Morning everyone. Hope you are having a good week thus far. Christmas is creping closer and this week seems to be just flying by. For now, we have the morning prompt. So timers set and off we go.
Oh something bad happened while she was hidden in the attic. I didn’t get to it but it was something bad.
Wednesday, December 17th: Have you no shame?
“Have you no shame?” Petra asked, glaring at Farrah. Across the room I looked up from my book. I needed to finish the last of the book before class tomorrow but knowing my stepsisters my homework plans could easily be disrupted.
“Everyone does it,” Farrah shot back.
Immediately I could see the issue. Both Farrah and Petra liked the same boy at school. It was causing tension in the house. The fact that he didn’t like either of them and was in fact dating someone else was of no relevance. While I couldn’t see the information pulled up on Farrah’s phone, I suspected that she was once again scrolling through Trevor’s socials.
It was rapidly becoming a nightly routine.
“You need to leave him alone. He’s with Grace now,” Petra said. “You shouldn’t drool over someone who clearly likes someone else.”
“Oh are you talking about Grace or do you think Trevor actually likes you?”
I could see where this was heading and had in fact heard several versions of this argument before. I slipped out of the chair; thankful it was in the corner. I took my copy of Crime and Punishment with me as I eased out of the door. They were so focused on each other, neither saw me.
They had a disturbing tendency to try to pull anyone nearby into their arguments. Since my father married their mother, I had inadvertently been a part of many conversations and arguments that in no way concerned me. Not having a side in the argument didn’t help me and, in the end, usually it left me with both of them angry with me instead of each other.
I quickly went up the back staircase, happy that I was wearing thick socks to quiet my steps. Since my room was the first place anyone would look for me, I made a decision to go elsewhere. Realizing my room would never be truly off limits, I made a small space for myself in the attic. At this time of year it was cold, but I had a large bean bag chair, and several blankets. I would be fine reading for an hour or two while things settled below. I was certain that by the time I finished my assigned reading things would have quieted down below.
I slipped into the attic and sang down onto the bean bag, wrapping the blankets around me for warmth. The streetlight was right outside the window and shone well enough that I didn’t need the flash light I kept up there for emergencies. With the insulation in the floor below me, I couldn’t hear anything of the argument raging below.
In the morning, I would need to be able to discuss the book coherently in class. Mrs. Wallace always made certain to call on each of us so I knew there would be no skating by. I lifted my book and angled myself so the light from the window spilled onto the page.
It took me longer to finish than I planned and by the time I let myself out of the attic, the house was silent.
Ten til Midnight 