Why Haven’t You Gone to Bed?

Chapter 1: Dark Night

Jacob noticed the silence only after his music stopped.

Until then, the house had been full of noise.

A heavy bass line pulsed through his headphones as he sat curled into the corner of the living-room couch, one knee pulled against his chest. Blue light from his phone washed over his face while the rest of the room slowly surrendered to the evening shadows.

His mother stood near the front door, slipping on her coat and checking the contents of her handbag for the second time.

“Jacob, I’m leaving now,” she called.

He saw her lips move but couldn’t hear the words clearly. The music was too loud. He lifted one side of his headphones.

“What?”

“I said I’m going out.” She adjusted the strap of her bag. “Don’t stay up all night. Go to bed at eleven.”

Jacob caught only part of the sentence.

“Yeah, okay.”