Missy's Book of Madness

Sleepover

The next few days dragged by slowly. As soon as Sheldon had clocked what Missy was getting at, he was furious. By that time, the alcohol has started to lose its effect and he could not have been more angry.  With no other option, the two had re-entered the principal's office and Missy explained everything, going back to when she had first seen the yellow concoction in the bathroom on that fateful day. Principal Peterson nodded along with every sentence, as Missy tried to ignore the snide remarks that Sheldon was sending her way. She didn't blame him, but hearing her brother telling the principal how disgraceful she was hurt. 

Parents were called and the whole family was soon crammed into the small office, arms flying, heads shaking, and voices overlapping each other. The whole point everyone was here was because of Missy, and yet nobody turned to look in her direction. She wondered if they were too disappointed to even look at her or if they had simply forgotten she was there. How she wished she could disappear.

The drive home was made in deadly silence. The only sound to be heard was Mary sniffing loudly. She hated being confronted about her children like this, and she had been crying. When the car had parked, nobody moved for a second, not knowing what to say or do now they were home. 

"Georgie, how about you go see Meemaw?" Their dad had said.

"Are you kidding meh? No way am I missing this!" Georgie protested from the back seat.

"Georgie! Listen to your father," Mary insisted.

With a reluctant sigh, Georgie left the car and walked away across the road. 

"Go inside," Mary said to the twins, her tone so soft it was scary.

It hadn't taken long for Missy to receive the shouting she had been expecting, but it was a lot easier knowing that Sheldon wasn't being completely let off the hook either. The two of them stood in the kitchen while Mary continued to rant at how shocked she was at her daughter, and how annoyed she was at her son. George sat in the living room reading a newspaper like nothing was happening. Missy wished that she too could pretend this was all made up. Sheldon's car, the thing that had started it all, was instantly binned, but not before being snapped in half to make sure he couldn't retrieve it.

"It smelt anyway," Missy whispered under her breath.

Unsurprisingly, Missy was grounded. For 2 weeks. She contorted her face to look shocked, and she was, but only because of how light the punishment was. She had drugged her brother and allowed him to strip in front of his peers. To her, it was more like a month grounded. 

She hadn't been intending to go anywhere anyway, so who cares?

The two weeks consisted of lying on her bed, talking to herself and rearranging her furniture, and then putting it back in place again. She hardly talked to either Sheldon or her mother and was only allowed to leave her room to go to the toilet. Her meals were passed to her through their dad and Sheldon had moved to sleep on the downstairs sofa. Missy didn't mind, she didn't want to see him anyway. Now that the day was behind her, she couldn't help but laugh at it. Although it had all gone wrong it had been fun.

She only knew that the two weeks were over when she woke up one morning to Sheldon laying asleep in his bed. After that, nobody talked about the 'Apple Juice' event as it had been dubbed, although she still felt uneasy when she saw the side of the sink where the bottle had rested.  

After another week or so, it seemed like nothing had happened. Even Sheldon seemed to have gotten over it, and he had been the center of the joke. The next morning, Missy dressed in her new shirt and her favorite denim jeans. She sat in front of the mirror brushing her hair and plaiting it behind her head. She wasn't as good as Mary at plaits, but she was getting better. Today, some of her school friends, Louise and Elaine, were coming over for a sleepover. She had already cleaned her side of the room and sneaked snacks under her bed for later. They were going to come over at 5 pm promptly, and Missy just couldn't wait.