Cherry Bubblegum

iii

Genevieve

"Come on Gen you have to go with us!" Gabe pleaded. For an eight year old boy he still acted like he was 5.

"Sorry tiger, I've got to finish my essay. Don't have too much fun without me okay?" I said as I ruffled his hair.I pushed my glasses up my nose and turned to my essay. But Gabe was a persistent little kid. He looked at me from underneath his lashes and gave me the full effect of his puppy eyes look.

"Please"

He knew I was powerless against it. I picked him up and threw him on my bed and proceeded to tickle him.

"Gen....stop....I'm going to tell mom!" He said in between giggles

"Argh! I thought we had an agreement. No puppy eyes Gabe! Come on up you go" I said as I pull him back to his feet and proceeded to fix his hair

"I'm really sorry tiger I can't come with you to watch the game. I promise I'll make it up to you.." I said with a smile

"You pinky swear" he said holding up his pinky. I linked mine with his pinky and said,

"I pinky swear I'll make it up to you. I'll even let you win our next Nerf Battle"

"Hey! I always win!" He protested

"Yeah sure you do buddy. Now go downstairs mom and dad are already waiting." I said

"See you later Gen!" he said as he ran out of my room.

"See yah" I shouted back

But I never did see him again.

+++++++++++++++++++

Waking up after a nightmare on the first day of school seemed pretty ominous to me. A week has passed since we moved in here and I've kept mostly to myself. Sometimes I find myself sitting in the balcony and watching the little girl play with her father, mother and sometimes even her big brother. It sounds pretty stalker-ish but watching her reminds me of a happier time.

I look at myself in the mirror. My dark brown eyes staring back at me seemed to belong to someone older. At least the bags under my eyes can be hidden by my glasses. My olive skin lost its warm glow from keeping myself in the house.

Breathe in, breathe out.

Today would be a new day. Today would be a fresh start. I try to convince myself that. It's a mantra that I've repeated over and over again for the past few days. I went downstairs and found my mom and grandparents already waiting for me.

"Morning darling." Gran greeted me with a warm smile

"Are we ready for school" Pops said.

"Well I guess" I shrugged as I sat down beside mom and pour myself some cereals.

"We've got a surprise for you" my mom's quiet voice made me jump a bit. She wasn't the chatterbox she used to be before.

"Yeah?"

"It's waiting outside in the garage. You can get it later after you're done" Pops said gesturing to my cereal with his fork.

I quickly finished my food and jumped up. They all laughed a little.

"Well aren't you an excited little bird" Gran said using her old nickname for me.

We went outside and there stood behind the garage doors a black motorcycle. My eyes went wide and I turned to them.

Pops was smiling as he dangled the key in front of me.

"Belated happy birthday Gen"

"Your pops was rebuilding this old thing for weeks now. He wanted it to be ready for when you go to school. Since we can't drive you there." Gran said.

"Thank you all" I exclaimed as I hugged each one of them.

"I wanted to see you happy again hon. We figured we'd give you something you've always wanted so we can see you smile genuinely again" My mom whispered. As I saw her eyes glisten, I remember Gabe telling me that one day he'll buy us motorcycles so we can go racing. I smiled at the memory. I need to stop thinking about Gabe with tears in my eyes. He would've wanted us to be happier.

"I will be happy again mom. You should too" I said

I stepped back and looked at all of them

Today is a new day. Today is a fresh start 

"Thank you guys. Really, this means a lot to me. I got to go now if I don't want to be late for school"

With a firmer resolve I rode my new motorcycle to school. The mantra in my head seemed more believable.

  +++++++++++++++++++ 

when i wrote this story the first scene i wrote was the rising action. obviously these are the chapters that leads to that pivotal scene. I have a clear destination but it's hard to decide the path i'll tak.e I hope you still deem reading this story worth your time and effort I promise the scene I'm taking about will be worth the wait:)