Unexpected Love

Prologue

I never thought I was going to get out until this night. I sat in my old geo metro, in the parking lot, of my current employer. I busted my ass for years focusing on my academics in order to leave this place behind, move away from my passive aggressive and controlling family, and finally know what it's like to taste freedom. I didn't want the same things they wanted for me, I wanted more, I wanted to be happy, successful, and reach my full potential. But when you come from a traditional family, where the woman stays home all day to cook and clean, raises kids, and barely has an education, it was hard to gain any support, let alone any understanding.

I sat in the parking lot listening to the voicemail over and over again. The words repeating from an academic counselor at SVU saying that I was accepted and received a vocal scholarship. I have always loved music and enjoyed singing, but I never thought that it would be my ticket to getting the HELL out of here. I frantically drove home with tears in my eyes, of relief and joy. Even though I was still waiting for the other four universities I applied to, to inform me that I was either denied or accepted for the upcoming fall, I was too overwhelmed with excitement at the moment...nothing else mattered.

I entered my house that I have been living in for almost six years. My family moved from Pennsylvania to Idaho years earlier because my dad lost his job and my three oldest sisters were moving out west to find a husband... I mean to go to work or go to school. The sister right above me, attended high school with me and graduated two years earlier. But knowing who she is, she could barely be off my mom's tit for more than a minute, so that meant she was going to attend a smaller college only two hours away that my only brother was also attending. My brother spent some time in Chicago working, but finally settled in attending an affordable college near home. But being near home and having a sibling at the same school, finalized my sister's decision. She was always drawn to my parents and desired to have the exact same life as my mother. If she could, she would marry any man that would let her be at home, have a hundreds of babies, and live next door to my parents until the day she died. But that's another story.

As I entered my house, it was pitch black except for the usual porch light on. I got home a little after 10pm and my parents were already asleep. I could hear my dad's loud snoring through their bedroom door, all way the down the hallway from where I stood in the kitchen. I went to the bathroom and performed my usual routine of washing the makeup off my face, throwing my hair up in a messy bun, and removing my contacts. I quietly closed my bedroom door behind me and put on my usual tank top and shorts before climbing into bed. I couldn't believe that all of my hard work was starting to pay off. All I wanted was to be have a great future where I could travel, have a successful career, maximize my potential, and maybe fall in love. As I closed my eyes, urging myself to fall asleep, all I could think about was the excitement I felt in my chest, about what lied waiting for me far, far from here. But I never thought I would ever experience, feel, or overcome the things that would later come to pass, that would make me the woman I am today... but that story comes later.