Louisiana 7 - Origins

The Girl Who Claimed The Seas - Margaret Fairchild [part1]

He was late but this time felt different than all the other times before.  I tried not to consider the thought but I couldn’t shake it from my mind.  I turned my wrist over and examined my watch.

“It’s already seven? Where is he?” I wondered as I gazed past the television and out the living room window.

“Maybe be got caught up with his other friends?”

“What friends Mom?  No other kids our age live on this block.”  I said as I tapped nervously on the arm-rest of my chair.

“That’s not true.  Just the other day I bumped into a young girl and her older brother at the Supersave.  I was putting groceries in the trunk and overheard her complaining about transferring to Bolton High.  She looked about your age and there was a nice place for sale at the end of the block.  What if they moved in there?”

“Mom, seriously?”

I watched as she placed a lid on the boiling pasta and walked out of the kitchen.  I rolled my eyes then peered out of the window yet again.  Meeting some random girl isn’t the reason why he was late…I mean, I hope it wasn’t.  Why would she even put thoughts like that in my head; like I don’t have enough on my plate as is?  We finally…when we were on the roof it felt like something more.  Maybe…

  “Mar, relax your father was always late picking me up for dates.”

“This isn’t a date.” She scolded. 

Her hand suddenly wrapped my nervously tapping fingers as she knelt down next to my wheelchair.  The look it her eyes was soothing.  She slowly caressed the back of my head and smiled.

“Honey, you’ve been friends with Jace since kindergarten.  What are the odds that after everything that’s happened to the both of you that we’d live next door to each other?  You two are practically inseparable now.”

“Well according to you there might be another girl our age living on our street.  If he’s hanging out with her…”

“He’s on his way.” She said reassuringly.

“How do you know?  Maybe they’re skateboarding, or playing basketball.”

“Didn’t you say that you two spent an amazing day together?” She asked.

“Yea, but…”

“…but what?” She smiled. 

“Maybe he was just being nice?” I spouted questionably.  “How would you know for sure if he wasn’t?

She paused as I turned my chair towards the hallway.  Just as I started to leave the room she gripped the blue handles of my wheelchair.

“For the past four years I’ve watched you confine yourself to your room or take root in front of that TV.  I had tried everything to reach you but nothing worked.  Yes, I was nervous when you started going out.  Especially with a boy but after seeing you two together and watching you smile after he was gone.  I stopped being nervous.  These past few weeks you’ve been really pushing yourself.  I finally learned why.  When a boy spends all his time with a girl and mentions a possible date, he’s not just being nice.  It’s alright to be nervous Mar.  Boys are complicated.”

Maybe she was right.  I’ve known Jace for years and even though we just recently started to spend a lot of time together he’s not a jerk.  If he doesn’t show tonight then there must be a valid reason.  I exited the hallway and met my mom at the dinner table.  She was cooking her homemade stuffed ravioli and I’m a huge fan of pasta.  We had a decent meal together.  Mom spent most of the time telling me how hard her relationship was with dad.  She said that there were times when she’d stop talking to him altogether.  Even after huge fights they’d manage to work things out.  Maybe that was the case with normal adults and teens but everyone knew that no one in this part of town was normal.  That damn storm took every chance of me having a normal existence and trashed it.  Whatever, the less I focus on it the better I felt.  That’s when I remembered what he said to me on skip day.