Outside of the car it was raining. Not enough to bother me, but not too little for it to just be pointlessly dark outside. It was perfect. The sound of the rain made me fall asleep. And I was only half awake when I could hear Addison beginning to say something to Connor, "Do you think she's asleep?" Was all I could hear.
One of Connor's outrageously sad songs came onto his playlist, and I could almost sense that their conversation was going to be about me. But I didn't have enough energy to try and listen to it.
When I buried my face into my hand, I was already out like a light.
****
When I felt like I'd only been asleep for a matter of seconds, I woke up, difficulty. Addison was trying her best to shake me awake with her hand around my shoulder, "Skylar, wake up." I heard her voice. And when I felt like I could just pretend to be completely out of it, she didn't leave me alone. She poked my face repetitively, like a child, "Wake up."
And when I pried my eyes open a little, I could only see the both of them staring at me as if I'd been in a coma for my entire life. My voice was raspy and dry, "What is it?"
"Look around." Connor said, briefly.
I lifted an eyebrow, not feeling like I had any intention of trying to sit up from my slouch. And I just examined what I could see from where I sat. All I could see was the tops of trees from outside my own window. Then, outside the windshield, I could see the side of a rocky mountain on their side of the truck. It wasn't familiar to me, "What?" I asked sternly. I sounded annoyed. I didn't care what they had plans, I just wanted to sleep.
"You don't recognize it?" Addison asked in a mutter.
That's when I decided that I needed to sit up and actually look at what was around me. Outside my own window, was the recognizable road sign. And directly in front of us was a turn that would turn into the horribly familiar road that I'd never wanted to step near again.
"Why are we here?" I muttered, completely emotionless.
Just the image of everything that was in front of me, made my skin crawl.
I could clearly put together the image of all the things I could remember. When I thought everything was okay... and I had my family around me while they all wondered what was going through my head. And I knew so little about what was to come next. I didn't realize it. But at any given moment—any time could be the last time you see someone. And that was it. That was the last I had in my mind of my family.
Christopher with his toy dinosaur in the seat next to me. And the image of my mother's face when she reached back and tried to save me from whatever was going to happen next. But there was nothing she could do. I could just imagine the last things I saw before I blacked out. And that was the only way I could see that goddamn road.
"Why are we here?" I repeated, only louder.
And Connor glanced at Addison, uneasily, "We figured we could at least do this now."
"Do what now?" I asked, completely clueless.
And they left an empty space of silence, just so I could fill the blanks myself.
I sat there... letting my eyes dart across the horribly cracked concrete on that broken road. I couldn't even stare at it without getting attacked by flashbacks. I could clearly see the image of my brother's face... but not my parents. My parent's facial features were just there in the back of my mind in a dull image... maybe because I put them there... or maybe because it'd been so long since I just went over a time in my life that had them in it.
YOU ARE READING
Imperfect | est. 2015
Teen Fiction"but that's the fun part," she says, "you can't tell a soul."
