My Life With The Steven Boys

Chapter One - Devastating News

         It was late when I heard knocks on the front door. Still sitting on the couch watching the breaking news repeating the news about my parents dying in a car crash. I zoned out when the shock took control of my body. At some point I slipped into a dreamlike state. Unable to feel anything except the numbness of my limbs. There was more puke on the floor than tears on my face. I still haven't been able to cry because it didn't feel real. The officer brought a woman with them to my house. The women's eyes were bloodshot red and puffy from crying. To be honest, her voice was the only thing I was able to understand in hours.

       "Hey, Camille sweetie," she said as she leaned down next to me. "I'm Sarah Stevens. I'm your mom's best friend." Her blond hair was plastered to her head. The name sounded familiar but it seemed even more unfamiliar when I looked up at her face and into her eyes. She didn't look like anyone I had ever met before but something about her name was familiar. Sarah Stevens? I heard that name just this morning? Was the lady standing in front of me my mother's long lost best friend? The Sarah Stevens who had attended Coldley Boarding School with my mom when they were kids my age?

      It was then and there when reality came crashing down on me and hard. Sarah Stevens was supposed to meet my parents about something before they got into the car crash. She had flown in from Bandera, Texas to spend time and catch up with my parents but mostly my mom. My family was dead and this lady was proof. I could see the pain in her eyes and heard the hurt in her voice. My mom must have meant something to her. I choked trying to gasp for air and sharp pains raked my stomach. Finally, my tears started coming down. "Shhhh, sweetie," said Sarah stroking my hair as I bawled my eyes out.

       "It's going to be ok. I'm going to take care of you," Sarah told me. And my journey began away from my uncle, friends and away from the beautiful city I loved. Sarah was taking me to the country to live with her, her husband and her kids. I'm going to miss the expensive shopping, colorful Broadway shows and restaurants that offer every cuisine imaginable. And far away from California which held my childhood memories and my heart. I was heading towards Texas and a ranch with twelve boys.

          As I sat on a plane flying towards Texas I wished that I had a curfew or had received a bad grade as my life was a lot worse at the moment. My life has been perfect since my sixteenth birthday. The day had been one of the best days of my life. It was the kind of birthday a girl dreamed about. But after that perfect day everything changed. My mom's friend Sarah was in town. She flew in days before and was staying in a motel outside the city. My family was driving out to pick her up when an animal jumped out onto the road. My father who was used to crazy city drivers but not crazy animals swerved and it took them right off the road.

        I had never met the woman sitting next to me even though she was my mom's best friend. They grew up and attended Coldley Boarding School together. Back then Sarah was known as Sarah West. But then she married a man she met in college. Together they had moved to Texas and started up a cattle ranch which was his lifelong dream. I was placed in Sarah's custody. She told me that my mom hadn't died in the car accident. She died when she got to the hospital. Sarah promised my mom she would take care of me. So the police had no choice but to agree with my mom's dying wish.