It was quiet in the car. As I sat in the back, I could tell that Jasper was starting to get tired. Every now and then, he would look up at me in the rear view mirror as if to make sure I was still there. Dark circles began to appear under his eyes, and I knew that he was getting exhausted, but there was nothing I could do about it. I would ask him if he wanted to trade places. He could lay down in the back seat while I drove, but he shot that down real fast.
Evan has been asleep for the past twenty minutes or so. Neither Jasper or I spoke in fear of waking him up. The car was completely silent, and the only sound that could be heard was the tires on the asphalt.
I glance down at my phone, the the dim light illuminates the backseat. It was just a little bit after nine o'clock, and there was nothing on my phone. No missed calls, no text messages. It was like no one except for the other two people in the car knew what was going on. Well, probably except for Emily. Back at the gas station, I saw Jasper on the phone while he was pumping gas. It must have had to be her. At least, that's what I'm going to assume.
Looking back on it, both of Jasper's parents were practically my own. I remember growing up that my mom was never really in the house. That was probably a red flag right there. Even after dad left, thing's didn't get better. Mom spent most of her time at the office doing god knows what while I stayed in an empty house, isolated from the world. As time went on, it just became daily life for me. Home was the only really safe place for me. No one could reach me there, but being alone was never something I had enjoyed.
Even now, it was weird that I'm with Jasper right now. Even though we weren't technically alone since Evan was there, it still felt strange. Typically harsh words are said between me and him, and other times he would resort to other mean tactics. However, that has not happened ever since I fell out the window. His attitude didn't change at first, but it did when Evan came into the picture. I didn't know why, but it didn't seem right. Did Jasper no longer hate me? No, that can't be right.
"Are you really not coming back?" Jasper asked softly from the drivers seat. His tone was so soft, and I could hear the pain coming from behind it. I set my phone down and cross my arms over my chest.
"Yeah," I say barely above a whisper.
"Do you think you'll change your mind though?" he asked as he looked up at me through mirror. As I looked up, I could see the pain in his eyes. "You know you're welcome at my place, right? There is that extra room in my house. You're welcome to move into there for as long as you need."
I smiled a little bit. "Thanks, but I think I need a fresh start, and I can't get that when school starts up again."
Jasper was quiet for a moment, and I could see his knuckles tightly gripping the steering wheel, causing them to turn white. "I'm going to fix everything."
I narrow my eyes at him in confusion. "Fix? What are you going to fix?"
Jasper slowed the car as the light in front of us turned red. The moment the car came to a complete stop, Jasper turned in his seat to face me. The inside of the car was pitch black, and the only light came from the stoplight. Half of his face was lit up, and I can see he meant what he was about to stay.
"I will make sure that no one ever bothers you again," he said as he looked me straight in the eyes.
My smile fades and I shake my head. "Thanks, but I don't see that happening."
The light in front of us turned green, and Jasper sighed before turning back around and gently hits the gas. The car pulled forward, but Jasper muttered something under his breath low enough for me to barely hear it.
"I'll make sure of it if it means you'll stay."
I wasn't sure if I heard him right, but I didn't to ask. It was best to drop it now for the time being. We were nearing the end of our little road trip, and we were about ten minutes away from my grandparents house. When I had called, they were extremely happy to hear from me. I didn't go into details about why I was coming. It would have been too hard over the phone.
I was just glad they would be home. If not, I don't know where I would have gone.
Jasper pulled the car onto a loose gravel lot, and the sudden shift off of asphalt caused Evan to suddenly wake up. I couldn't help but chuckle as he looked around in confusion.
"How long was I sleeping?" he asked as he looked at both of us.
"Not long," Jasper told him as he kept his eyes forward.
In the distance, a light from a house started to come into view. My heart started to pound in my chest, and I couldn't help but feel excited. It has been years since I had seen them, and all the memories I had shared with them during my childhood came rushing back.
My grandmother teaching me how to bake a cake, even though I ended up burning it to a crisp. My grandfather pushing me on the swing he had built for me in the oak tree in front of their house. The three of us laughing together over small inside jokes that we only understood. All I wanted was to relive those memories, and this may be my chance.
Jasper pulled into the gravel driveway and pulled up to the house. As the headlights hit the house, I saw that it hasn't changed.
The walls were still the dark stone that I remember, and the front porch still held the two identical rocking chairs that looked like they haven't aged a day. Although the house still looked the same, the features around it were a little different.
In the front was a garden. All types of flowers were in full bloom thanks the the warm weather. Growing up, both my grandparents didn't have a green thumb, and they killed more plants then I could count. They preferred to keep plastic ones in the corners of rooms since they didn't have to take care of them.
I took a deep breath, but them I couldn't help but feel at least a bit afraid. So much time has passes, and I didn't know what to expect when I walked through those doors. I knew I was overreacting, and I knew that they were excited to see me. I just couldn't help but feel a little worried.
"You alright?" Jasper asked as he turned to me from his seat.
His voice snapped me back into reality, and I gave him a slight nod. With another deep breath, I reached out and grabbed the door handle and got out of the car. As I got onto my feet and my crutches were beneath me, I closed the door and looked up at the house.
Almost immediately after I closed the door, a head poked up from one of the lit windows, and I could see them quickly move to the direction of the door. The moment the door opened, a figure moved onto the front porch, and I couldn't help but smile.
My grandmother looked exactly as I remembered her. She was on the shorter side, just like me, but she was a little bit on the plump side. Her hair was cut short, but her gray curls bounced with every step she took. As she stood on the porch, she held her glasses closer to her face, but I could see the joy behind her smile.
"Harriet," my grandmother squealed as she started to walk towards me with open arms.
"Grandma," I say as I try to hold back my tears as walked towards her. The moment she wrapped her arms around me, I felt as if everything were going to be alright. I guess a hug from your grandparents will do that.
"It's so good to see you," she says as she rubs small circles onto my back. "You must be tired from driving."
"Actually, I just sat in the back," I say just as both Evan and Jasper get out of the car to stand behind me. My grandma looks me with a confused look as she looks at the boys and then me, at least until her eyes focused onto my leg.
"Oh dear, my eyes aren't what they once were," she says as she looks up from my cast. "What happened?"
"I fell," I tell her. It was better than adding out a window at the end of the sentence.
"Well that's not good," she tells me as she shook her head, but then she focused her attention back to the boys. "Who are your friends?"
I open my mouth, but before I can say anything, Evan steps forward and begins talking.
"I'm Evan," he says as he holds out his hand to her. My grandmother chuckles before taking his extended hand in hers.
"Nice to meet you, Evan. I'm Mable," she says with a smile as she releases his hand and turns to Jasper. "And you?"
"I'm Jasper. Hattie's neighbor," he said to her. "You probably don't remember me though."
Almost immediately, my grandmothers eyes widened in realization. "You were the boy that got his head stuck on the columns on the stairs on Harriet's tenth birthday."
I couldn't help but let out a laugh. I had forgotten that that happened once. Jasper was being a pain during my birthday party that was really only for family, and he ended up getting his head stuck while trying to be mean to me while I sat on the stairs waiting for others to arrive. No amount of butter or soap would free his head, and my dad ended up having to break the thick piece of wood just to get his head free.
Jasper blushed as he reached up and grabbed the back of his head as if he were embarrassed. "Not my finest moment, I admit."
"Why don't we head inside," my grandmother offered as she motioned to the door. "When you said you were coming, I wiped up a little something since I thought you would be hungry."
"Sounds good," I say with a smile as my grandmother nodded and began to walk back towards the house.
"I'll get your bag," Evan said as he turned back to the car. When he was out of earshot, Jasper turned to me.
"Harriet?" he asked, but I could tell he was trying to hold back his laughter. I rolled my eyes and began to follow my grandma.
"Hattie is a nickname," I shrugged.
"My whole life has been a lie," Jasper said sarcastically.
"You've known me how long and you never realized that?" I questioned as I stepped onto the porch.
"Hey, to be far I never notice a lot of things," he pointed out as he followed closely behind me. The car door slamming shut signaled that Evan would be behind us shortly.
I stepped through the door that my grandmother was holding open, and I couldn't help but feel at ease when I stepped into the house. It was just as I remembered it. The walls were still the dark wood paneling that I remembered from my childhood. In the center of the living room was the same light blue couch I remember playing on. In the corner of the room was my grandfathers recliner. Back then I was younger, I would sit on his lap and the two of us would watch movies. Now, my grandfather sat there with his eyes closed, slightly snoring.
He look different from when I last saw him. His hair was no longer the dark brown I remembered. Now, his head was bald. The wrinkles on his face were more defined. Everyday when I was growing up, every time I saw him he wore a plaid shirt and jeans, and even after all these years it hasn't changed. When the door closed shut behind me, my grandfather eyes slowly opened.
The moment his eyes landed on me, I could see the tears starting to well in his eyes. Slowly, my grandfather pushed himself up from his chair and began to make his way over to me. I could see his body shaking, and I could tell it was because he was happy that I was in the same room of him.
He didn't say anything when he pulled me into his arms. Ever since I was young, he was never an emotional person. I had never seen him cry, so seeing him now like this was a little bit shocking.
"You've grown," he said with a laugh as he let got of me and wiped his eyes.
I chuckle, but I could feel the tears behind my eyes. "It happens."
"What happened to your leg?" he asked as his eyes narrowed down to the cast on my leg.
"I fell," I say as I look up to see my grandmother ushering the boys into the kitchen.
"I don't remember you being so clumsy," he said as he motioned over to the kitchen. "Why don't we go to the kitchen and get something to eat? When you called, your grandmother went and decided to make your favorite."
"My favorite?" I asked in confusion as he placed a hand on my shoulder and turned me into the next room. I don't remember having a favorite. As we stepped into the kitchen, I saw my grandma reaching into the refrigerator. I would tell she was trying to pull something out. After a second, she pulled out a chocolate cake that I remembered her making every year for my birthday.
"She's been baking up a storm since you called," my grandfather said as he pulled out a chair at the kitchen table for me. I sat down and looked up to see both Jasper and Evan sitting fairly close to each other, and I could tell they weren't happy with the close proximity of each other. "I know your birthday isn't for a couple of more days, but we figured you'd like your cake a little bit early."
"You're birthdays coming up?" Evan asked wide eyed.
"Yeah, on the eleventh," I tell him as I watched my grandmother set the cake down on the table and began cutting it.
All of a sudden, my grandfather noticed the two boys sitting directly across from him the moment he sat down. His eyes flickered to each of the boys in confusion, but then he shrugged me began passing out plates that were already on the table.
"So, how was the drive up?" grandpa asked as he looked around the table.
"It was fine," I say as my grandma placed a rather large piece of cake on my plate. She gave me a quick wink as she began to place the other slices onto the other plates.
"We were surprised to get your call," grandma said as she placed the last slice onto Evans plate.
"I needed to get away for a bit," I tell her, and I could see Jasper frowning at me from the other side of the table. It was late, and I didn't want to get into what happened with my mother right now.
"What about you two boys?" grandpa asked as he shoved a forkful of cake into his mouth. "I don't think two boys want to spend your summer visiting two old farts."
Both of them chuckled, but it was Jasper who spoke up. "We just wanted to make sure Hattie got here safe before we headed back to Haven. With her leg like that, pedestrians aren't safe."
Grandpa chuckled. "So when do you two plan on heading back?"
"Tomorrow, actually," Evan started to say. "Is there a motel around here, actually?"
"Nonsense," grandma said as she wiped the corners of her mouth with a napkin. "We got plenty of room here. There's the pullout couch and we do have an air mattress tucked up in the attic."
"Oh no, we couldn't possibly-" Jasper started to say but my grandma cut him off.
"It's no trouble," she said. "Besides, the only motel remotely close to here is about twenty miles away."
"It's settled then," my grandpa says as he stands up from his clean plate and walked behind the boys and placed a firm hand on both their shoulders. "You two boys come with me. I'll need you two to get the air mattress for me. The doc doesn't want me picking up more than twenty pounds these days. I'll even get you something to sleep in."