Her Legacy

I. First Day

"Hey, hon," my mom greeted me when she noticed me entering the kitchen. She smiled at me warmly as she screwed on the lid of her travel cup. Mom was dressed for work. It was her first day, too. She had been headhunted to a specialty cancer clinic about a half hour drive from here. She never talked numbers, but I was certain the salary had to be good to take us away from New York.

She was dressed in a plain, long sleeved t-shirt and leggings, and was no doubt going to change into scrubs when she got to the clinic. Her hair, the same brown colour as mine, was slicked back into a neat pony tail, and she had effortlessly applied a nice amount of makeup to her ageless skin. Clearly she hadn't misplaced her makeup bag in the move.

"Morning," I mumbled as I went over to the coffee pot and poured myself a cup. My mom then hugged me from behind and rubbed my upper arms comfortingly. She could sense my nerves. I turned around to look down on her. She was a couple of inches shorter than my five six.

"Sara, you have nothing to be nervous about," she promised, her green eyes looking upon me sympathetically. "So what it's a new school? You will get the same wonderful grades you always do, and I'm sure you'll make some great friends." Bless her, she was trying to be supportive. I knew she felt guilty for pulling me out of my old school. "I lived here for a lot longer than you when I was younger. I always liked this town. The kids here were nice."

We shall see.

"You look beautiful," she added earnestly, brushing some hair out of my eyes. "Now, come on. Chin up. I've got to get to work and you've got to get to school," she urged. "I'll have my cell on me all day. You have the number of the clinic and I've given all my phone numbers to the school already. But I'm sure you won't need them." Mom took my coffee from me and tipped it into another travel cup before handing me the keys to my 'Please don't hate me gift'.

I had to admit, it wasn't so bad driving down from New York in my own Jeep.

Mom kissed me on the cheek as she ushered me out the door. She locked it behind us and blew me a kiss as she backed out of the driveway in her silver Mercedes.

I took a deep breath as I climbed into my Jeep. It was black and all leather inside. It still smelled brand new. I forgot my nerves for a second as I started the engine. I plugged my phone into the AUX port and found a song to drown out my thoughts as I started my drive through the town.

Providence was a really small town. Much smaller than I was used to, though I was used to weekend trips into Manhattan and anythingwould seem smaller than the Big Apple.

There were several streets of houses like ours along the beach, and a main street of stores and businesses serviced them. As I drove down the main street I could see there was one of everything. A grocery story, a post office, a hair salon, a book store. Near the end of the street, and feeding directly out onto the beach was a diner. Sally's, it was called. I wondered if they were hiring.

I drover further inland, only ten minutes or so, and Providence began to seem a little more suburban. The houses were larger and secluded by trees. Providence High School appeared soon after. The school was on a huge, flat acreage, with its football stadium appearing to be the main attraction. The scoreboard looked new, and as I drove past, I could see that "Donated by the Eckhart Family" was printed below the scores.

"Home of the Mighty Vikings," I read as I pulled into the school driveway. Students were streaming into school, and I was following other cars, attempting to find my way to the student parking lot.

The school building looked quite weathered and dated, and it was obvious when looking at the football stadium where most of the budget went. I supposed if I wanted to make friends at this school then I would have to get into football.