In These Walls

Chapter 2

Whenever I go to my Grandpa's house, I hear the story of how it all began. I think that he sort of doesn't remember that he's told it to me before. But he has. Every single time. And let me tell you - it's boring. It's not an interesting story at all. At least, it isn't interesting the way Grandpa tells us.

He was just a late teen when it happened. He was watching some show called the Today Show, and then, suddenly, bam, all of the news anchors started acting really weird. And so he called over his brother to look at it, and the brother replied that he'd never liked the show anyways, and he wasn't going to come over. Look at that! Everybody's telling the truth! Blah, blah-blah.

It's really annoying. I don't care what it was like when the whole mess started - I just want to know how to stop it. But of course, that isn't going to happen.

Or so I thought.

After school, my mom picked me up, along with my younger brother Caleb. I'd told her before that I didn't like when she picked me up. Everybody else at school walked home, or took the bus, or did something more interesting than having their mom pick them up. But she still did it. And today, I didn't mind.

"Thank God for air conditioning!" Caleb jumped into the car, effectively blocking the way to my seat. Rolling my eyes, I climbed over him into the vehicle.

"Move over! Seriously though, this is sweet. I'll take the car any day, if it means being cooler than those suckers!"

My mom stared at me through the car mirror. "Melissa, I don't like it when you talk about your friends like that."

"Mom, you know I don't mean it. Come on, everybody calls everybody else losers. It's just how you talk. Right, Caleb?"

Caleb was already busy on his tablet, but he looked up and said, "Actually, none of my friends call each other losers."

I sighed. Well, there goes my mom's understanding of current vocabulary. She was never entirely in the times. I was about to blab something, probably something she wouldn't approve of, when a new thought came to mind, and I quickly changed the subject. "Wait, mom, Claire and her family are going to the frozen yogurt place today. Can we go?"

Mom shook her head. "Today we're going to Grandpa's."

Caleb groaned, "Seriously? I hate going to Grandpa's house. There's nothing fun to do. He doesn't even own a tablet! How lame is that?!"

"Yeah," I added in. "Plus, he still has this TV from, like, the 40s. You have to use a remote to change the channel, and the quality is horrid. And, he's going to tell that stupid story again."

My mom got to the freeway, and turned the car into auto-driver. She then turned her seat around so she was facing us. "Kids, I'm disappointed in you. Gramps is used to a different time, without the technology we have today. Besides the story isn't that bad."

"Yeah, it is," I said at the same time as Caleb said, "It's annoying." My mom instantly got that look in her eye that said 'Lecture-about-politeness-time', so I turned my attention to the car window.

I could see all of the apartment buildings go by in a blur as our car flew down the road. We'd just gotten a new car a few years ago - and it was so much nicer than our old one. The old car had slightly swerved whenever we'd turned it to auto. Mom had said it was too dangerous - which it probably was - and so we'd never really done auto-driver. Now though, Mom could take a break from driving whenever we were on freeways.

The exit to Gramps' house was coming up now, and I watched as my mom pulled her seat back around, and put her hands on the steering wheel again. I sighed. Let's get this over with, I thought sourly.

"Melissa..." My mom's voice sounded like a warning. Oh. I'd said that out loud. Drat.

"Sorry mom."

Grandpa's apartment was part of a cluster of apartments built specifically for older people. Kids were actually only allowed there on certain days and hours - which, in my opinion, seemed really stupid.

"This is stupid." I stated, rolling my eyes, as my mom checked her watch to make sure we could go in.

"Melissa, I am done with your attitude today." My mom was obviously annoyed. Hey, it wasn't my fault! Okay, maybe it sort of was my fault. I was just feeling particular cranky today. After lunch, some kid had told me she didn't like my shirt, and I got a C on my math quiz, and we couldn't go to the fro-yo place, AND we had to go to Grandpas.

Now that's the definition of joy right there.

When I stepped into Grandpa's apartment, the first thing I heard was the barking of Grandpa's old dog Bartley. Or, as Caleb and I called him, Barkley. Seriously. He does this weird bark/whine/growl thing all of the time. It really just makes the place so much nicer - not.

"Hi Dad! We're here!" My mom had to yell to be heard over the noise of Grandpa's television.

Gramps shouted back, "WHO'S HERE?"

"It's your daughter!!!"

"WHO?!?!"

"IT'S YOUR DAUGHTER, LYNN."

I heard the TV turn off, and then Grandpa came limping into the hallway. "LYNN! NICE TO SEE YOU! OH, LOOK, CONNER AND MELINDA TOO! COME HERE KIDDOS, I'VE GOT A STORY FOR YOU."

My mom gave me a look, and I swallowed a complaint. Just keep your mouth shut, Melissa. Keep your mouth shut, and you don't have to say anything.

I followed Grandpa to the living room, as my mom stopped to chat with Gramps' nurse. I sat down on the floor next to Caleb, who was staring down at his tablet longingly. Nudging him with my elbow, I looked up at Grandpa, ready to hear the same old boring story about how it all began.

But he doesn't say what I was waiting for him to say. Instead, he gets a look in his eye, and turns towards us. When he starts to speak, it isn't his usual yelling voice. It's a normal, steady voice. And this is what he says.

"Would you like to know how to stop it?"