mainly to sleep and it’s only 7pm.

From - Conor: how did it go?

To - Conor: well except from shouting at my Dad, not eating anything and having a migraine the whole time, I think it went great!

He was winding me up all day about this ‘family meal’.

From - Conor: tell me what happened tomorrow x

To - Conor: okay, let me sleep x

From - Conor: hahaha, night x

I brush my teeth, change into my pyjamas and get straight into bed before going straight to sleep.