Note Passer: Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The next morning as the sun wakes, Salong comes running in barking madly. What is going on with him? I think. He only barks like this when he knows I am going to be home for… IT’S WINTER BREAK NO MORE SCHOOL! Well no more school for two weeks. But still. I jump out of bed with joy and then trip over my pile of stuffies that I put in the middle of my floor (You know, if I fall off my bed at night). 

After I clean that mess up and change, I run down the stairs where my parents are sitting in the living room, mom in a pink shirt with the message, Be scared Mom has had no coffee yet! Which is ironic because I see a coffee cup two inches from her hand. Dad on the other hand is still wearing his pjs (sweatshirt and sweatpants). 

“Hey honey, want to help me and your dad with the tree?”

I jump off the last step and run over to them nodding vigorously the whole way over. Then, in my excited state I trip for the second time in 20 minutes but hey not all mornings are perfect. 

After mom puts the tree up and dad lugs the box of ornaments out of the basement, we start to put the ornaments that we love on first. Then, we put the ones we don’t like as much on. By the time we get to the boring circle ones, my stomach is growling like a bear woke from its slumber. Mom notices this obviously and tells me to grab some breakfast before we finish the tree. 

Standing at the stove watching my eggs, my mind wanders to lesbian, omnisexual, pansexual, and all the other confusions of me. So I pull my phone out and search how to tell if your nt strait. When the responses start to show, the first thing it tells me is that I misspelled “not.” I think, Well who cares if I misspelled not? After clicking on five different sites, I am starting to go a little crazy, so I drop my phone on the counter and put my eggs on a plate. 

I stare out the window at the snow covering the house across the street that looks like a gingerbread house. I used to be friends with the kid that lived there but then he moved out. Since then, I haven’t really had any more friends on the block. Jane lived two blocks away, but we really don’t go to each other’s houses that much, and I don’t know where May lives.

“Jaki! Are you all done?” Mom asks as she walks into the kitchen.

I turn to face her, nodding and placing my plate in the sink. Then I run into the living room, grab the star to top our tree, and place it on! Dad laughs and turns on the lights, and we all step back to look at our tree. I love Christmas, my birthday, and Halloween, but I really hate Easter. I just don’t get it. Why on Earth do you want to go looking for eggs that a fake big bunny put in your house? I celebrate Christmas even though no one in my family is Christian. 

“Jaki, can you please take these cookies over to Elyse and her wife?” Mom asked a few hours later. Elyse and Ila were two women that were married that lived down the block. Mom had met them at this art festival two years ago and have been friends ever since. They are actually really nice and helped me when I was questioning my gender. 

Maybe I can talk to them about the whole sexuality thing, I think as I walk down the snowy sidewalk.

When I arrive at their house, I look at the two-floor light blue house with the gray trim. Elyse painted the house that summer, because she hated the plain beige it was before. After standing for a second, I walk up to the two steps that lead to the light gray door with a bear knocker. Ila hated door bells but loves knockers so when they were redoing some of the house, Ila asked Elyse if she would put one on, which she did. I lift my hand to lift it but as I do the door pops open. 

“Hi!” Elsye says joyfully. Why is she in a good mood all the time? 

“Umm hi,” I say kind of shyly. I really don’t know why I always get shy around adults. 

“Hey Jaki,” I hear Ila say from the living room just around the corner. 

“Come on in,” Elyse says, moving to let me in. I nod and smile as I step into the hall. I turn my head to see Ila sitting on the white couch with her feet up on the wooden circle table, her schipperke Muffin laying on her lap. Home Alone is on the TV and a bowl of half eaten popcorn is on the cushion next to her.  

“Mom made cookies,” I say. Now that I am inside, I am a little more comfortable. 

“Ohh, yay! I love your mom’s cookies!” Elyse says, clapping her hands together, her short blonde hair bouncing. At the word cookie, Muffin comes running over to me she jumps up on me, her paws grabbing my green fleece. 

“Hey girl” I say scratching her behind her ears. I love Muffin and have since the first time I met her. Muffin has liked me since I have always had cookies most of the time.

“Here, I will take the cookies,” Elyse says. I hand them to her. She places them on the small table behind her and asks “Do you want to have a snack or watch with us?” 

I did and mom knew that I would text her if I was going to stay so I said, “Yes, let me just text my mom.” After I text her, I sit down next to Ila. 

I end up staying at their house for the rest of the day, but when I do go home, I really only have time to take a shower and go to bed, so that’s what I do.