Dad?
"Look who decided to come back. Heard you've been outside since morning. Come give daddy a hug." He called with open arms.
Arlene stared hard. She took her gaze to her step mom; has she really been outside? Her step mom gave her a stern glare as if warning her. She swallowed into nothing, trailing her gaze from her stepsister, Michelle, who had a wicked smile on her face, to her dad. Why was he even here?
"Is anything wrong?" Her step mom asked, noticing the delay. Her dad hummed in response. The Arlene he knew would've been all over him by now...or wait, was this what was referred to as puberty?
He suddenly let out a loud laugh. "You could've simply said, 'I'm grown now, Dad.'" He said, mimicking a teenage girl's voice. Finally moving from her frozen spot, she excused herself and rushed up to her room, only to meet Delaney already seated on her bed.
"Told you the window was much...Arlene?" She called, getting up and approaching Arlene who stood by the door, staring into thin air. "You look perturbed, what is it?"
"I don't know...honestly." Arlene spoke up. Truly, words couldn't explain how she felt at the moment.
"Talk to me, please." Delaney persuaded, already frightened. What could've happened to her best friend?
"You...you know how excited I normally feel whenever my Dad returns? Today, I felt...different. I couldn't feel the elation. He seemed...distant." Arlene explained, slowly strolling to her bed.
Delaney was speechless. She stared at Arlene puzzledly. How was that supposed to be a problem? Soothing words were surely not required and she wasn't much of a motivational speaker. Patting her friend's back, her gaze on her, she said, "I...I honestly don't savvy your situation now, Arly, but I can feel the pain at least. You shouldn't dwell so much on it, dear. I guess it's because you haven't seen him for a very long time. This is the longest, right?"
Arlene harrumphed in reply.
"Then it's normal. You shouldn't worry about stuffs like that. What if we shift it to tomorrow? I promise, we'll take care of it tomorrow. Remember we haven't fixed your dresses yet." Delaney coaxed in an assuring tone. It was the best she could do.
Arlene's lips tugged up in a bright smile. "You're really good at this. Fine, it's official. We're worrying about it tomorrow. But I still don't feel like joining them for dinner."
"Don't worry. It'll also give us more time to prepare." Delaney said, already emptying a bag. Arlene took hold of another and emptied it on the floor too. This they continued with in comfortable silence until every bag lay empty, tossed in the little space not occupied by the clothes.
"Is this the purple pants you spoke of?" Arlene asked, raising a purple baggy denim slightly above her chin.
Delaney looked up and her gaze suddenly brightened. "Of course. Don't I have good eyes?" She asked with a smirk. Arlene could only reply with a shake of her head.
Soon enough, they busied themselves with the workload of clothes selection. After neatly folding the last pair of clothes into her clothes' trunk, Arlene plopped herself carefully on her bed, laying beside Delaney who was sprawled carelessly on the bed, each letting out a long, exhausted sigh. A continuous buzz from Delaney's phone disrupted their quiet time. Guessing who it was without having to look at her phone, she got to her feet, ready to leave. " I'll be leaving, Arly. Mom just won't let me be. Expect me in your room tomorrow and you're not keeping eve the minutest detail away from me. Have a beautiful tomorrow, bye!" She rushed, pulling her curtains open and jumping out.
Arlene chuckled, getting up to pull the shutters close. She locked her door and turned off the light. Climbing back to her bed, she shut her eyes to get some sleep after mentally checking that her services won't be needed that night. "At some point, I'm grateful he returned. At least a moment of peace." She muttered, slowly drifting to sleep.