Blood is thicker than water

Chapter 13

Adelina's POV:

I sit quietly in the car while Ms.Martin chatters about some television show she watched the night before at the hotel.  We had left earlier this morning since she approved them. She spoke a bit with me over the phone last night. She kept going on and on about how they seemed so nice and had been looking for me. How they were so happy that they found me.  

I don't know what I was expecting but it wasn't that. I couldn't fathom those words coming from them and couldn't accept them once they were said. I still can't. 

I don't want them to be real, I don't want them to be reality and from the bottom of my heart reject those words. In my heart they are set in stone as false.

The scenery is beautiful out here. My eyes never stray too far away from the window of the small vehicule.  The trees fly by but it's like I can see them all individually. They turn into a blur but if I try hard enough I can see each leaf, each branch or each bush.

So I spend the drive trying. I spend it trying to see every leaf, branch and bush. Eloise keeps blabbering while I give an occasional nod or hum of agreement. She takes that as a sign to continue but I'm not complaining. I dislike the silence.

The rough material of the bag scrapes against my bare leg causing slight irritation but I don't move it. If I bring too much attention to the bag someone will realise it's here. Right now, to everyone, it's simply a background prop while to me it's my sanity.

Surprisingly no one questioned me about where it came from. Ms.Martin probably assumed the Porters got it for me while June and Jack didn't seem to care too much. To anyone, it looks like the bag was carelessly thrown into place while in reality it's being clutched by my legs.

The drive is only about an hour and a half. Normally I could sit this long but I need to stretch my legs. 

I didn't know how to feel after the phone call. I wasn't sad, I wasn't nervous but I was sure as hell angry. When I cut the call I didn't feel anything. I pulled the phone away from my ear and just stared at it for a while. The bracelet on my wrist dangled infront of me and the attached memory of my mother resurfaced. 

That was when anger consumed me. They didn't care. They let my mother become what she was. It's all their fault.

I turn my head to Eloise and after a short conversation and a couple minutes we pull into a gas station so I can use the restroom. She doesn't question why, girls bring bags to the washroom. Connect the dots yourself. She also gives me ten dollars to get snacks if I want.

I hastily walk into through the doors and find the bathroom pretty quickly. I lock the door and turn to find a fairly dirty and grimy room but I couldn't care less. I take out my vape and throw the bag onto the ground after closing it. 

I sit on the bag and take my phone out of my pocket and set a timer for five minutes. I spent those five minutes with my fruity juice and offline games before heading back out with the ten dollars in hand. 

"Everything ok?" Ms.Martin asks.

"Yea" I say with a small smile, not in the mood for talking, and handing her the money back.

Then we were off, I play the nature game and she goes on about anything she could think of. 

We get there far too soon yet right on time. I refused to look up at our surroundings for fear of nostalgia in the past fifteen or so minutes and don't really want to now that the car is parked in their driveway.

Eloise nudges me, probably thinking I'm asleep, and I look up at her. She gives me a small but excited smile telling me it's time to meet my brothers. I probably look nervous to her, but I'm not. I'm angry at myself for getting stuck in this situation.