"Time to go, Sam." I was startled out of my thoughts by my dad's voice. I looked up and found him standing at the doorway, with worried eyes. "Are you okay, honey?"
"Yeah." I hurriedly said and got up from the bed to keep the photo I had been holding in my suitcase, which was still on the floor.
"I'll be downstairs then." He then backed out of the doorway.
Today, I was finally going back home. After four years of stubbornness, grandma had finally given in for us to hire a caregiver. I could remember when Dad brought up the idea three years ago. She had been against it, saying he or she could murder her in her sleep. She can be a little bit paranoid.
She also didn't think it right to have a stranger in late grandpa's home like that.
I guess she loves him so much and still missed him. So she does all she can to honor his memory. In my three years of living here with her, I realized that whenever we talked about grandpa, she would have this sad look on her face, and her eyes would tear up. Since then, I tried as much as possible to not bring him up.
Zipping my suitcase, I wheeled it out of my room before closing the door shut. It would be the new care giver's room because there were only two bedrooms in the small house. My grandma loved how small her house was. She believed it to be comfier than a big mansion. So when she and grandpa wanted to pick a home, even though they had enough money, they still went for this two-bedroom flat with a kitchen, dining room, and a sitting room.
I walked down the stairs and found my grandma sitting on the sofa and having a chat with my dad.
She then gives him a peck on the cheek before his attention turns to the caregiver. She was standing behind grandma with her pink suitcase beside her.
Her name was Florence, and she was a nurse. But now, she would be taking care of grandma full time.
She was a tall blonde with pale blue eyes and an oval-shaped face. She had on her nurse uniform, which stopped a few inches above her knee.
Dad said a few things to her before noticing my presence and smiled at me.
"I'll be in the car. Need my help with that?" He indicated to my suitcase. I quickly nodded as it wasn't light to carry and handed it over to him before he left through the front door.
"My honey bear is finally leaving me all alone in this lonely house," Grandma said as I walked over to her. Her sharp blue eyes fixed on me with a crooked smile painting her lips and directed at me. Her gray hair was cut short, and she had on her favorite cream-colored sweater and long black flay skirt on.
"Come on grandma, Florence is here." I squatted in front of her and held her wrinkled hands.
"It's not the same as you," I remembered when she even agreed to have a caregiver, she was still picky.
She only gave in because Florence was recommended by a friend.
"Take good care of yourself, my love. And make sure to call and visit often."
"I will, grandma." I then stood up and kissed her cheek before turning to Florence and gave her the keys to my former bedroom, since it would be hers now. I headed straight for the door when I heard grandma say,
"And tell that brother of yours to come to visit sometime."
"I will, grandma. "And with that, I closed the door and walk down the steps, then to my dad's car. He was already in the driver's seat. I settled into the passenger's seat, and he started the car, ready to go.
"You ready?" He asked, looking at me.
"Yeah, let's go." And with that, we went on our way. I released my hair from its ponytail as I liked the breeze to blow through my hair. Then I took out my phone and realized I had tons of messages from Jax and my friend, Anna. Anna also lived in my grandma's town and went to the same high school I did. But now I'm in my senior year, and I'm going to spend that at home. With Ryan...
Anna wanted to know if I was still around, but I texted her I was already on my way home. She wasn't too happy about that, as she expected me to have at least tell her goodbye.
Jax was wishing me and dad, a safe trip. He was in his third year of college, but I guess he was on a break since he was at home. After I replied to him, mum called.
"Hey, mum."
"Hey, sweetie. Are you guys on your way yet?" She asked, and I could hear the sound of the Television in the background, indicating she was at home. It was Saturday, so no work for her.
"Yeah. We're on our way and should be there in the next five hours or so." She then proceeded to ask about grandma before hanging up.
"So, are you excited about your senior year?" Dad asked after mum hung up.
"Kinda," I answered before plugging my earpiece. My favorite band's music immediately blasted into my ear as I looked out the window. It wasn't that I wasn't excited to go back home to mum and Jax, it's just a special someone that I'm not sure about.
Ryan hadn't even tried to contact me ever since I moved here. I mean, I was his best friend. We told each other everything. He knew everything about me as I did him. We basically couldn't do without each other, and ever since I came here, he never called nor texted me. I don't know why, but it hurt so much to think he didn't even care to know how I was doing. Not once did he try. I knew he was mad that I left, but I thought after a while, he would get over it.
I even remembered asking Jax once to send me Ryan's number. And when I had called, he picked up, but when he found out it was me, he just hung up. I tried again, thinking it was network or something, but he never picked it again, or he would just cut it.
I had cried myself to sleep that night at how badly he treated me. But then I woke up the next morning and thought, why the hell was I crying? He was just a friend, that's all. So why do I give a fuck so much? But Ryan wasn't just a friend, and maybe that was the problem...
I was always thinking about him and wishing he would call one day and apologize. But that never happened. And I was too proud and angry to go to his house whenever I visited home.
It wasn't long after I left that his parents decided to move. I heard from Jax that they moved to a more luxurious neighborhood. Money was never a problem for The Adams. Even though his father was a surgeon, he had other businesses and companies around the world. Jax recently updated me that he had even quite his surgeon work to focus on his other flourishing businesses. You could say they were practically billionaires now. Jax says they sometimes go over to their place for dinner, and they come to ours too, since Ryan's parents were still friends with mine.
But whenever I'm at home and we were invited, I made sure to make up an excuse as I couldn't face him. My parents fall for it every time.
Jax also disclosed that he comes over to receive pointers from him as he was also on the football team. And last year, he was recently appointed as the quarterback. He must have changed a lot since the little Ryan I knew then, wouldn't last long in a football game. I have tried my best to abstain from social media so that I won't see him, because if I do, then I'll want to call him and plead with Him to forgive me for leaving. But I have nothing to beg him for. He's the one behaving so childish.
Watching the trees pass by, I started to think about changing school. Mum thought it okay to go back to my former school and finish my senior year there, and that was also where Jax went through. But the thought of entering into that school and seeing him makes my stomach clench uncomfortably. I don't know if it's out of fear or anticipation. I miss him, I do. But so much has happened. Does he even remember me?
As a quarterback, he would be very popular at school and have so many friends. Why would he even care about me again? The thought of that though isn't pleasant to me one bit.
After a long drive, my dad and I arrived home safely, and we were both welcomed with warm hugs from both mum and Jax.
"Oh, my honey pie is back home!" Mum hugs me and I think I saw her eyes water a little.
"Hey, little sis" Jax engulfs me in a bear hug, lifts me, and twirls me around, while I throw my head back and giggled.
They helped with taking my luggage in, and then mum started to ask multiple questions about my health, and school until dad drags her out of my room. Thankfully, they helped me clean it up so I had little work to do. Jax was still, however, on my bed, swinging his legs.
"So, how is college going?" I asked before bouncing on the bed beside him.
"Pretty good. Cranky lecturers...hot girls..being popular..just normal." He said, while I just raised an eyebrow at him. Jax's girlfriends never last more than two months. Yeah, he was a player and I just wished he would stop. Recently, he sent me a photo of a hot blonde, who was his new chick, and I was pretty sure that in three weeks, he would be done with her.
"Don't look at me like that, college life is so stressful. One girl is not enough to help you relax."
"Yeah...sure." I shook my head at him. "When are you going back?"
"This weekend."
"Oh. Well, I'm gonna miss you...again." He smiled a little and we proceeded to talk about a lot of things I missed before he left me to unpack.
"Oh, and grandma said to come to visit sometime," I yelled at him before he left and watched him cringe, making me laugh. He didn't like it when grandma is around, neither does he like visiting her. She usually pulled his cheeks like a little boy, and then called him cute adorable names. I think she does it intentionally just to embarrass him.
I watched him groan before closing my door. Well, I better start unpacking. I made sure to buy some new clothes while at grandma's that I could use for my senior year. So I kept those in a special place in my closet.
Two hours later, I was done unpacking and had my bath. I was lying on my bed chatting away with Anna on the phone when my mum yelled for me for dinner. That was when I realized it was dark outside. I went down, ate mum's delicious Spaghetti with meatball, chatted a little with them, and then went back up. I was exhausted, and as my body hit the bed, I doze off.
Sunday came and went, with me in my room all day, making sure all my things were set for school since I would start on Monday. I also chatted with Anna a little, on the phone, before going down and helping mum with dinner. After dinner, I watched TV with Jax and then played some board games with my dad. I really missed them. So I tried as much as possible to make up for all the lost times.
I was back in my room, face timing with Anna. We did that for about twenty minutes. I got ready for bed, set my alarm, and then lied down. Tomorrow was going to be very eventful. My first day at school...and the first day of seeing Ryan after four years. I groaned and buried my face in bed. I so wasn't looking forward to tomorrow...or was I?
Fan art cover above by I_like_shadows_