Supernova

Chapter nine

"Finley?" My grandma called as I entered the kitchen. It smelled of lavender and the wind chimes rang out as the door opened.
I hummed in response as she came in to greet me.

My grandma was all the family I had left, her greeting hair was tied up with a old purple scrunchy. She greeted me with a small smile, her hazel eyes glinting. She had kind eyes, the kind that made you feel safe.

For me, they were the difference between drowning and staying afloat after my parents died. Small things make a difference the most in those kinds of times.

  I watched as her expression turned to one of worry.

"I was talking to Donna today and.."

oh, what now?

Donna had been a friend of my grandmother's since I could remember. They both loved to gossip about everything and anything in our little town. I loved my grandma more than anything, but when it came to Donna, there was no stopping them. Take two teenage maniacs, age them fifty years and you have Donna and Floria.

"What now? I hope you didn't hassle anyone? Specifically that poor old milkman that runs as soon as he sees that you two are together."

She let out a light laugh. "No, but I did notice the police pottering around town more than usual lately. Seems something went amiss in the woods the last day, a shooting. You wouldn't know anything about that?"

My heart skipped a beat as I looked at her. "I heard about it."

Technically that wasn't a lie.

"Scary thing. I always tell her that this town is changing with the times. Not like back in my day. That little diner is the only thing that didn't change. But it was called The Moonflower back then. That was the place to be." Her eyes lit up with the memories of her youth, she looked out at our back lawn, her eyes watching the yellow sunflowers in reminisce, before landing on me again.

"I think you would've really liked it."

I grinned back at her. After my parents died, she'd spend hours telling me about her life when she was young. She was brought up and raised in Hollowgrove and I loved getting to know it how it used to be, through her memories, frayed as they were. She met my granddad when she was 17,  they were high-school sweethearts. He left to serve in the military and she stayed home and thought History in the local school and looked after my mom. Eventually he came home again, and they lived together here in this town until he died, a few years ago. I always thought my grandma was the strongest person I ever knew. She dealt with so much grief, yet she still sat me down and told me stories with a smile. She still baked me cookies and told me to wear a helmet when I rode my bike into town. I lost my parents when I was five, but I grew up feeling loved regardless. I dealt with grief, but I didn't deal with it alone.

"I was thinking," I started and she turned to me.

"You should go visit your sister for the rest of Summer.

Her eyes widened in shock. "I don't know Finely, it's very far away and I wouldn't like to leave you alone for so long."

I smiled at her timidly. "Don't worry, I'm eighteen now. I can take care of myself. You've been talking about this for so long now, I think you should go. You haven't seen her in so long."

She frowned. "The rest of the summer though? Isn't that a bit long. I might just go for a week or two."

I held up my hand. "No because you never see her. You two should get the chance to properly catch up. And I was thinking of staying with Sadie anyway and also, one other thing."