Tiny Tim

“I’m SO sorry I didn’t find your note, telling me to pretty up the living room for your little family evening I wasn’t invited to. But, as you should know, Claire, I rarely use your damn kitchen anymore, so that’s a bad place to keep shit you want me to find. Though, I’m starting to think you could just as well delegate those chores to someone who wasn’t asked to pay rent for his room. And since when do any of you even care when I get home?” I asked, incredulously.

“What’s that supposed to mean!? I AM your father and you ARE a fifteen-year-old teenager! Of course I care!” revolted Aaron.

His comment about my age pressed all the wrong buttons and pissed me off big time, which was audible when I continued the discussion and failed to maintain a calm tone.

“The lack of messages and missed calls on my phone doesn’t exactly make it look like you were worried or looking for me. In fact, I’d be willing to bet none of you even knew I wasn’t in the house until I walked through that damn door.” I pointedly looked at Aunt Danielle when I asked, “Did ANY of them mention waiting for or missing me even ONCE during this lovely gathering?”

Aunt Danielle looked uncomfortable at that. This certainly wasn’t the first argument she witnessed between us. It was, however, the first that she was suddenly involved in. When she didn’t answer, I continued.

“I take that as a ‘No’. Didn’t miss me at dinner either, like usual, I guess. Did you give the same damn speech to your Princess and Golden Boy over there? It’s a school night for them too, but, going by that bucket in her lap and the movie with an hour runtime left on the TV, you weren’t planning on sending them to bed anytime soon. So, how about you spare me your fucking ‘parents of the year’ act you’re putting on because others are watching, and in return I won’t disturb your fun any longer.”

Claire was speechless, and I didn’t think it was just because of what I had said, but how I had said it. The clear contempt in my voice, paired with the apparent disdain in my eyes when I looked at them, caused her to keep quiet. I was sure Aaron wasn’t finished with me, but after I just pointed out how they caused most of the major problems we had in that house themselves, he didn’t want to get into it even further while witnesses were present. As a result, neither of them spoke up when I turned to finally get into my room.

“Don’t be such an asshole, Tiny!” Ava suddenly threw in.

“I love you too, Princess.” I replied exhausted, while finally moving up the stairs. Logan had wisely chosen to shut up.

Once in my room, I leaned against the closed door, shut my eyes, and took a few deep breaths to calm down.

“I got my license. Work was awesome. I got a bunch of cool new clothes and a new look. And I just lost my virginity in the fucking of a lifetime with a gorgeous woman.” I quietly told myself. “Who gives a fuck if they didn’t remember it? Still a damn good birthday!”

After another few minutes of assuring myself that I didn’t care about my family not giving a flying fuck about my sweet sixteen, I got out of my suit and emptied the bags onto my bed to fill them with most of the old stuff from my wardrobe instead. Then I put the new stuff into the closet, and placed the bags next to my door. I planned to just dump them at Goodwill, if they even wanted them.

My mind lingered on Tess and that incredible evening I had with her, as my eyes fell onto the shelves with fantasy novels on my wall. Tess had told me once that she also enjoyed that genre, and she hadn’t read most of what stood in my shelves yet. Maybe, if this thing between me and Tess was going to continue, these could come in handy.

Chapter 3

The next morning, it took a while before my hair looked at least somewhat like it did at the barber shop, but close enough. I got dressed in my new black cargo pants, paired it with a royal blue button up shirt to stay within the school’s clothing regulations, and tucked it into my pants to show off the new belt. Everything really fit perfectly and showed my new figure off quite nicely. Since it was now mid-November again, I put on my black field jacket, slung my bookbag over my shoulder, and carried the shopping bags with my old clothes to my Jeep.

The change of attitude in the other students towards me was immediately apparent when I got out of my Jeep. Most people looked at me with quite some interest, but then their expressions changed to surprise and moved on to disbelief. The changes in my appearance seemed to be so drastic, most people couldn’t even recognize me at first. That effect even intensified once I was inside and moved around without my jacket.