Uncaged

White Lies and Vegeterian Lasagna

At dinner that night, Millie sat still, pushing her dinner around her plate, taking the occasional bite. She hadn't eaten all day. She felt empty, yet, she didn't feel hungry. Grandpa had baked some frozen lasagnas–a meat one for himself, and a vegetarian one for Millie–for dinner.

"I don't know about the vegetarian one, but this lasagna is pretty dang good. I've never had this brand before, how's yours?" Grandpa asked as he served seconds onto his plate.

Millie didn't hear his inquiry of a conversation-starter. She was unaware of her surroundings as she gazed at the table, forking up her food and then dropping it back onto the plate.

"Millie? Is everything alright?" Grandpa sat down with his second serving while Millie nibbled away at the contents of her meal.

"Huh? Oh– yeah. All good." A lie.
   
Grandpa didn't believe this. He shot a concerned look at her.

Grandpa sighed. "Did something happen? You've been quiet all afternoon," he pointed out, "I tried speaking to you in the car and you seemed so down. Did someone say something to you?"

Millie hated when he pried like this. To his credit, he was just trying to help, but Millie didn't want help. She wanted to know where Dylan was. She wanted more than anything to apologize, because he was the coolest friend she'd ever had, but she ruined it with her jealousy. He had always sat at that table, what possibly could have changed? Did she actually go too far last time she saw him? No, that couldn't be it, because even then, why wouldn't he be in the lunch room–unless he was trying to avoid her.

Millie's heart dropped in her chest. He must be avoiding me.

She took a few more bites of the bland vegetarian lasagna on her plate so as to not worry her grandfather, before getting up and scraping the remainder of her meal into the trash. She could feel his eyes on her as she did this.

"I have some homework to do," she muttered, making a beeline for her room, "bye."

Grandpa's frown deepened as she walked away, his concern and confusion apparent as his granddaughter exited the room and left him in solitude.

Millie retreated into her small bed, flopping down beside the sleeping form of her cat, Annabel Lee. She wasn't sure how her feline friend could be so tranquil when Millie's own mind was rampant with stress. Oh, to be a slumbering cat, free from the restraints of stress...She lovingly stroked the silky black kitty laying beside her on the cool black sheets in an attempt to calm herself down.

With her fatigue weighing her down, Millie didn't feel like getting up to shower, but she sluggishly gathered her pajamas to do so anyway. She sighed as she exited her room to make her way to the bathroom and get her nightly routine over with.

When she started down the short hallway to the bathroom, she noticed that the light coming from the kitchen still illuminated the other end of the hallway. Curious, she stopped to see why.

When she peered into the kitchen, she saw that her grandfather stood at the sink, cleaning the dishes and humming to himself. I left him by himself, she realized, a frown spreading on her face. She paused for a second before shaking her head to herself and continuing on to the bathroom, shutting and locking the door quietly.