That One Moment...

Chapter 20

Luckily, it had only been a three day week for school. By the time Wednesday had rolled around, Sarah had been exhausted socially and emotionally. Ryan hadn't pushed her, mostly just drove her around like a chauffeur and kept their chatting on "safe" subjects. He could probably sense she was at a breaking point of sorts. She had been working and practicing for the final basketball team cuts. On top of that extra anxiety, everyone kept asking her if she was dating Ryan, both out of curiosity, but also malice (for some). Rumors were swirling, which only added to Sarah's stress levels. She wasn't used to being noticed, let alone at the top of the high school rumor mill. One rumor had Ryan asking her because he felt sorry for her and her awful existence as a dork. She half believed that one still, well...more than half believed it.

Not only had she made it through school, she had kept out of the fray at her grandparent's house on Thanksgiving. Kathy came home late Wednesday night. She only planned on staying a short bit, claiming she had both work and finals to research over the weekend and couldn't stay. Sarah knew she just didn't want to spend any more time than necessary at home. Winter break was looming and they both knew it would mean another tense family vacation. Sarah was jealous that Kathy would be able to slip away to her quiet dorm room.

They had all piled into the old van to head to Flint for Thanksgiving with the grandparents. It never lasted that long. Eventually grandpa would start pointing out that his son was an alcoholic and a disappointment in general. Dad wouldn't say anything, but then tell us it was time to leave and we would get home in time for him to go through most of a 24 pack before passing out. Her and Kathy had been ready, making sure to leave the living room after the early dinner as the air got more tense than the football game that was playing. They waited on the front steps, chatting, until they were called to give the goodbyes. Kathy had met a boy that she was "kind of" seeing. The way she described him, Sarah wasn't sure if he was a hippie or a drunk...unfortunately, it sounded like Kathy was drinking and partying a lot, but she said she had it under control and was also keeping her grades up. Sarah couldn't say much after the way her first party had turned out. When she told Kathy the story, she half didn't believe Sarah.

During their conversation, Sarah realized that she hadn't talked to Jeremy much that week and ended up texting with him on the ride back, asking about his cousin and seeing how his family was doing. She realized it was important for friends to check in with each other. This was a new concept for her... 

Things had been tense in Jeremy's house. It had surfaced, tied to the fallout from the accident, that both he and his cousin were gay (or maybe bi, Sarah wasn't sure and didn't want to pry too much) and the family didn't know how to handle the situation due to their religious beliefs. Luckily Jeremy's mom was overwhelming supportive for her "baby" and was a buffer for both of them. She was even planning a 'coming out' party to show her support, but had been told it could only include a few close friends since they were not totally 'out' yet. Highschool was still tough for LGBTQ in their small towns. Sarah was surprised that she was one of those 'close friends,' since she still couldn't even wrap her mind around the fact she had some friends. Anxiety about how she was supposed to act was already gnawing at the back of her thoughts.

Once they got home, Kathy had gotten into a fight with their parents. It had started out as nothing, but escalated quickly into a tense standoff between Kathy and their dad. Sarah wasn't even sure what it was tied to, but thought it might be that Kathy was working and not checking in often enough (which was weird since her parents had always been so detached and uninvested in them). Kathy had left for campus that afternoon to "let things cool off" as their mom stated. Shortly after, Sarah had left for her shift at work. Her parents hadn't really cared how long the shift would be, since Kathy had deflected their interest for the moment.

Overall, it was an interesting evening at work. There were a lot more customers than Sarah expected and they got a bit rowdy towards the end of the night. Her coworker mentioned it was tied to the combination of the holiday season and their new alcohol permit. Sarah could not serve the alcohol, since she was under 18, so she was not at any of the more disorderly tables. One of the owner's sons was working as a kind of "bouncer" for a stretch. He laughed when Sarah called him that and told her that this wasn't rowdy, just people getting too depressed and self medicating. Sarah had to think about that for a second and saw her dad in a slightly different light...was he self medicating for something? Did it really matter? It didn't change how he treated them and was pretty selfish in general.