"Yeah...I think it triggered me."
"What do you mean you think it triggered you? The gun shots?"
"Yeah...but I don't know why. What we saw in New-"
Emma cuts me off, "We didn't see anything in New York, remember? We IMAGINED it."
We agreed that we wouldn't tell anyone what happened because we thought it could put us in danger, and we didn't want to relive it if we didn't have too.
"I know we agreed too but...I think I'm finally processing it."
"But why? Why now?", Emma asks.
"I don't know. I asked myself the same thing...".
Just then my sister walks into the bathroom.
"Hey Lewis, I gotta go. I'll talk to you later", I say and then hang up before Emma can ask me why I called her Lewis.
"Hey! You coming? The waiter is ready to take our order", Alicia says while fixing her hair in the mirror.
Was I really on the phone for that long?
"Yeah I'm ready. Let's eat!", I say as I walk toward the door.
"What were you talking to Lewis about?"
"Oh...we we're talking about our grad party tomorrow."
Lewis and I agreed at the beginning of Senior year that we would have a combined graduation party because we have a lot of the same friends, and because our families are so close.
"Oh! Cool! Everything all good?", Alicia asks as she follows me out.
"Yep! All good."
I wish I could tell her what I saw. I've always told my sister everything.
We go to our table and I sit in the empty seat next to my grandma.
"You were in there a while! Everything okay?", my grandma asks with a laugh.
I chuckle and say, "Yeah I'm fine! Lewis called me while I was in there so we talked for a minute about our grad party tomorrow."
"Should we tell her now?", my grandma asks my dad.
"Tell me!! I can't wait any longer!".
When my dad is about to tell me, our waiter comes over to take our order.
"Hello, are we ready to order?". It's our favorite waiter, John. We come here so often he has our orders memorized.
He takes everyone's order and then mine, "The usual Dakota?".
"Yes please!" I say with a smile.
"You got it! Your food will be out shortly."
"Okay can you please tell me now before we get interrupted again!", I say eagerly.
What is this "news"?
"Okay. You will be spending this summer in Santa Cruz with some family."
"I'm sorry..what?". Since when do we have family in Santa Cruz?
"You will be working at their taco shop near the Boardwalk."
"...I..What? Where is this coming from?" I'm so confused. Did I do something wrong?
"We noticed how overwhelmed you were after you came back from New York. We thought this would be a good way to experience something new and relax, all while making some extra money for school", my grandma says with a smile.
So they all noticed how different I was and didn't bother to say anything?
"Do I have a choice on whether or not to go?". I wanna think about this before I go.
"Yes. But you have to decide by tomorrow". My dad said that as if it was completely normal.
"WHAT?!"
"You have until tomorrow night to decide if you're gonna go. If you decide to go, you will have to stay up all night packing because they will be expecting you to arrive Monday at one for work."
What the? What is going on?
"Is this some kind of joke?", I ask and look at my brother and sister.
YOU ARE READING
All It Took
Romance"All It Took" is a story about a girl named Dakota with a secret that no one knows, not even her sister Alicia or her best friend Chrissy. After Dakota graduates high school, she gets sent from San Francisco to Santa Cruz to stay with family she did...
