Instead, she flopped down onto the couch, and started daydreaming about her incredible boyfriend. After their silly little fight the other day, he had been continuously dousing her with attention, even though she had started the dispute. Whether it was a note in her locker, flowers on her desk, or just simply a long, intense stare from across the room, he was constantly thinking of her. It was so sweet!

Still caught up in her daydream, Liz walked over to the fridge, and took out the carton of vanilla ice cream. Humming to herself, she got out a spoon and bowl from the cabinet, scooped two spoonfuls of ice cream out, and climbed the stairs to her room.

As she passed her parents’ bedroom, she heard a faint noise which sounded like snoring. Frowning, she slowly tiptoed towards the slightly open doorway, apprenhensive of what she would find. “Mom?” When she spotted the still figure sprawled across the bed, with a broken beer bottle still clutched in her hand, Liz’s worst fears were confirmed. Her mom was drunk again. The bowl of ice cream slowly to the floor, forgotten. She had promised Liz that she would stop, and she had stopped for a while, or at least, Liz looked at the beer bottle ruefully, managed to keep it from Liz for a while.

Wait a second, what was that smell? No, it couldn’t be…could it? She glanced over at the ash tray, where the cigarette was still smoldering. Well, make that two broken promises. ‘So much for my good mood,’ Liz thought bitterly.

“Oh, mom, why can’t you just…stop?” Liz whispered, tears slowly taking form in her eyes.

She had to get out of the house. She couldn’t stand to be within a mile of this woman who dared to call herself her mother, let alone in the same room.

They’d never miss her. Her mom probably wouldn’t even wake up until the next morning, as was her usual habit when drunk. As for her dad, well, he usually didn’t get home from his office until around midnight, and he’d be too worn-out to do anything else except to take a shower, if that, and collapse gratefully into bed, thoroughly drained. Who had time to worry about their apparently perfect little angel, who always gets straight A’s on her report cards, cooks dinner although no one was there to eat it most of the time except for herself, and is absolutely worry-free and totally responsible when it comes to boys? Yep, she could probably elope and they wouldn’t even blink an eye.

Liz knew that she was being unfair to her parents with thoughts like this. Her dad couldn’t help it if he barely had time to eat, let alone come home and enjoy some quality ‘family’ time. And her mom, well, it really wasn’t that easy, trying to quit smoking or drinking. After all, she had gotten into the habit 20 years ago, when some college friends of hers had pressured her to try a Budweiser, which then lead to the Marlboro. The only time that she’d been able to successfully take a break from it was when she had been pregnant with Liz, and that had been because of the life-threatening hazard to her unborn child. Immediately after she’d stopped breast-feeding Liz, she had gone back to her old ways again. And Liz’s overwhleming concern just wasn’t enough to bring her out of the hole again.

Liz turned away from the form on the bed, and, for the first time, noticed the wet, puddle on the floor which could not be considered to be ice cream anymore. ‘This room’s already a dump. Who cares about a little wet goo?’ She felt slightly guilty because her dad will probably wind up cleaning up the mess after his exhausting work day, but it wasn’t Liz’s fault that he chose to spend so much time at the office, right?

As soon as Liz reached the bottom of the stairs, the front door opened to reveal none other than her…dad? What was he doing home so early? It wasn’t even 5:00 yet. And stranger still, he was practically grinning from ear to ear. Her dad never had the energy anymore to even attempt something approaching a smile, and here he was, looking as if his face would split wide open. What was going on?

“Hey, dad, why are you home while it’s still light outside?” Liz questioned.

“Hi, honey! Good news! Where’s your mother? Go tell her to-” Noticing Liz’s downcast eyes, he broke off in midsentence. “Is something wrong?”

“Mom’s drunk again.” Liz’s voice was barely above a murmur, and her dad had to lean in in order hear.

In the instant of a heartbeat, Jeff Parker went from looking as if he would burst with joy to looking like he had just seen a ghost. “Oh my god, no,” he whispered, shaking his head in denial. “Nancy said that she would make a conscious effort to quit…she can’t be drunk again!” He slumped against the staircase, his face ashen.