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Chapter 9 of Banished for Love

Jeremy’s Point of View

 

At nearly three in the morning, I hear a faint knock on my door, startling me out of my dozing.

 

“Come on in,” I call, propping myself up on one elbow. Kelsey slowly opens the door and pokes her head in. She smiles sheepishly at me.

 

“I had a nightmare, do you think I can stay in here for the night?” she asks, sounding young and scared. I smile and lift up the covers, inviting her over. She scurries in and curls up against my side. After a few moments go by, I feel her body relax from the fright of the nightmare. We drift to sleep with her head resting over my heart.

 

***

 

The next morning, as I’m slowly pulled out of sleep, I become aware of a few things; the weight of Kelsey’s head still on my chest, the bright light pouring through my window, and suddenly, voices. My eyes fly open in recognition as I hear the familiar voices of my parents drift through my slightly open window from right outside the front door.

 

I gently but urgently shake Kelsey’s shoulder. She groans and snuggles back into my chest, muttering what sounds like “five more minutes”. Sometimes she's just so damn adorable I can’t help but smile.

 

“Kelsey, love,” I say quietly, rubbing her back. She pries one eye open to look at me. “You gotta go, my parents are here. We overslept.” Her eyes pop open and she scrambles to get out of my bed.

 

I look at her and smirk, still able to tease her despite our sticky situation. “Think you can make it down the plant grate without falling this time?” She glares and steps over to the window. I push it open further and peek out to make sure they are out of view.

 

“I’ll see you later,” she says, kissing my cheek and stepping out the window.

 

“Is Jeremy still asleep?” I hear my mother ask quietly from outside my door. I slip quickly but quietly back into bed and pretend to be asleep.

 

“He was when I left,” Cheyenne replies, I read the amusement in her voice and know she knew Kelsey was in here with me.

 

“He was always such a lazy good-for-nothing,” I grit my teeth as my father doesn’t even attempt to keep his voice down. My door slowly creaks open, and my mom lays a hand on my forehead moments later. I pretend to jolt awake.

 

“Mom?” I say, adding a note of grogginess to my voice.

 

“Hi honey, it’s so good to see you,” she says, wrapping me in a tight mom hug.

 

“It’s good to see you too mom,” I return the hug. It’s your hubby here I’m not so thrilled to see, I think bitterly to myself.

 

“Come on, get ready. We’re going out to lunch,” my mom says, standing up. On her way out the door, she stumbles over something on the floor. Looking rather confused, she picks up Kelsey’s Badtz Maru slippers from beside my bed. “I think these are a little girly for you sweetie.” I look to Cheyenne helplessly.

 

“Oh, those are mine mom; I must’ve forgotten them last time I was in here.” Cheyenne jumps in perfectly, snatching them out of mom’s hand. My father, however, doesn’t seem to buy it as he suspiciously scrutinizes the slippers. Great.

 

***

 

“So how was your trip to Greece?” Cheyenne asks as we eat the best Italian food in Big Sur.

 

“Dirty,” my dad replies angrily.

 

“Oh, it was beautiful,” my mom says, ignoring her husband’s comment. “By the way, here’s the thing you asked me to get for Kelsey.” She slips a box out of her purse and slides it across the table to me. My father sends her a look as though he was disgusted that she bought something for Kelsey.

 

“Thanks mom, I’m sure she’ll love it,” I smile at her.

 

“Speaking of Kelsey, how has she been? I’d love to see her again,” my mom says. I can see that my father’s anger peaks even higher at the very mention of Kelsey.

 

“She’s pretty good. A little lonely it seems. Janie and Libby were chosen for an academic program that's sent them to Australia.” I respond with the lie Kelsey and I had forged to explain their absence.

 

“Oh, the poor dear, that has to be tough. I hope you’ve been keeping her company so she’s not all alone,” my mother says, a sternness coloring her tone.

 

“Of course, I have,” I reply with a smile. My mother appears pleased by this; my father is visibly seething at the thought.

 

“Well like I said, I’d love to see her before we leave tomorrow, if at all possible.”

 

Having heard enough, my father stands, throws just enough cash to cover the meal without tip, and storms out of the restaurant.

 

“What does he have against Kelsey?” I demand feverishly, looking back at my mother.

 

“I don’t know,” she replies, still looking after him with a perplexed and frustrated expression on her face. “I just don’t know.”