Soulmate

Chapter 39: With My Luck

Grace

    Work was slow when I received the text. Normally, I wouldn't have checked, but this time I felt like I had to. I covered my mouth with my hand to avoid the scream that was climbing up my throat, wanting to finally be freed. I could barely tell my coworkers that I was leaving early tonight. My voice was tiny and choked; they knew something was wrong, so they let me go. Toni even said he'd let my boss now I had a family emergency to attend to. At least they were being considerate.

    I sped down the street to my house, refusing to let the tears stream down my face. My head was spinning and everything seemed to be going in slow motion even though I know I was speeding. This would be the perfect time for a cop to pull me over, just because I was stressed and in a hurry. But luckily my pessimistic thought didn't come true as I pulled into the driveway. I had imagined that Mom and Dad would be waiting for me, that they would be in the car all packed, but they weren't. They were sluggishly wandering around the house, packing their bags.

    When I walked in, Mom stopped and stared at me. "Grace, what are you doing? Go and get changed right this second. Then, pack your bag. We will probably be staying there for at least two or three days. Hurry up," she ordered. Her face was blank, but her voice was demanding like a drill sergeant.

    I didn't want to argue with her because I knew if I spoke I would start crying, so I nodded my head and ran upstairs. The clothes I threw on were simple, a t-shirt and jeans, going back to my old ways. My bag was packed and I ran downstairs to see my parents taking their bags out to the car. They probably didn't remember they had a daughter who was running outside with her suitcase. There were more important things on their minds.

    When we were all loaded up, my dad sped down the road. The motion of the car and the exhaustion of my body made my eyelids droop until they finally closed. I don't remember dreaming, I remember my body rocking back and forth as we drove. The window was cold, and I could hear a constant tapping on it, so when I opened my eyes I saw raindrops, splattering near my eyes. The angels were crying as my grandma would say. Were they happy tears? Because mine wouldn't be. I forced my eyes closed again, and let myself drift back to sleep.

    "How do you think Grace is taking it? I figured she'd be a puddle of tears by now," Mother hissed. Was her bitchiness her defense mechanism? Was that how she was dealing with the news?

    "She's just sleeping, she probably doesn't want to believe it. She'll be crying as soon as we get there," my dad muttered, but I could tell he had no interest in the conversation. Sometimes I was grateful that my dad kept my mom in line, but sometimes he was just as awful as her.

    "Well, she needs to figure out how to keep her emotions under control. Her soulmate isn't going to want to deal with her being so emotional all the time," she ranted, but I could tell she was ending the conversation.

    I squeezed my eyes shut tighter because I wanted to force myself to go back to sleep, I didn't want to keep listening to my mom's mean words. If I could control it this weekend, then I wasn't going to cry. At least not in front of my mom, maybe alone. I needed to be able to release these emotions, but she was going to be spiteful towards me. I knew life was going to be hell with Mother involved.

    By the time we got there, it was three in the morning and I woke up as Dad was unloading our bags. We walked inside and I was trying to rub my eyes, but everything was going by in a blur. Grandpa held me in a quick hug, but I know it was forced. He was trying to comfort me, but the only person who could do that was Grandma.

    The next thing I knew, I crawled into the bed in my guest bedroom, and I didn't even change out of my clothes.

    When I opened my eyes, I realized that it wasn't a dream. It was all reality. The house was silent, it wasn't filled with my Grandma's kind words or sassy remarks. Silence. All I could do was get up, and change into the other clothes I packed, simple jeans and another plain t-shirt. My body was shaking as I walked out of the room and down the hall. One door was closed, and I was tempted to open it, but I didn't. Instead, I walked to the kitchen where Mom was making waffles and scrambled eggs.