Pull Me Under

Chapter One - Unplanned

"It's the first day of the rest of our lives, the question now is, what do we plan to do with it. I don't know about you all, but I plan to live mine to the fullest."

Those were the words I'd stood up and send in front of my entire graduating class. I knew I was full of shit, it had been three days and the most I'd done was drive to the store to get a bottle of milk for my Mom.

Okay, so It wasn't like my whole life needed to be planned out already, but it wasn't normal to have absolutely no idea what to do for the rest of my waking days... was it?

As valedictorian, I was meant to have a plan... one that included study and a career. Truth be told, I'd forced myself to enrol for some english papers at NYU just so I was taking something.

I had three months to change my mind, to formulate a plan. Maybe by the end of August I'd suddenly have an epiphany, a know just what to do.

"Deep in thought?" My mother's voice filtered through my ears, waking me from my standing thoughts. I looked at her, standing in the kitchen holding out a mug of coffee to me.

I shrugged and took the coffee. "No, just tired." I lied. Mom didn't need to know about my lack of motivation. Not today.

"Are you sure you can't get Mackenzie to stay here with you while Ray and I are away?"

Is shook my head. In all honesty, I probably could have. I hadn't even asked. But when Mom had told me her and my Stepdad were going on a cruise for the entire summer, I had serious daydreams about having the entire house to myself.

"No, she's uh, busy." I murmured. "I'll be fine Mom. I'm a big girl."

Mom nodded and lifted her coffee mug to her mouth. "I just don't like the idea of leaving you all alone Olivia."

"I won't be alone." I mused. "I'll be working, and Josh will visit."

Josh and I had been dating for almost six months. He was kind of a meathead, all brawn and now brains, but Mackenzie had told me when he asked me out that opposites attract, and I guess she must have been right because we hit it off. He was headed to community college in the fall, and given I was going to be thousands of miles away, I figured we'd have to talk about where things were headed sooner or later, but for now, I was happy for the status quo.

"Oh good." She mused, although I could hear the tension in her words. Neither her, nor Ray liked Josh much. He was an acquired taste after all.

"Relax Mom. I will be fine. Shouldn't you guys be hitting the road soon, I thought you had to be in Harrington Bay by lunch for boarding."

"Yes, Ray is just getting the car packed now and then we'll be going." She placed her cup down on the marble benchtop. "I know you'll be working through summer, but I know you're saving that for college come fall. So I've left my credit card on top of the fridge."

"I'll be fine Mom." I murmured.

"Even so."

She walked around the bench until she got to me and pulled me into a tight hug, I only just managed to set my coffee down without spilling it. I relaxed into the hug, three months was going to feel like forever not seeing my Mom. We'd spent our whole lives together, and until she met Ray and married him when I was 14, we'd only had one another.

"I'll miss you Mom." I whispered. "And Ray too."

Mom's body shuddered a little, and I knew instantly that she was crying. Mom was a quiet cryer, she'd spent most of my childhood hiding how desperately sad she was from me, by silently crying in her room. I was 12 when I first found her, in a pit of sadness. She didn't want to tell me what was wrong, but I knew. See I'd never met my father, he'd died when Mom was pregnant with me. He was a soldier in the army and was situated in east timor. I've only seen pictures of the two of them, but I could see they were soulmates.