One Way Bridge

Chapter 16

Grandma's driveway was not an ominous black like the one in front of my house back in South Dakota. Her's was light gray cement. As I pulled into it, I felt a sort of disappointment. This faded blue house was now my home. It wasn't big or shinny. It wasn't fancy or new, but it had a soft bed and, after six hours of driving, that's all I wanted. I pulled the duffel bag from the seat beside me and walked inside with Grandma next to me.

"Time for a nap, don't you think?" She asked as Jim unlocked the front door. I nodded yawning. "Be ready to go by six, we're eating at the Petersons' house." I looked at her expecting more explanation, but when she didn't give any, I couldn't be bothered to ask.

"I had Jenny and Steve fix up the office for you." She spoke once we had entered the kitchen. I assumed I'd have the guest room, but I guess the office would work. It was a bedroom first, but Jim and my dad took out the big window on one side of the room and put a sliding door in its place. They also built the deck which wrapped around that corner of the house. At one point it housed a grill, but now it was empty and in need of staining.

I made my way to the back room, not noticing my grandma's footsteps following me. I pushed open the wooden door and saw the room had barely changed. The large desk was replaced by a small table, and a bed had been placed against one wall. I turned around and noticed grandma standing in the doorway.

"Will this work for you?" she asked me while looking into the room.

"Yeah, it's perfect." I hadn't expected this room, but it works for me. I have a place to sleep and a place for my computer. That's all I needed.

"Okay then, sweet dreams. I'll wake you up in a couple hours for dinner, yeah?"

"Thanks, Gram." I waited until she left to shut the door and collapse onto my bed. The last few days had really worn me out. Just having so much family around normally wears me out, but add the funeral and Michael and everything, and it's a miracle I'm still functioning. I rolled over, extremely thankful that I wore sweat pants instead of jeans as my eyes fluttered shut and I drifted to sleep.

"Emma, sweet pea, time to wake up"

I yawned pulling the blankets closer to me and squeezing my eyes shut. I don't want to go to school, I thought as I curled my legs up closer to me. Wait, my eyes shot open. That wasn't my mom's voice! This isn't my room! Oh shoot! Everything came back to me a bit slower than ideal. I sat up looking for a clock, but none could be found. Mine was still in a box somewhere in the back of my car. I had no choice but to get up.

I stood up, stretched, and took my time walking to the door. From the living room I could read the clock on the stove. Five thirty, I had half an hour to get dressed. I went back to my room and grabbed some things from my bag. I didn't have many clothes in the small duffel, and I couldn't be bothered to dress up anyways, so I settled on a sweatshirt and jeans. It was a rainy day, so I probably didn't look too strange anyways. If it was sunny, I probably would have gotten a few odd looks.

Hair up, teeth brushed, and I was rushed out the door. I walked towards the driveway, but Grandma called me the other way. We walked on the small path between the house and garage and towards one of the houses adjacent to Grandma's blue one. She lived on the corner, so quite a few houses had backyards that met her side yard. The house we walked to was tan and had a low deck like the one that outlined my corner of Grandma's house.

Grandma didn't hesitate before walking through the sliding door and into the kitchen. A woman was standing at the stove stirring one of the pots. She immediately looked up and smiled. "Lorane!" she exclaimed, pulling my grandma into a hug.

"Kate," my grandma said upon her release. "This is my granddaughter Emma."

"Oh hello there," she pulled me into a hug. "You'll have to meet Justin, you're the same age." I guess Grandma had been telling Kate about me. "And my husband Jeff of course," she yelled his name, "who is supposed to be helping with dinner." I could sense the agitation in her voice, but the smile on her face never wavered.

"Hmm?" a man came walking into the kitchen.

"Lorane's here, honey, and she brought her granddaughter." Kate spoke the obvious seeing as the man had already spotted Grandma and had given me a once over.

"Lorane!" he too gave my grandma a hug before turning to me. "And nice to meet you..." he trailed off.

"Emma," I told him with a small smile. He grinned back at me. This family was too perky.

"I'm Jeff," he shook my hand.

"Honey, why don't you go start the grill, and Emma," I caught my name and looked up to meet Kate's eyes. "Justin is probably in the family room, why don't you go say hi?" I nodded and followed her pointed hand towards a small hallway.

The end opened up to a room with a couch and an oversized chair. Stairs and the hallway made up one wall, and a large TV and the front door made up the opposite wall. The couch faced that way and on the couch, sat a boy. I could just see the top of his brown hair.

"Hey," I spoke, startling him. He turned to me and just kind of stared at me, probably trying to think who I was. "I'm Emma, Lorane's granddaughter," my voice curled up, making my statement sound more like a question than intended.

"Oh," he only seemed slightly less confused. "I'm Justin," he flashed a smile at me, but his didn't seem as phony as his parents. "Want to watch with me?" he pointed to the television. He was watching Sportscenter, how typical. I had to resist the urge to roll my eyes.

"Sure," I sat down on the end of the couch and stared at the screen as the commentators talked about college soccer. I always liked sports, but soccer had never caught my attention.

"So you're visiting your grandma?" Justin spoke after a moment of awkward silence.

"Um no, I'm going to be living with her for a while."

"Oh, cool." he was definitely interested, but thankfully he didn't push the subject. "So you're a junior?"

"Yeah"

"Cool, me too. I can show you around school if you want."

"Yeah, that'd be great. I don't exactly know anyone here."

"You know me," he flashed another smile and I couldn't help but notice how white his teeth were.

"Justin!" Kate's voice came from the kitchen. "Can you set the table?"

"Sure Mom," he yelled before hopping up. "Care to help?" He put his hand out for me to take. I grabbed it and he pulled me off of the couch and down the hall. His hand only released mine when we entered the kitchen. "I'll pull the dishes out, you set the table?"

"Okay"

My grandma and Kate were both on the deck with Jeff. I wonder why they can't set the table.

"So when do you start school?" Justin pulled me from my thoughts.

"Oh um, I think Friday." I remembered Riley's uncertainty on the subject. I set the last glass on the table as Grandma and the Petersons came in with a plate full of chicken. Justin placed the rest of the silverware on the table.

Everyone sat down and I claimed the seat between my grandma and Jeff. "So Emma," Jeff started. "Lorane here says you play softball?"

"Yeah," I took a sip of milk. "I played centerfield. My team, we actually won state." I laughed remembering how we won such a low tier.

"Justin plays basketball," Kate offered up.

"Not really," Justin said. "I just play intramurals; we only play against other people in our school."

"Have you ever played?" Jeff turns the conversation back to me.

"Um yeah, I played for...six years, I think. I played until high school. I wasn't very good."

The rest of dinner was actually fun. No one brought up why I was there, staying with my grandma. We laughed a lot and I found out that eating together is a weekly thing, every Friday. Grandma and I went back to her house around nine and I went straight to bed. My nap only gave me a few hours of energy. I fell asleep the second my head hit the pillow.

Full Copyright 2013

Updated 6/17/2018