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"Life asked Death, why do people love me but hate you?
Death replied because you are a beautiful lie and I'm the painful truth."
The smell of delicious and freshly made chocolate chip cookies, both I and grandad made just a couple of minutes ago, circled the room leaving a lingering delectable scent behind. I grip my mug which was now full of whipped cream and marshmallows above the steaming liquid and sipped every so often, not wanting to let go of the mouth watering taste that burned my throat.
It felt like I was drinking alcohol, the burning sensation at the back of your throat, the addiction that came with it as soon as the taste touched your tip of your tongue, the instant feeling of warmth and comfort. The only difference I could seem to find is the lack of side effects and hangovers, thankfully.
It had hit twelve o'clock when the bells rang as we all sat together downstairs, engulfed in my grandfather's thick fluffy blankets which he still had kept years later after Grandma Louisa had died.
Death was most certainly not kind, and we all knew that. I knew it the day I had lost my grandmother, Dad knew it the day he had lost his mum and grandfather most definitely knew it when he had lost his wife, his soulmate and his best friend.
Death snatched anything and anyone it could, luring them out of our existence, somewhere completely unknown to us. It took away our most loved ones, taking the people who were far too good to have died, the ones who had deserved better than life itself, the people who were far too young. In other words, death showed not remorse or any kind of mercy. It was both evil and not doubtlessly cruel but most importantly inevitable.
Even years after heartbreak and grief hit this exact house, her presence was still felt as I looked around the room only to see her pictures scattered everywhere making me feel as if she was sat here with us, trying to convince me to play our usual game of cards, which I won every time, and yet still she wanted a rematch in hope that one day she would win against me.
Shame that the day never came.
Grandma Louisa was a woman of great class and a shocking sense of style, similar to my mum actually, hence why they always got along so well. Our family was her whole entire life so you can imagine her happiness everything a new grandson or granddaughter was born into the family.
Oh, God, she was basically the definition of an angel sent from heaven. The funeral was just as beautiful as her, the beautiful peonies that scattered the ocean before drifting away along with her remain as grandfather spread her ashes was just heartbreakingly beautiful. She had always hated the idea of being abandoned inside a grave for the rest of eternity buried six feet under next to all the worms and bugs she had always been so afraid of so the idea of spreading her across the ocean seemed far more fitting.
I yawned loudly making all the attention snap back to me.
"You should get some rest, Addie," grandfather whispered, a sad tone laced in his voice as he noticed what I was looking at, or in fact who was in the centre of my attention. I nod before standing up.
"Goodnight," I whisper before grasping my bags and walking up the crooked staircase, which was in definite need of some fixing from the cracking noises as I stepped foot on each board, making me feel as if the staircase would fall apart under me.
I flick the hallway switch on and snap my head back to the constant chatter coming from the living room. My feet tap against the floorboard as I walk past the several doors that were scattered across the hallway.
Finally, after opening each door trying to remember which guest room I always used to stay in, I reach the room that I had always claimed first. As I walk inside and shut the door quietly, my bags seem to already be across the room thrown in the corner. I smile as I run to the other side of the bedroom and throw myself on the double bed that had elegantly been made.
With cushions and blankets thrown across the spread, surprisingly looking extremely elegant and neat, I throw my head back in delight and begin to throw my arms around as if I am doing a snow angel of some sort.
I stand up finally shaking my ridiculousness and childish behaviour off as I walk around the room, feeding my curiosity. My fingers slide across the wooden dresser as I glance at the photos that were displayed. Some of me, some of my father and his sisters, some of my cousins but mostly of grandma Louisa.
As my fingers glide across the rough surface of the wooden dresser and dust scatters in the air making me insanely begin to cough when the dust that was once flying in the atmosphere falls inside my throat, giving an itching sensation. I run towards the en suite that laid just next to the room and instantly turned on the tap in hope that the coughing would stop.
Thankfully, after what seemed like taking in gallons of water the itching sensation had stopped as well as the irritating coughing which almost sounded as if somebody was dying upstairs, and that person is me.
I walk back into the room and hover my fingers where they had previously been and squeezed my lips tight, trying to not choke on any dust as I had previously. My fingers come to an immediate halt as they hover across the frames on the dresser and stop when I notice a small book laying on the side. I grasp the hard cover and flop back onto the bed before opening the album ready to reminisce the past I so dearly hung onto in hope that one day, times would turn out to be just as good as they were years back, like the times which were trapped in between the dusty pages of the album.
A buzz vibrates throughout my whole body as I walked down the stairs as the sun shone through the windows in the door. I grasp my phone which I had placed in my back jeans pocket previously and my eyes scanned the screen which lit up with only a swipe of a finger.
Ren
You busy today???
9:56
With just a few slides of a finger, an aching smile spreading across my face and several taps, I reply almost instantly, not wasting any time as excitement spreads across my now wide awake body.
Adelaine
Not that I know of, why? What have you got in mind?
9:58
Ren
You up for some retail therapy? I'm guessing you're in desperate need of it and I just feel the need to shop til' we drop.
9:59
Adelaine
Are you being legitimate about the 'shop until we drop' thing?
10:00
Ren
Totally ;) When am I not serious about shopping?
10:00
Adelaine
Time and place?
10:01
Ren
11:00 sounds good for you?
10:03
Adelaine
Sounds great! Looks like we've got a shopping date planned :D
10:03
Ren
Text the address and I'll pick you up.
10:05
Adelaine
I'm on it.
10:05
I place my phone securely into my back pocket as I press send when I have finished writing out grandfather's home address. Cheerfully, I run down the stairs with a wide smile. Only to my surprise I am greeted with the unfamiliar sight of both my mother and father sat at the dining table fully dressed in casual clothing as their lips moved as they converse with my grandfather who stood next to the stove, with a pan in hand flipping the goodness that welcomed my nose and made me lick my lips in delight.
"Good morning," my dad says, giving me a small wave as he picks up the coffee that sat in the middle of the table and poured the last drops into mum's mug.
"Good morning indeed," I reply before pulling out the seat next to my mother and sat down, crossing my leg over the over in comfort. A loud and monstrous rumble escapes my stomach in hunger making my cheeks turn a shade of crimson and a hearty chuckle leaves my grandfather's lips along with my mother.
"Looks like somebody is a little hungry," my mum states making me nod timidly in reply," just a little."
Just a couple of seconds after, grandfather appears with a large porcelain plate with intricate designs scattered across the edges with a towering pile of pancakes waiting to be attacked and eaten. The elderly man carefully sits down as he grips onto the table and everybody begins digging into the pancakes, trying the different flavours and topping on the tip of their tongue as our taste buds finally reactivate after a long, long night.
"So, Addie, I heard you scored yourself a job," grandfather smiles proudly as he munches on his pancake.
In my head, I imagine myself screaming out no and telling the truth that in reality, I wouldn't have 'scored' anything without my parents' varied connections all over from their enormous count of friends. A number which I could never even dream of having, never mind the idea actually even beginning to be anywhere near possible.
I sigh as I let the lies slip from my tongue," yes, I did. It's great!" I say enthusiastically with a smile plastered across my face.
"You've found some new friends too, haven't you, Ade?" my father questions. And so the interrogations begin, I think to myself.
"Yes, in fact, I'm going out with her in," I pause and glance at the watch that hung onto my wrist," less than an hours time on a shopping trip."
"Oh! So, both you and your friend are going to get the chance to buy your dresses for the dinner on Friday, right?" My mother springs up, excitement gleaming in her eyes as she hears one of her two favourite words, 'shopping' and 'friends' in one sentence.
"Yeah, I guess so," I shrug her excitement off in ease and begin to spread the cherry jam onto my second pancake wondering what it would be like if I lived a normal life where finding a new friend isn't some kind of miracle. I wonder, I really do.
The rest of breakfast seems like a blur now that I look back on it. I sit outside the house looking out on the mesmerising view of the morning sun escaping from the clouds and revealing itself to us, trying to break through so it can shine once again after days of being surrounded by complete and utter darkness.
An engine roars in my ear as I break away my gaze from the beauty that had been exposed to me. I see a car. I walk towards it. The window opens and I smile ever so slightly as a pair of hooded almond eyes stare right back at me. With a click and a push, the door is opened and I carefully climb inside and pause as Ren's hand hovers over the steering wheel.
"Good morning to you, young grasshopper," a smile appears on her face, with eyes hooded and crinkled and the movement of her two fingers against her forehead saluting me as if I am a soldier at war. Metaphorically, I couldn't say it was wrong to say that. I mean, I m fighting against my own self, right?
"Wouldn't say particularly good, but morning to you too," I replied nonchalantly.
"Well, let me assure you. Shopping therapy is the key to everything," she says dramatically, waving her hands all over emphasising her point further,"you name it: heartbreak, grief, loss, failure, you name it," she counts on her fingers as she lists all the point making me roll my eyes playfully as she attempts to lighten my mood, and for your information, it sure did work.
"--and now you can add robberies and theft to the list too." With a chuckle followed along coming from me, she leans back in her seat and grips the wheel as she turns on her engine once again. A lazy yet proud smirk appears on her face," and that, Adelaine Colbert, is solid proof that I am the best company you could have scored yourself."
"Confident much?" I laugh.
"You've only seen the beginning of it, wait four months and then you can speak."
And with that, the engine starts and we begin to drive in laughter as we playfully mess around in the car. Well, when I say we, I mean Ren messing around as she turns the volume on the radio to a maximum and screams on the top of her lungs as she belts out the songs she doesn't even know the lyrics to making the other drivers laugh as they watch her ridiculousness. My hands cover my stomach as it physically hurts to laugh, even more, a feeling which I had never grown accustomed to having and for some reason, I craved it more than anything I had felt for years.
"You sure we're the best company I could have found myself," I mumble under my breath as she belts out the lyrics. A foreign feeling strikes me, a feeling happiness. Or maybe it was confidence. Perhaps the latter of the two. Either way, I could say one thing for sure.
Maybe life isn't as bad as I had portrayed it to be inside my head for years. Maybe if you weigh out the positives and the negatives and decide to focus on what's good rather than bad, maybe there's a chance of waking up every day and feeling excited about what s to come.
Maybe, just maybe. There's a chance that one day I could look through my eyes with hope rather than misery and tears. Maybe there's just that little chance that everything will work out for the better.
Any new theories or thoughts?
Opinions on Grandad?
Any changed opinions on Adelaine's parents?
The dedication goes to AnanoMagradze thank you for all the comments and votes on all the chapters!
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QOTD: Favourite TV shows? (I need some recommendations, lol)
AOTD: Gossip Girl and Vampire Diaries