because of him. I had several days before the concert. Maybe that was enough time to let the weirdness dissipate. That whole night was a mess. Here I was having a little more feelings for Jared and then Greg comes from out of nowhere and blindsides me.
“See you in two weeks Perry, and Merry Christmas,” Chuck said as he helped me get my bags out of the trunk.
“See ya’, thanks for the ride and Merry Christmas to you too Chuck.” I hugged him and headed inside.
The house was quiet - no one was home. My parents shouldn’t be home for another 3 hours. “Anyone home?” I yelled just in case. No one answered. I set my stuff down and grabbed the spare car keys and decided to hit the mall to hunt for presents. The mall had 4 big anchor stores and many smaller shops in between. It was busy for a weekday afternoon but I presumed it was because Christmas was less than a week away. I decided to get my dad some new golf balls and a new putter. He loved golf and I heard him complaining that his putter was so old that he should really replace it. My mom was harder to buy for. She had everything she wanted. So I decided that I would get her a mom and daughter day at the spa. I went to the posh spa that was in a shopping plaza near the mall and bought 2 spa packages that included facials, manicures, and pedicures. It was a great gift because she never took time to pamper herself. Plus, she could spend time with me doing girly things...
I headed home to wrap my presents.
*****
Being away from home always made me forget how incredibly awful it was to live under the roof with my parents. Maybe I was used to being free, or maybe it was a hidden hope that it would be different this time. Whatever it was...it created the delusion that home life would be “normal”.
“I don’t like you living out of a suitcase. Unpack your bags and store them in the closet. We aren’t a bunch of pigs that leave messes everywhere we go.” I sighed and headed to the room I stayed in. There was not much room to store my clothes since most of the drawers held linens and towels. After unpacking I stored my suitcase in the closet and headed back for the couch. I wanted to hide away in my room but she would seek me out within minutes and yell at me for not “coming out to talk to her”.
“What are the holiday plans this year Mom?” I had a general idea what the plans would be since they rarely changed from year to year, but I figured I would ask because it made for harmless small talk.
“We are hosting Christmas with our extended family this year so we need to do quite a bit to prepare. There will be about 30 people here on Christmas Day.”
“Whoa, ok. Sounds like a big job.”
“Then we go to church Christmas Eve., have one dinner to go to between Christmas and New Year’s, and then on New Year’s, your dad and I are going out.”
“Do you work the entire time or do you have a few days off? I pried.
“I have a few days off, why are you asking?” I knew why I was asking but I couldn’t tell her. I had the perfect present and I needed to keep it secret, but I also needed a day reserved for her and me.
“I was hoping you and I could spend some time together one of the days you are off.”
“Umm, ok. Maybe next Thursday.” I nodded in agreement. I would call the spa tomorrow and book our treatments.
“I have a concert that I am going to with two of my friends. It’s in a few days. I just wanted to let you know about it.” She looked at me with a hard look. She had never liked me going to rock concerts. She must have had such little faith in me because she worried that I would start using drugs after attending a show. There were some concert-goers that did drugs, but I had no part in that.
“Is that so? Where is this concert?”
“Downtown at one of the clubs. But
“See you in two weeks Perry, and Merry Christmas,” Chuck said as he helped me get my bags out of the trunk.
“See ya’, thanks for the ride and Merry Christmas to you too Chuck.” I hugged him and headed inside.
The house was quiet - no one was home. My parents shouldn’t be home for another 3 hours. “Anyone home?” I yelled just in case. No one answered. I set my stuff down and grabbed the spare car keys and decided to hit the mall to hunt for presents. The mall had 4 big anchor stores and many smaller shops in between. It was busy for a weekday afternoon but I presumed it was because Christmas was less than a week away. I decided to get my dad some new golf balls and a new putter. He loved golf and I heard him complaining that his putter was so old that he should really replace it. My mom was harder to buy for. She had everything she wanted. So I decided that I would get her a mom and daughter day at the spa. I went to the posh spa that was in a shopping plaza near the mall and bought 2 spa packages that included facials, manicures, and pedicures. It was a great gift because she never took time to pamper herself. Plus, she could spend time with me doing girly things...
I headed home to wrap my presents.
*****
Being away from home always made me forget how incredibly awful it was to live under the roof with my parents. Maybe I was used to being free, or maybe it was a hidden hope that it would be different this time. Whatever it was...it created the delusion that home life would be “normal”.
“I don’t like you living out of a suitcase. Unpack your bags and store them in the closet. We aren’t a bunch of pigs that leave messes everywhere we go.” I sighed and headed to the room I stayed in. There was not much room to store my clothes since most of the drawers held linens and towels. After unpacking I stored my suitcase in the closet and headed back for the couch. I wanted to hide away in my room but she would seek me out within minutes and yell at me for not “coming out to talk to her”.
“What are the holiday plans this year Mom?” I had a general idea what the plans would be since they rarely changed from year to year, but I figured I would ask because it made for harmless small talk.
“We are hosting Christmas with our extended family this year so we need to do quite a bit to prepare. There will be about 30 people here on Christmas Day.”
“Whoa, ok. Sounds like a big job.”
“Then we go to church Christmas Eve., have one dinner to go to between Christmas and New Year’s, and then on New Year’s, your dad and I are going out.”
“Do you work the entire time or do you have a few days off? I pried.
“I have a few days off, why are you asking?” I knew why I was asking but I couldn’t tell her. I had the perfect present and I needed to keep it secret, but I also needed a day reserved for her and me.
“I was hoping you and I could spend some time together one of the days you are off.”
“Umm, ok. Maybe next Thursday.” I nodded in agreement. I would call the spa tomorrow and book our treatments.
“I have a concert that I am going to with two of my friends. It’s in a few days. I just wanted to let you know about it.” She looked at me with a hard look. She had never liked me going to rock concerts. She must have had such little faith in me because she worried that I would start using drugs after attending a show. There were some concert-goers that did drugs, but I had no part in that.
“Is that so? Where is this concert?”
“Downtown at one of the clubs. But
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