Baggage l.h. {au}

1.☺

        The clouds were smudged around in the blue sky, slowly spitting out tiny droplets of water on the cloudy summer day.  The heat was already getting to me, even in my overly air-conditioned bed room.  I watched lazily as the water hit the hard pavement, right below my bedroom window.

Well...it won't be my bedroom for long, considering that I'm leaving my home in Pennsylvania to travel to the other side of the country to live with a man I don't even know.  He missed out, and I've blamed everyone for it.

        You see, my father was the type of dead-beat dad no body wants.  And I truly believe he thought I was a mistake.  It was a very young pregnancy, he freaked, he left.  My mother raised me by herself, on a single income, no help.  But now that she's gone, I have no choice.  No body wanted to take me in, so the social services tracked down my douche of a father.  He happily obligated into taking me in.  Now making me leave my grandmother and my 12 year old brother alone.

        It's basically every girl's dream to move to Cali, be the new girl, get a tan?  Not mine.  I was perfectly happy in PA, where I planned to go to Penn State, and actually create a perfectly normal life for myself.  Not be overly golden, and be a freak of nature where I have no chance of fitting in.  My skin's too pale, and my hairs too dark.  Let's face it, I don't exactly fit into the social ladder.  And I bet my skinny jeans and jumpers won't go well with the short shorts and tank tops the girl's there dress in.  Or my converse and their pumps.

"Dakota, please come out of your room, Nana's here." Sam's voice is quiet and falls short, a soft thud tells me he's resting his forehead on the wooden door.  I know this is hard for him, too.  His big sister is leaving, who will he look up to?

The mention of my grandmother's name makes stand to my feet.  This is going to be one of the last time in a while that I can speak to her, or even hug her.  And that's what's hard, because I grew up knowing that she's always going to be there.  But, now thing's are going to change.

        I know what you're thinking, why doesn't your grandma just take you guys in?  I mean, she's there, and living, more than capable of taking care of you.  Wrong.  She can't, she's getting weaker, and isn't as young and strong as she used to be.  And now, things are going to be worse, because Sam won't have a big sister there for him, he's going to his father's, y'know that one that actually wanted him.

"Do you have your bags packed, angel?" Her soft voice cooes from the living room.  "Your flight leaves in an hour." She smiles at me, sorrow fills her slate-grey eyes.

"Yeah, Nana, I do." I say, taking her frail, bony body into my arms.  "I'm not ready though." I mumble into her greying hair.

"I know, sweetie," She pulls away from my grasp before continuing,  "I wouldn't want to go to that bastard's house, either." She grins at my widening eyes.

"Grandma!" I say through hysterics.  Nana never curses, so this was quite the treat.

"Well, it's damn true.  He's no good, I never did like him." She mumbles walking off into the kitchen, leaving me alone in my living room with my thoughts.

        Even over the years of my childhood, nothing has really changed.  The colors may have faded, but everything still sits in the same place, even after Sam was born.  The couch, sitting diagonal from the matching love seat and chair, still has the same milk stain from when I grabbed the bottle out of Sam's mouth and the lid popped off.  The same old brown rug, with matching curtains, still sits in there.  And just thinking about all of this really reminds me of how I really don't want to leave.

        "Come on, Dakota." My grandma yells from the front porch, I really didn't realize how much I spaced off.  I looked at the remaining part of my family.  Sam's moppy brown hair, and worn converse, to grandmas floral dress and silver hair.