Gone

Chapter Five

*ignore the spelling errors, if any*

The second I enter the house, my grandma is immediately in my face.

"Where in the world were you? Why did you leave without saying anything? Are you okay? Did something happen? Why is your face flushed? What were you doing? Oh my goodness, Cam you scared the life out of me! What do you have to say for yourself?"

I sigh and begin to take my shoes off. "If you would let me get in to the house, I will tell you."

"Oh, I am sorry dear. You just really scared me," she says, taking a few steps back. I make my way into the kitchen, grabbing a glass from the cabinet and filling it up with water. After taking a sip, I turn back to my grandma.

"I just went on a jog. I normally jog every morning, and I would have told you, but I didn't want to wake you," I explain. She nods her head and exhales softly.

"Alright, I am sorry I got so worked up about it. It's just, you were gone for a long time, and I thought maybe you..." She stops, glancing at the ground, which is uncommon for my grandma not to look you strait in the eyes.

"You thought what?"

"Well, uh, Ali told me that you didn't seem to like it here, so I thought you might have run away or something," she replies, hurt flowing through her voice. I take a few steps over towards her and envelope her in a hug, which she immediately reacts to by wrapping her arms around me. A few drops of water land on my shoulder.

"Granny, it is true that I don't like it here because it's not home, but that wouldn't cause me to run away. Besides I don't have anywhere else to go."

"I know, I just... don't want to lose somebody else that I care so deeply about..." She says, more and more tears spilling out of her eyes. Not sure exactly what to say, I just hold her a bit tighter. I wasn't great with the 'emotional support' thing.

"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon," I say, releasing her and giving her a reassuring smile. She smiles back, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"I am extremely sorry about that, dear. I didn't want to upset you, I was just a little nervous and I jumped to conclusions before you could even explain yourself."

"It's fine, grandma. Really." I say, wanting to be over with the conversation already. "I'll leave a note next time."

I begin to head towards the staircase, but grandma stops me.

"Oh I forgot to tell you, I'm going to take you girls shopping today so you can have a few new items for your party tonight. So could you please shower and change into something more... presentable?"

"Umm, sure. I'll go do that," I respond in a confused tone.

"Thank you, dearest. We will be leaving in about half an hour. Come down stairs when you are ready."

I nod and make my way up to my bedroom. I grab a light purple t-shirt, a pair of Jean shorts, and undergarments.

After showering and changing into my clean clothes, I untangle my hair and put it into two Dutch braids. I then grab my phone and wallet before exiting my room and climbing down the stairs, where I am greeted by my grandmother and sister.

"Are we ready to go?" Granny asks. Ali and I both nod. Grandma reaches for her oversized purse, before gliding towards the front door. We follow her out to her car, which was brought around by an escort if some sort. The man opens the doors for all of us ladies, and we climb in thanking him as we pass.

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"Cam, isn't this cute?" Ali exclaims, holding up another aztec printed skirt. I shake my head.

"It's okay, but it's not really what I'm looking for." She sighs in frustration.

Ali and I are currently at the mall shopping for a "boho" outfit for the party. According to my sister, "everyone where's this sort of stuff to these type of parties". But Alison is the expert here, so I'm just following her orders.

"Okay, how about this one?" She says picking up another skirt. I nod my head in disapproval again. She sighs, placing it back into the rack. "I don't think I ever remember you being this picky with shopping. Are you trying to impress somebody?"

Immediately, my cheeks flush with red. Ali grins widely and jumps up and down, clapping.

"Oh, I knew it! I just knew it! It's that Josh kid, isn't it?" Again, my cheeks burn up and my heart races. " I KNEW IT!!"

"Quiet down, Alison," I proclaim, which she just giggles once more.

"Now we HAVE to find the perfect outfit. Wait here," she says before bolting away. I check my phone for the time. When I look up, Ali has three outfits in her hand.

"I don't care what you say but you are trying these on. I saw them earlier and thought they would look amazing on you," she explains, holding them out to me. I look at the outfits and nod in approval. She quickly rushes me to the fitting room.

The first outfit I try on is a two piece set, consisting of a shirt and a skirt. The skirt is shorter in the front and longer in the back, and the shirt is a crop top with a very low v-neck, but it surprisingly doesn't show much. Both items are blue.

The second one is a dress with a pink and green floral pattern. The skirt part is again longer in the back and flowy, and the top is once again a v-neck.

I glance at then outfits once more, deciding that I was in love with the second option. After receiving Alison's approval-which was way to overly dramatic- we head towards the shoes. I pick out a pair of taller gladiator sandals while my sister finds a pair of white-strap sandals. I then find a cute tan sun hat that matches my sandals and we head to find grandma. She nods approvingly to both of our outfits, excitement gleaming in her eyes. After checking out, we climb back into the car and begin to head home.

The minute we leave, my stomach starts to turn and I suddenly get a bad feeling, like I should not attend the party.