TILL WE MEET AGAIN

Chapter 2

Ellie

When I get to the car, am prepared for my dad to blow up on me but he doesn't. He's awfully quiet. I don't get it. Is he mad? He doesn't look like he is.

He doesn't even complain when I walk out to a bathroom to change out of my skirt. Neither does he pay attention to the jacket in my hands.

Minutes of this torturing silence go by and I can't take it anymore. I clear my throat.

"How much longer before we get to the guest house?" I ask, anxious for him to say something, anything.

"An hour," is all he says. He doesn't even spare me glance. This is weird for me because usually when it's just me and my dad, we talk like we are two best friends who haven't spoken in long time.

The only sound in the car is the country music playing on the stereo.  My dad doesn't even listen to country music. He hates it. I stare at him, he looks like he's lost in him own world. Something is definitely eating him up. My gut tells me something is wrong, really wrong.

I sigh, lean back in my seat and stare out the window. This is going to be a long journey. Though I can't wait to reach the guest house. A whole month at some fancy guesthouse with my cousins for Aunt Medrine's wedding. This is going to be fun.

I smile.

Aunt Medrine is my dad's little sister, his other sibling other than Uncle Mark. She's the cool aunt. By cool I mean the never-gets-married-travels- the- world-rich aunt. That's why we were surprised when she said she was getting married. The biggest surprise was when we found out who she was marrying.

Ross Smith.

One of the most successful young actors I know. He is just thirty years old but he has already been nominated twice for an Oscar and once for a grammy. Their love story makes sense because my aunt is a successful Christian actress.
 
For her wedding, Aunt Medrine wanted her eight nieces and nephews to be apart of her bridesmaids and groomsmen and to spend the one month before her wedding with her.

Me and two younger sisters...my younger twin sisters, London and Paris. Then Uncle Mark's five children who by the way also include a set of identical twin boys.

Identical twins are the thing for my dad's side of the family, so common that grandma was a twin as well.

Unfortunately or fortunately, Uncle Mark is taking his last born Amber to Disneyland and he decided to take London and Paris with them since they are all the same age. I have never met any other three six-year old kids that love Mickey Mouse the way those girls do.

Anyway, that brings the number down to five. That thought makes me smile. Five teenagers, this should be fun.

The sound of the car door opening snaps me out of my thoughts.

"I will be right back," my dad mutters before leaving. I hadn't even realized we had stopped. How long have we been moving? Thirty minutes? Forty?

My dad opens the door again and gets inside hopping behind the wheel with a bottle of water in his hand.

"Nellie, I need to tell you something." He finally speaks, so urgently that it scares me.

My dad never calls me by my full name. It's always Ellie or Llie or Nell. Not Nellie. Never Nellie. Something is wrong. My heart starts to race. The atmosphere around is suddenly tense it's almost hard to breathe.

"Dad, what's wrong?" It's barely a whisper. He opens his mouth to say something but no sound comes out. Then he just stares at me, his eyes full of concern. My worry escalates. Whatever it is, it must be bad.