Secret Life of an American Teenager

1. NY to CA

"That girl" George said shaking his head

I wasn't too shocked with her absences. Amy has been notorious with missing important events. She missed her own mothers surprise birthday party, and was late to Johns first day of middle school last year.

George had gotten distracted by one of his regulars so I took that as a chance for me to get some fresh air.

I slid through the crowd of people, first making sure John was okay and then making my way outside.

I undid the first few buttons of my dress shirt and took a seat on the bench in front of the restaurant.

"What are you doing out here" I heard Adrian ask

Surprisingly Adrian and I had gotten really close over the years. After all we were the only ones still here. Grace and her husband got deployed to Mexico, Ben's a scientist who currently reside in Washington D.C., Amy is an author who's constantly traveling, and no one's heard from Jack since he gotten injured and was forced to leave the NFL.

But Adrian and I somehow managed to be okay.

"Just getting some air" I finally responded

She sat beside me and leaned her head on my shoulder.

"I'm really proud of you" She said

"I'm proud of you too" I responded

She lifted her head off my shoulder and looked at me as if I were speaking a foreign language.

"What" she laughed

"Really, you've grown tremendously and I'm proud of you" I said wrapping my arm around her

"Look at us being grown ups"'She said causing me to laugh

Amy
"Thank you" I said scurrying out my Uber as the driver got out and helped me get my suitcase out the trunk
"Thank you so much" I said to the driver as I struggled to drag my bags up the stairs to the porch

It was 10 something at night, I just got off a six hour flight, now I'm here at my parents-well my dads house. All this hassle because I wanted to come back to congratulate Ricky in person on his promotion. Sadly I knew I was going to be late, but luckily I ordered him a bouquet so hopefully he's not too mad at me.

He was being promoted by Mr. Boykewich to CEO of Boykewich Butchers. I know how big this is for him and I wanted to be there, but sadly I couldn't get here at a better time.

I used my key, same key I had since a little girl, to open the front door. I lunged my suitcases through the front door, and ran to the bathroom to freshen up.

Honestly I'm pretty nervous about this. I've never came back to California for the sole purpose of seeing Ricky. Once I left here ten years ago I was gone, I only came back for my sons first days of school and that one time he broke his arm. Other than that California never felt like home to me, my dad use to sit on a five hour flight with John just so I could have the whole summer with him. Facing Ricky was always super intense after I left years ago for college. We always loved one another and we love our son but somehow that wasn't enough. For the past ten years it seem like we avoided each other part of me think it's because he's still angry with me for leaving, and another part thinks it's because we're both ashamed we did and tried everything but nothing worked.

I blinked away the tears forming into my eyes and picked up my phone to request another Uber.

Once that was done I exited the bathroom to grab my belongs. Taking in a nice deep breath, this was literally my first time staying in this house since forever ago. Every time I'm here it just reminds me that I was once the pregnant teen, who never had a normal teen life.

My phone vibrated indicating that the Uber was arriving. I locked up the house and walked outside before hoping in the car.

"Hello" I said to the driver
"How are you" He responded

I went through Instagram just to see if anyone posted anything. Adrian posted a video of Ricky on stage delivering a speech.

I felt a smile creeping upon my face, he looked nice. It's ridiculous how the older our son gets the more he reminds me of Ricky. His attitude, looks, demeanor, even down to how he walks is all his dad.

I put my phone down when I felt the car stop. I look out the window to see I've arrived at my dads restaurant.

"Thank you" I say to the driver before grabbing my clutch and exiting his vehicle.

I was dressed in some black dress pants, white top with a black mini blazer, and a pair black heels. I took a few steps down into the parking lot, but I paused in my tracks.

There he was sitting on a bench, with his arm wrapped around Adrian.

And then there it goes, that suffocating feeling I use to always get around here. That feeling of two hundred pounds of cinder blocks sitting right on my chest.

"Amy" I heard a familiar voice say
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