Song: The Reckless and the Brave by All Time Low

Elise and I ate a ton of candy and binge-watched Friends that night. We stayed up way too late which was a bad idea because we had school the next day.

So when Elise's alarm sounded, I refused to get up and rolled deeper into the blanket instead.

Elise finally pushed me out of her bed so I landed on her soft, carpeted ground with a not-so-soft thud.

"Agh! Why?" I yelled.

"You don't want to be late today, Lovegood. We have that test this morning in Mr. Wagner's class," Elise reminded me. Somehow she could always get up, no matter how little she slept.

"Fuck Mr. Wagner and his stupid tests. Nobody needs U.S. history anyway! Everybody knows this country is going down the drain. Why do you think I plan on moving to England?" I ranted.

"You won't get into Cambridge if you fail Mr. Wagner's class, Lilah."

I ignored her.

"Frau Cambeis made crepes."

"I'm up. I'm going... I don't have any clothes."

"I left you a pair of jeans, a tank top, and my Fall Out Boy sweater. You had better have your own underwear, though."

"I do. Thanks, man!" I grabbed the clothes she'd left out for me and made my way into the bathroom.

I grabbed my emergency supplies pouch and started digging around. I took out my toothbrush and toothpaste and stepped into the shower. I showered as fast I could and stepped out, wrapping a fluffy towel around my now-fragrant body. I brushed my hair and put it into a towel turban. Then I dried my face, applied my usual make-up (some eyeliner, mascara, lipgloss, and the tiniest bit of concealer), and put on my clothes. I dried my hair vigrouosly with the towel, brushed through it again, head-banged a couple of times, floofed it and it was perfectly wavy. If I like one thing about myself. It would be my hair. It's a warm kind of brown with gold streaks you could see in the sun. It's also pretty easy to deal with most of the time. My bangs just always grew out way too fast.

Today would be a normal day. I would not think of any of yesterday's events until I absolutely needed to. As I was walking down the hallway to the stairs, breathing in the heavenly scent of crepes with chocolated, I stopped in my tracks. My backpack with all of my necessary school supplies was still in my room. Oh no. I did not want to go back in there. I knew I'd have to eventually but not right away!

Taking a couple of deep breaths, I decided I'd eat some crepes and take it one step at a time.

I joined Elise at their marble kitchen island behind which Frau Cambeis was folding up the next crepe which she plopped onto my plate and covered with powdered sugar.

"Guten Morgen, Delilah {Good morning, Delilah}," she smiled ladling more batter into the pan and flattening it out.

"Guten Morgen. I have to drive by my house before I go to school. I left my backpack there yesterday," I told Elise, trying not to panic.

"Okay. You'll be fine. I'll see you at school right after. Alright?" She looked at me worriedly.

"Cool. I'm just gonna grab that next crepe and get outta here."

Frau Cambeis shook her head smillingly and set the next crepe on a paper plate. "Ich wünsche dir einen schönen tag {I wish you a good day}!" she called as I left the kitchen.

"Danke!" I called back.

I wished Gregory, the current guard, a good day as I drove away from the Rosenquist estate. On the drive home I tried my hardest not to panic. Just in and out. That's all it was. He may not even be awake yet. School started an hour before Dad needed to be at his office. I may be in the clear!

I didn't bother pulling into the driveway. I just parked on the side of the road in front of my house. As I neared my front door I could smell coffee. He was awake.

I can do this, I told myself. I opened the door cautiously. I could see my father sitting at the coffee table, reading a newspaper with a steaming mug between his hands. He looked normal so I walked into the house. There was no glass left. He must have cleaned it up.

"Delilah? Is that you?" I flinched at his voice. But he didn't sound angry or drunk.

"Yeah... I slept at Elise's yesterday," I told him.

He'd gotten up. "Delilah, I have to tell you something."

Don't tell me he didn't remember our "conversation" yesterday.

"Your mother left yesterday. We had a huge fight and she told me she'd had enough of me. It has nothing to do with you. We just have to many problems and it's better for you if we're not fighting all the time. I'm glad you weren't here to witness it."

I gaped at him in disbelief. He didn't remember? Wait. Maybe this was a good thing. Maybe he planned not to get drunk anymore and never let me see him like that in the first place.

He took my silence as grief, apparently because he pulled me into his chest and patted my hair. I hugged him back.

"It's okay, Dad. You're still here." I decided to forget about it and just move on with my life as if yesterday hadn't happened. I probably wouldn't even notice my mother's absence. She was hardly ever around anyway. Her job had kept her out of the house most of the time.

"Good. If you ever need to talk. I'm here. Okay, sweetheart?"

"Yeah. Thanks. I'm going to be late for school if I don't leave soon." I pulled away and went upstairs to grab my backpack.

As I left the house, I wished my dad a good day. Then I closed the door and just kind of stood there in disbelief. I was at a complete loss for words or thoughts.

"Hey, you good?" A voice called from my left.

I jerked my head up and looked in the direction of the voice. There he was again. Wesley Hannigan standing on the porch of our neighbour's house. And he was looking at me as if he was expecting a reply.

"Uh." I replied, sounding absolutely brilliant. "Uh... Yeah. Sorry. Um. Uh. It's been a long 24 hours."

"Oh. Okay." Then we kind of just looked at each other. He looked like he was searching for something to say.

"Well, I'd better go. I don't want to be late for school," I motioned awkwardly towards my car.

"Right. Sure. You go to Towson High School, right?" He asked.

"Yeah. You wouldn't see me around though. I keep to myself," I told him.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

We stood there some more.

"Well, I'll just," I motioned to my car.

"Sure. See you around," Wesley stuffed his hands in his jeans pockets. I noticed that he was wearing an All Time Low shirt.

"Oh. Cool shirt, by the way. They're from here, you know."

"Yeah. It made me like them even more. Towson isn't exactly one of the most exciting places in the world," he smiled.

Wesley's smile caught me off guard. Even from across my driveway I could see his dimples.

I mentally shook myself, "Yeah. It's one of the many reasons I plan on leaving and never coming back after high school."

"Oh. Where do you-" He was interrupted by the neighbor's door opening. And out walked a girl. A very pretty girl with blond hair that reached her elbows.

"I'm ready, Wes," she said. Then she noticed that we'd been talking.

She looked over at me and gave me an obvious once-over. Satisfied that I posed no threat, she plastered a smile on her face. "Hi. I'm Aimee."

I scowled. "Hi. I'm leaving." I turned to Wesley. "It was nice talking to you."

"Yeah, " He looked between Aimee and me in disbelief. "You too."

I got in my car, stuck All Time Low's Don't Panic album into the CD slot, rolled down my windows and turned it up. I sang along as The Reckless and the Brave began playing. As I drove away, I could see Aimee glaring daggers and Wesley's eyes following me.

I laughed out loud as soon as I could no longer see them. What is happening with my life?