Double Trouble

Prolouge.

I strolled casually down the sidewalk, my hands firmly resting in my pockets as I took in my surroundings. I didn't know why but something in my head was telling me to go back to this place, telling me I needed to go back this place.

30 Savanak Drive, this is it. I stood in the driveway of the house I never thought I would return to. Nothing had changed here, even after all these years. The tire swing still swung gently by the wind on the old willow tree, the perfectly mowed grass was still as perfectly green as before, even the arrangement of the garden gnomes still stood the same.

I took a deep breath and clenched my teeth as I began to walk forwards towards the door. The leaves beneath my feet crunched with each step.

"You can do it." I reassured to myself as I reached out and turned the handle of the shiny white door in front of me and to my luck the door swung open.

The family portraits hung all along the halls, not a single one including me but honestly that didn't surprise me. They'd showed me clearly that they wanted me to have no part in their family.

Everything was tidy, not a speck of dust on the floor, not a cobweb in sight, it was all perfect, too perfect. The further down the hall I crept the clearer their voices became. I could hear them laughing, joking, they were happy, happy without me.

As I turned the corner I found myself standing in the doorway of the dining room, none of them had noticed me yet.

"Did you miss me?" I said smugly leaning against the doorframe.

The look on my moms face was priceless, I'd never seen her so mad. None of them had seen me for four years, after they kicked me out.

Eventually mom finally spoke, "Lucy, you know you're not welcome here."

"So a little family visit isn't aloud?" I replied sarcastically.

"Um, I think I'll, uh- just go do the dishes." My step dad mumbled as he began to collect the half eaten plates of the table, trying his best to avoid looking me in the eye.

"Me too." My brother announced. As he passed me he whispered quietly, " I missed you Lucy."

I turned back around to face my now furious mother.

"Can't you just accept that I've changed mom?" I glowered. " That was the old me, that's all in the past now."

"Come on Lucy, you really expect me to believe that? You're not fooling me, I can smell the smoke on you from here. It wouldn't even surprise me if you were still taking drugs!"

"I was going through rough times when dad died." A single tear rolled down my cheek but I wiped it away, I wasn't going to let her have the satisfaction of thinking she'd won.

"So was I!" She yelled back.

"I find that hard to believe." I said in disbelief. "You just found yourself a new husband, replaced dad like he never meant anything, like he was never apart of this family."

She stormed towards me and pressed her face up close to mine, "Get out!"

"Fine." I yelled, as ran out of the house, slamming the door behind me.

I began to walk along the sidewalk with my head down, I was too intrigued by my feet to take notice in where I was going when I bumped into someone. We both looked up at the same time and I found myself staring into a familiar pair of blue eyes.

"Lucy?" The girl in front of me said in disbelief.

It took me a moment to realize who she was. Emma, that's her name, she used to live next door to us when I was five. We would play hop scotch or tag outside all day, we used to be best friends but then I was kicked out, I never even got to say goodbye.

"Yeah that's me."

"Wha-t happened to you?" She asked, her voice was full of concern but her eyes were filled with disgust.

"I grew up." I snapped as I proceeded on, leaving her standing alone in the middle of the sidewalk, still without a goodbye.