My family was not insanely rich. We kids were not allowed to get anything extra at the grocery store. No extra clothes unless needed. I mean, we weren't poor, but we didn't like to spend excessively. I always thought it was odd, but I later found out why my parents had saved up all that money.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Okay guys. So me and your father have some big news!" We were all gathered at the dining room tale, eating breakfast. Even on rushed school days, my mother insisted we all sit down and eat a "wholesome family breakfast." Cue loud groan from me. It was early June, and my brothers and I were anticipating the end of the school year. I was in 9th grade, Ivan was in 6th, and Nicholas was in 3rd.
Knowing my mother, "big news" meant she was letting one of our friends sleepover or something stupid like that. Not a big deal to most families.
As if on cue, Ivan, Nicholas and I groaned at the same time. My father frowned at us over the newspaper.
"Okay mom what's the news?" Ivan has always acted older than he really was. He was always the most mature out of us all (I still found butt jokes funny) and the most sure of himself. He wanted to be a psychologist when he grew up. He was the spitting image our father, dark short hair, sparkly green-blue-gold eyes, tan skin and wanted my dad's job, too. Me, I had no idea what I was going to do.
"Okay, you ready kids?" my mother inquired. We all nodded, in bored and drowsy, unison.
"We're going on a road trip!" That snapped us all awake. We had never been on vacation. We always had fun over the summer, mom and dad made sure of that, but we have never truly gone on vacation. However, my mom was the kind of person to make a joke out of something like this.
"I don't believe you," I said, while leaning back and crossing my arms over my chest.
Ivan and Nicholas, on the other hand, were jumping up and down on their seats and high-fiving and yelling and just celebrating.
"Um, yes, we are indeed going on a road trip," my mother said with an edge of impatience to her voice. "Remember all that money we saved when we never let you but anything extra anuwhere? Well, all that money has finally added up to enough to go on a 2-month long road trip!" My mother practically yelled at us. Now I'm really started to believe her. But then, a feeling of dread soon sets in.
"Um, mom, I'll be right back," I said, pushing my chair back as I jumped up, turned around and dashed down the hall, hanging a right at the end. I hurtle up the stairs, taking a left into my room. I slam my door shut and collapse against the back, and start bawling.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I don't know how long I cried for, but after a while, I heard a quiet knock on my door.
"Andromeda, can I please come in?" My mother asked from outside, slowly pushing the door open.
I jump out of the way and bound on to my bed, burying my face in my pillow. Our dog, Bacchus, had been sleeping on my bed and was woken when I jumped up on the bed. He is a German Shepard-Boston terrier mix. How he slept through my crying, I honestly do not know.
"Sweetie, is this about James?" Hearing his name sends me into another wave of sobbing.
***FLASHBACK***
Andromeda is hugging her best friend James outside his house. They live right down the street from each other.
"Call me every day, okay?" Andromeda asks, releasing a tall, thin boy with a curly mop of dark hair, freckles, and blue-green eyes.
"Okay. I wish you were coming with us. You know, I asked Mum if you could, but she said no. Halona and Ivory already had friends coming, and we have too little room," he told her while looking down at his feet.
"It's okay, James. As much as I want to be with you, I don't really want to leave Utah all that much. Next time?" Andromeda asked, spitting in her hand and holding it out for him to shake.
"Next time," he responded, spitting in his own hand and shaking it. They had been doing this since they were five, after figuring out no one bothered them after seeing them do that once or twice. These two had only each other. And then one half was lost.
~~~Fast Forward Flashback, 2 weeks~~~
"Today on ABC News, a family of five, on the road heading to Maine from Monticello, Utah with two friends, was in a fatal accident. According to state officials, the driver swerved off the road for unknown reasons and hit a tree. The youngest of the group, 8 year-old James Prekler, was ejected and hit by an oncoming car. He was killed instantly. Police do not yet know why James was ejected. According to his mother and father, who were hospitalized for minor injuries but were conscious say he was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident. More on this on the way."
Andromeda was eating breakfast in the kitchen at the time, daydreaming. Her mother was in the living room, watching the morning news. Then, all of a sudden, Andromeda heard the clatter of the remote hitting the hardwood floor of the living room and a blood-curdling scream. Forgetting whatever it was she was thinking about, she jumped up from her chair at the table and ran into the living room. There, curled into a ball crying on the couch, was her mother.
"Mom? What's the matter?"
Looking up at her daughter, white-faced and trembling, her mother started sobbing. After a few minutes, she pulled herself together. A needs me, she thought.
"A, we need to talk. It something about James," she told her daughter, who had worse scenarios running through her. Why would mom be this upset about something if it wasn't important?
Her mother pulled her into the dining room where she had Andromeda sit down.
"Sweetie, James is dead. He was killed in a car accident this morning," her mother told Andromeda, stroking her hair comfortingly. A didn't believe her. It couldn't be true. She had just talked to James yesterday. He had been keeping his promise and calling her every night. He seemed to be enjoying the trip immensely, even though he did have to sit with his sisters and their friends 14 hours a day.
Finally, she realized her mother wasn't lying. And the news hit her like she had run into a brick wall
James was dead.
Her best friend since forever ago, was dead.
They were only eight years old.
After that, for about a week or two, A didn't function. It was like a dream, the funeral, the burial, and everything in between. Everything she was doing she should have been doing with James by her side. She didn't go to school. Her parents wouldn't let her, for she would start crying in class, and A was a mess.
James died 6 years ago, but everyone still remembered him, even Nicholas. He lived on forever in memory.
***END FLASHBACK***
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xoxoAgentUrgency
YOU ARE READING
The Forbidden
Teen FictionIt's almost like a horror story. Andromeda was having the time of her life. She was on a road trip with her family. Boston, Atlanta, Hollywood, all the big cities in the U.S. Then, at a pit stop near Chicago, she is taken. By someone she thought...
