Adapt To Changes (Book 2)

Chapter 31: Gravestones.

As it turned out, we got a call from a station in Seattle saying the want to interview us. Of course it's Seattle, always Seattle. I sigh and press my face against the pillow in my bunk. Just yesterday, I had won the award for best guitarist and I'm still not over it.

I snake my hand into the small fabric pocket on the wall of my bunk and find my phone. I turn it on and am blinded by the light. After quickly turning the brightness down, I go in to check my messages since I was too tired to check them last night. A smile creeps onto my face when I notice the texts from Karen and Charlie. I click on Karen's first.

"Karen: OH MY SWEET BABY JESUS YOU WON."

"Karen: I literally forced my parents to watch it with me. They are just now understanding that you are kinda sorta famous."

"Karen: OK BUT YOU WON, THATS AMAZING. LOVE YOU! TALK TO YOU WHEN YOU GET BACK!" 

I smile and chuckle softly. Oh Karen. I then click on Charlie's texts.

"Charlie: Oh my god! You did it! I knew you could win this."

I smile and scroll down a little.

"Charlie: Now I can brag and be like "Yo, my girlfriends the guitarist of the year so back off." Haha, fight me. Good job, can't wait to see you when you get home."

I smile down at the text. I have a boyfriend, and an APMA award. Talk about life being good. Everything was good until I started to hear Brendon through the front lounge door. I quietly shift so I can listen.

"Listen-, yes sir it's just-, let me finish!" He says, annoyed. "Life has been busy lately. With a daughter, a girlfriend, old friends visiting. You have to cut me some slack here!" He says. He must be talking to the label. We were supposed to have the album ready to be mixed by today. God, I totally forgot about that. "Yes I know but-. No sir! I don't know if we can finish it by then!" He says. "Fine! Whatever!" I hear him say angrily. He sighs. I hear the front lounge door slip open and I close my eyes, making it look like I was still asleep.

He sighs and walked into the back lounge, closing the door rather loudly. I flinch and open my eyes. I turn so I was facing the little window on the side of my bunk and slide open the blinds. A ray of sun comes shining in. We were in traffic, entering Seattle. I look out onto the side of the road to find tents hidden behind the trees. It was a sight I had gotten used to seeing in bigger cities, some homeless people live in tents on the side of the busy roads. I sigh and pull my blinds shut.

I grab my phone one again and turn it on to read the time. 12:28, July 23... Then it hits me, the car crash happened thirteen years ago from today. My heart drops and I tuck my phone away. I'm even in the very city it happened in. I cover my face with my hands and sigh, this is so weird. I remove my hands and stare up at the top of my bunk. I want to visit them, to see them. I feel a single warm tear run down the side of my face and I quickly wipe it off. I slide out of my bunk, letting my feet touch down on the floor.

Maybe I shouldn't ask him right now. I mean, he's stressed out and annoyed. But if I don't ask him, I'll regret it. I close my eyes and sigh, sliding open the door to the back lounge. There sat Brendon, glasses on and computer on his lap. He doesn't even look up at me.

"What." He asks in a somewhat snappy voice. He takes off his glasses and rubs his eyes.

"I was wondering..." I trail off, maybe this is a bad time.

"Syd I'm really busy right now. Whatever it is, no." He says. Well, that was a stab to the heart. I huff and cross my arms over my chest.

"Well you're nice. All I wanted to do was visit my parents graves." He froze and removed his hands from his eyes. "Clearly you don't care." I start to walk away and I hear him jump up.

"Wait no Syd, come back." He says grabbing my shoulder, spinning me around and tugging me into a hug. "Syd I'm sorry I snapped at you, I'm just...just really stressed out right now." He says along with a sigh. I nod into his chest and hug him back. "I'll take you, ok?" He asks, softly. I nod again. "I love you." He says as he strokes my hair.

•A FEW HOURS LATER•

There we stood, right in front of the cemetery. I clutch a bundle of red roses tightly and close my eyes, I have been here since I was seven. Brendon pulls me closer as we walk in. For some reason, I know the way. Then, we made it.

The two black granite gravestones sat next to each other. I read the names in my head. Molly Mathews, a loving mother and daughter. Harris Mathews, a life saver and father. I close my eyes and sigh. Brendon's hand softly rubs my back. Brendon noticed the date on it, his mouth opens a little. He looks down at me.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't know." He says, referring to today being the thirteen year anniversary. I nod and look down at the flowers in my hand. I slowly walk over and set then down in between the two gravestones. I then back up again. Brendon reaches into his jacket and pulls out a light grey envelope. He hands it to me.

"I was trying I find a good time to give you these. I think nows good." He says. I slowly open it and pull out a stack of photographs. I gasp to see a woman in a hospital bed holding a baby, a man kneeling next to her in hospital gear. The baby was me. The man and the woman were my parents. I cover my mouth, they looked so happy. I look up at Brendon who smiles sadly at me.

"Where did you get these?" I ask quietly. I feel a tear escape my eye. He brings his hand up and wipes it away with his thumb.

"Jamie gave them to me the last time we were here." He says. I look at the next picture. It was of my parents. My mom stood in a red dress, her brown hair curled. My dad stood next to her in a black tux. I then look at the next. I was on the floor with my dad, playing with a toy first aid kit.

I remember when I was younger, he was only home during the day. At night, he worked at a hospital. He even was the doctor who delivered me. He wanted his face to be the first face. I look back at their gravestones.

"I didn't know they were dead until I was seven. Did you know that?" I ask. He looks down at me.

"Really?" He asks. I nod and look back at the gravestones.

"Yeah. I remember being carried into an ambulance by a police man. He looked scared, then I got scared." I swallow, my throat was dry. "I asked him where my mom and dad were he he looked at me, I remember that look. He told me that I wasn't going to see them for a while." Brendon pulls me close. "Every time I asked my foster parents of my mom and dad were coming back soon, they wouldn't reply. Then, I was moved to Jamie's house at age seven. The first week there, I asked her if they were coming to get me soon." I replay the event in my head. "I remember getting down on her knees and taking my face in her hands. She then said 'Honey, they aren't coming back. They're up I heaven.' I didn't talk for a week." I look down at me feet as he rubs my back.

"Wow, Syd. I..." He trails off, not knowing what to say. There was silence for a few minutes. "Do you ever think about them?" He asks.

"All the time." I say. "I think about them before every show, knowing that they would be proud of me." I say with a small smile. He chuckles softly.

"They would be proud." He says. There was another long silence. I stare back at the graves. I wonder what my life would be like if they were still here. I wonder what would of happened if we had never seen that movie. I wonder what would of happened if I didn't survive the crash. My mind wanders into a deep place.

(A/N HI GUYS! I'm on spring break now so I'm going to try to post every day. Woot woot.