My mom was immobile for a full minute, there were different kinds of emotions on her face, there were sadness, anger, shock, fear on her face. She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. She was speechless and lost for words. 'Oh my Gosh, I should not have said anything. Why didn't I keep my mouth shut?'
''Mom." I said, a little worried about her and angry at myself. ''Are you okay?'' She didn't bother to glance at me, she just nodded. "I'm sorry.'' I said. "I should not have said anything.'' At that, she looked at me.
''No, you were right to say something." She told me.
''Yeah, but I should not have asked you about grandma.'' I said. ''It's really clear you don't like talking about her or hate when people mention her.''
''No, Annabelle, it's__"
''Not your favorite subject, it's your worse.'' I expected her to cry or at least freak out, but no tears came, she didn't show any emotions that she was going to freak out. My mom was really brave, she looked at me with both sadness and pain in her eyes.
''Her name was.'' She started. I looked up at her, I could feel excitement going through my body. ''Rosabelle Heiddy LaFontaine.''
''Rosabelle.'' I whispered. I just could not believe that Josh was right about Rosabelle being related to me and my mom, Rosabelle was my grandma. I wanted to get out of the house to go to Josh's and tell him everything, but at the same time, I could not because my mom would find it weird.
''You know what." My mom said. I looked up at her.
''What?" I asked, interested.
"You always impress me." She said, smiling.
''How?''
''You always impress me by how you dance, speak, sing, act, by being yourself.'' She told me.
''What do you mean?'' I asked. I just didn't get how these things impressed her.
''I mean, you are like my mom. You are exactly like her, you have the same personalities, you do everything exactly like her, you even look like her, like you are her twin, people say that you are like me, you look like me. But if they knew my mom, they would say that you're exactly like your grandma, those who knew her say that about you.''
''Really.'' I said, pleased.
''Hey, if you want, I can show you pictures of me and her together.''
"Sure.'' I said. I really wanted to see pictures of my grandma. My mom slapped her fingers and an album of pictures appeared. I felt a wild excitement go through me, she opened the album in the middle, there were pictures of this girl who had to be sixteen back then, my breath was cut, that girl looked just like me, it was like she was my twin from a different dimension.
I looked at other pictures of her, she really did look just like me. My mom showed me other pictures, pictures of grandma with a cute boy, my breath was cut, that boy was the man that Josh and I saw, the man who mistook me for my grandma. But there was something else about this boy, like I've seen him in a dream or something. 'Argh.' I thought. 'My memories are really bad these days.'
I saw more pictures of her and that boy. At some point, my mom skipped some pictures, she showed me her and grandma together. There were pictures of me, her, dad, and grandma together. Grandma was holding me, I was laughing. That time, I only had four teeth.
''Aww.'' My mom and I both said.
''You were so adorable when you were a baby.'' She said, smiling proudly.
''I know. I was so CUTE.'' I said, smiling proudly too. ''Why didn't I stay cute?''
''You still look the same.'' She said, still smiling.
''Yeah, I guess.'' I said smiling. ''Mom.''
''Yeah.''
''May I ask you something?"
''Sure, anything.''
''Um. Who was that guy with grandma in the pictures?''
''That guy who was with my mom.'' She started. ''Is my dad.'' I was really shocked. Josh was right all this time.
"Your dad.'' I managed to say. She nodded. So, my mom was half white.
''Cool.'' I said smilingly.
~~~
''Oh my Gosh, Josh.'' I said after my lesson.
''What.'' He asked, interested.
''You were right all this time.'' I said.
''I was?'' He asked, shocked.
''Yes. Rosabelle was my grandma, my mom showed me pictures of her, and she looked exactly like me, Josh, it's like she's my twin sister from a different dimension.'' I told him. "Remember the man who mistook me for my grandma.'' Josh nodded. ''Yeah, that guy is my grandfather.''
''Okay, calm down for one second.'' Josh said and I realized I was freaking out.
''Do you know what that means, Josh.'' I said. ''My mom is a Protector.''
''I know.''
''Remember last summer when my mom was watching us training and she asked if she could train with us, and she was amazing at everything.''
''Yeah, I remember perfectly.'' Josh said seriously.
''Well, that's because she has the Protectors' blood running down her veins. So, that means I'm also a Protector.'' Josh looked at me. "I'm also descended from Benjamin, I have a curse and a gift.''
''Cool.'' Josh said. I looked at him, it was clear that he was really amazed.
''Josh, can you do me a favor?'' I asked him.
''Yeah, anything.''
''Good, I want you to cover for me.'' I said.
''What?" He asked, shocked.
''I want to know more about my grandpa, so I'm going to his house.''
''What if he's there?'' Josh asked worriedly.
''If he's there, I'll be back. If I have the courage, I won't.'' I said seriously.
''What if he's not there?'' Josh asked, still worried.
"I'll break into his house.''
''Please tell me you're kidding.''
''Do I look like I'm kidding?'' I asked him and he caught my eyes.
''No.''
''Okay then.'' I said, preparing myself.
"I'll go with you.''
''No, Josh. You don't have to." Josh could sometimes be over-protective.
''Yes, I have to.'' There was no way I could change his mind unless I used my power, but Megan would found out everything.
''Okay then.''
''Wish us out.''
''Actually, I'm not gonna use my gi__'' I hesitated. I was about to say the word 'gift.' But my power wasn't a gift, it was a curse. "I'm not gonna use my power."
''Why not?"
''Your mom is my Minder.''
"Oh yeah, you guys are bonded together." Josh said with a boring voice.
''Yeah, it sucks sometimes.'' I said truthfully. ''One more thing, you're driving.''
"Okay." He said excitedly.
''Not my car.'' I said. ''Your car.''
''Argh.'' He said, disappointed.
"I'll leave my mom a note that says we are going to an adventure that's exciting." I said. I wrote the note and left it on the coffee table.
''Ready?'' Josh asked.
''Always.'' I said.
We left my house, I was a little nervous about what we were about to do. Josh found his key, he opened the door for me, which he didn't have to. It was really sunny outside. Finally, we arrived in my grandpa's neighborhood.
''Josh, pull over here." I said. He pulled over, so now his car was six houses apart from my grandfather's house. ''We'll just walk the rest of the way.'' We walked all the way to my grandfather's house. When we arrived, there wasn't any car in the driveway, I remembered last time there was a galaxy.
''He's not here.'' Josh said. ''What do we do now?"
''Break in.'' I said, a little excited. ''What else should we do?''
''Okay then, let's go.'' We walked to the front door, he tried to open the door but___ ''It's locked.''
''Oh please, I can open it.'' I said. My nails were long these days, I seriously needed to cut them. It wasn't hard to open the door with my nails. I opened the door and we both stepped inside.
''Whoa.'' We both whispered. The house was huge and beautiful. It was just amazing.
''Oh, my God.'' I whispered in amazement.
''I know right.'' Josh whispered back, he too was amazed.
''I should live here.'' I said.
''You still could.'' Josh said. He wasn't whispering anymore. ''He's your grandfather.'' I thought about it, but my mom had never met him in her whole life, she only saw him in pictures. So what would I do to her if I decided to live with my grandpa, who was her dad? And maybe my grandfather didn't even like us or wanted us in his life.
''Nah.'' I said, disagreeing with Josh.
''So, what should we do now?'' Josh asked, excited with whatever we were about to do.
''Search the house.'' I said and we both started searching the house. The living room had a large screen T.V. on the wall, there were two bedrooms downstairs, both of the bedrooms had bathrooms inside and a walking closet that had no clothes. There was a movie room, a playroom that had a lot of games, there was a hot tub inside the playroom. Josh started playing the games. I grabbed his hand and said. ''That is not what we came for.''
''Sorry.'' He said, but he didn't look sorry. There were five bedrooms upstairs and three bathrooms. We checked all of them, but found nothing. We went back downstairs.
''There's nothing.'' I said, disappointed.
''Don't lose hope.'' Josh said. ''There's still another bedroom here.''
''What, but we checked every bedroom already.'' I said, but I had a little hope.
''Not that one then.'' Josh said as he dragged me to the bedroom.