Beauty and the Gang Member--ON HOLD :(

Chapter 15- Brittany

I knew Alex wasn't going to come back as soon as I heard the door downstairs slam. I rolled over on my bed and buried my face in my pillow and screamed in it. When had my life become so complicated?

I had never planned on getting involved with Alex, a gang member who was dangerous. But I knew the real Alex, the one people had never seen before. His soft side.

I didn't get to think long because my phone went off, loud and shrill. I reached over to my night table and picked it up. It was my gran's nursing home number. I answered it, my heart already beating.

"Hello?" I asked nervously.

"Miss Dawson? It's Shelia, from Sunset Avenue." She said, and I could hear someone clicking on the keys in the background.

"Is everything okay?" I asked, worried.

"Well, your Nana requested to see you. She requested you by name." She said, leaving me astounded. Nana had asked for me by name? She never remembered she had grandkids.

"I'll be there in 15 minutes." I said, hanging up and slipping my jeans and a cardigan on. I left my hair in a messy bun and hurried to my car. It was starting to sprinkle rain and a nippy end-of-September breeze filled the air.

I drove the twenty minutes to the nursing home, running inside when I got there. I went to the front desk, where the receptionist just pointed me away, because I had been there so much.

I got to my Nana's room, and she was laying in bed, her hands folded neatly across her lap. She cracked an eye open when I walked in.

"Oh, hello dear." She said, patting the bed beside her. I sat.

"Hey, Nana."

"I remember you asking about that boy, so I dug up some stuff. Some old letters your grandfather had written me before the war." She pointed a crooked finger to a small box sitting by her tv. "They're in there."

"Thank's, Nana, but I don't think it's necessary." I mumbled, trying not to think of what words Alex and I exchanged not even an hour ago.

Her eyes snapped up to mine. "What do you mean? Did you not get him?" She asked.

"No, I got him. Then I lost him." I wrung my hands together.

"That's half the fun." She winked, and then coughed.

"Are you okay, Nana?" I asked, resting a hand on her frail and bony back. She waved my hand away, shaking her head.

"Healthy as a horse." She smiled weakly. "Just a few ailments here and there. Nothing serious." She rested a hand on mine. "I want you to take that box with you when you leave here."

"I promise." I walked over to the box, which was surprisingly heavy, and rested it on the edge of the bed when I leaned over to give her a tight hug. "I love you, Nana.''

"I love you too, dear. And remember," She said as I was walking out. "Don't let him go that easily." I nodded and walked out, only to be met by Sheila.

"I have some bad news." She said. "You're grandmother has pneumonia."

My heart raced. "She'll be fine, right?" I asked.

"We hope. She has her medicines, and those seem to be helping. We'll call you if something goes wrong." She hurried away when her beeper went off.

I walked out to the car, and it was now raining outside. I got in quickly and put the box beside me, waiting to open it when I got home.

The next Monday I dreaded seeing Alex at school. Knowing him, he probably wouldn't show up. I didn't feel like putting much effort into my look today, so I just wore jeans and a white shirt with a flowly cardigan.